Marine Ecology Progress Series
MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.
Impact Factor2.3 (JCR 2026 release)
Article Acceptance Rate51.3% (2025)
Median Time in Review137.5 days (2025)
Total Annual Downloads1.584.950 (2026)
Editors-in-Chief
Myron A. Peck
Department of Coastal Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), 1790 AB Den Burg (Texel), The Netherlands
Katherine Richardson
Department of Biology, Ecology and Evolution, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Inter-Research Editorial Staff
Assistants to the Editors
John Austin, Reejupriya Borah, Matthias Dirbach, Catherine Fesefeldt, Linda Froome, Ivor George, Lars Litwin, Justin Mellersh, Annabelle Meyer, Lars Nordmann, Claire Pritchard, Timothy St. Clair, Natalie Striepe, Nicole Taros, Tanja Tonn
Contributing Editors
Contributing Editors are fully responsible for the review process of manuscripts allotted to them; they decide on acceptance or rejection of manuscripts handled by them.
Rebecca G. Asch
Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Fish phenology, early life history, species distribution, climate change, modelling
Mário Barletta
Laboratory of Ecology and Management of Coastal and Estuarine Ecosystems, Department of Oceanography, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife - PE 50740-550, Brazil
Tropical and subtropical estuarine and coastal habitats, fish ecology, environmental impacts
Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi
Dipartimento di Biologia, University of Pisa, Via A. Volta 6, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Rocky shores, impact assessment and environmental conservation, biodiversity, experimental design
Antonio M. Bode
Centro Oceanografico de A Coruña, Apdo 130, 15080 A Coruña, Spain
Planktonic food webs and nitrogen cycles
Philippe Borsa
Biocomplexité des écosystèmes récifaux, IRD Centre de Montpellier - PS2, 911 avenue Agropolis, 34032 Montpellier cx, France
Population genetics, phylogeography, molecular systematics, fishes, mussels, DNA polymorphisms, PCR markers
Thierry Boulinier
Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE) CNRS - Université Montpellier, UMR 5175, 34293 Montpellier cedex 5, France
Seabirds: ecology, population biology, diseases, dispersal, breeding, behavior, conservation
Reniel Cabral
James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
Challenges and solutions to fisheries, marine conservation, and aquatic food security; bioeconomic modeling; big data analytics; marine protected areas
Aaron Carlisle
School of Marine Science and Policy, University of Delaware, 1044 College Drive, Lewes, DE 19958, USA
Spatial, trophic, and physiological ecology of marine fishes, in particular elasmobranchs
Emily S. Choy
Department of Biology, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada
Seabirds and marine mammals: ecophysiology, food web ecology, movement ecology, ecotoxicology, thermal biology, energetics, fatty acids, stable isotopes, Arctic ecosystem health, climate change
Sean R. Connolly
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
Biodiversity, global change, macroecology, coral reef ecology, modelling
Peter J. Corkeron
Centre for Planetary Health and Food Security, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
Marine mammals, behavior, bioacoustics, anthropogenic impacts
Jana Davis
Chesapeake Bay Trust, 60 West St, Suite 405, Annapolis, MD 21401, USA
Coastal and estuarine ecology, population ecology, fisheries and aquaculture
Peter J. Edmunds
Department of Biology, California State University, 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330-8303, USA
Coral reefs, cnidarian ecophysiology, subtidal benthic ecology
Kyle Edwards
University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA
Phytoplankton ecology, viral ecology, modelling, ecological statistics
Tomoharu 'Tomo' Eguchi
National Marine Fisheries Service, Southwest Fisheries Science Center, 8901 La Jolla Shores Drive, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
Marine mammals and turtles, population biology and modeling, quantitative analysis of movements, spatial modeling, habitat analysis, fisheries bycatch, Bayesian statistics
Kyle Hamish Elliott
McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, QC H9X 3V9, Canada
Seabird ecology, physiology, distribution and behavior, biologging, Arctic ecosystem health
Simonetta Fraschetti
Department of Biology, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cinthia, 80126 Naples, Italy
Experimental ecology, conservation, management, natural and human disturbances, coastal habitats
Robinson W. Fulweiler
Department of Earth and Environment & Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Biogeochemistry and ecosystem ecology along the land-ocean continuum
Alejandro Gallego
Marine Scotland Science, Marine Laboratory Aberdeen, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UK
Biological oceanography, biophysical coupling, plankton ecology, modeling, ecology of fish early lifes stages
John N. Griffin
Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK
Biodiversity, community ecology, coastal wetlands, rocky shores, food webs, macroalgae, restoration, species interactions
Graeme Hays
Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science Engineering and Built Environment, Deakin University, Burwood, VIC 3125, Australia
Turtle ecology: migration, behavior, reproduction
Elliott Hazen
Environmental Research Division, SWFSC, NOAA, Monterey, CA 93940, USA, and Institute of Marine Sciences & Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
Mammals, fishes, acoustics, ecosystem-based fisheries management
Jeroen Ingels
National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Sciences (NIWA), Wellington, New Zealand
Deep sea biodiversity, biology and ecology
Erik Kristensen
Institute of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
Benthos, bioturbation, microbial ecology, mangroves, sediment biogeochemistry
Chris Langdon
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA
Coral ecology, coral reef ecosystems, climate change, carbon cycling, ocean acidification
Jean-Sébastien Lauzon-Guay
Acadian Seaplants Ltd, Dartmouth, NS B3B 1X8, Canada
Population dynamics of benthic species, mathematical modeling, kelp bed, seaweed harvesting, sea urchin
Romuald N. Lipcius
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA
Conservation biology, predation, metapopulation and source-sink dynamics, benthic invertebrates
Steven E. Lohrenz
School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 706 South Rodney French Boulevard, New Bedford, MA 02744, USA
Phytoplankton physiology, biogeochemical cycling, aquatic optics
Maite Louzao Arsuaga
AZTI Marine Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Pasaia, Spain
Ecological modeling, spatial ecology, oceanography, population dynamics and ecosystem-based management approach for the conservation of marine top predators
Tim McClanahan
Wildlife Conservation Society, PO Box 99470, Mombasa 80107, Kenya
Coral reef ecology, fisheries management, systems ecology and modeling
Kirstin S. Meyer-Kaiser
Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA
Marine benthic ecology, larval biology, invertebrate zoology, maritime heritage ecology
Franz Mueter
Department of Fisheries, College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 17101 Point Lena Loop Road, Juneau, AK 99801, USA
Quantitative fish ecology, fisheries oceanography, ecosystem approach to fisheries
Janet Nye
Institute of Marine Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Morehead City, North Carolina 28557, USA
Fisheries ecology, bioenergetics, ecosystem modeling, climate variability, climate change
Morten F. Pedersen
Department of Life Sciences and Chemistry, Roskilde University, PO Box 260, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
Seagrass and macroalgae: physiology, population dynamics, herbivory
James J. Pierson
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA
Plankton ecology, biological oceanography, trophic dynamics
Simon J. Pittman
Oxford Seascape Ecology Lab, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
Seascape ecology, systems ecology, habitat mapping, tropical fish ecology, marine protected areas
Pei-Yuan Qian
Department of Biology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Larval biology, biofilm, biofouling and antifouling, chemical ecology, molecular microbial ecology
Craig A. Radford
Institute of Marine Science, Leigh Marine Laboratory, The University of Auckland, Warkworth 0941, New Zealand
Bioacoustics, soundscapes, sensory physiology and recruitment of fish and crustaceans
Jake Rice
Department of Fisheries and Oceans - Retired, Ottawa, ON K1A 0E6, Canada
Science policy, management of marine resources, ecosystem effects of human activities
Eric Sanford
Bodega Marine Laboratory, University of California Davis, Bodega Bay, CA 94923, USA
Invertebrate ecology, evolution, rocky shores, climate change, biogeography
Rochelle D. Seitz
Virginia Institute of Marine Science, William & Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA
Benthic community ecology, predator-prey dynamics, food webs, population dynamics, hypoxia
Delbert Lee Smee
Dauphin Island Sea Lab, 101 Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL 36528, USA
Oyster reef ecology, mangrove encroachment, pesticide effects on blue crabs and biogeography of seagrass communities
Inna M. Sokolova
Institut für Biowissenschaften, Universität Rostock, 18059 Rostock, Germany
Biology Department, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28223-001, USA
Ecological physiology of invertebrates and effects of pollutants
Martin Solan
University of Southampton, Waterfront Campus, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, benthic ecology, bioturbation
Deborah K. Steinberg
Department of Biological Sciences, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, VA 23062-1346, USA
Zooplankton ecology & physiology, coastal & deep-sea food webs, nutrient cycling
Konstantinos I. Stergiou
School of Biology, Department of Zoology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Fish population dynamics and distribution, fishing impacts, Mediterranean fisheries, fish biogeography, climate change
Elisabeth M. A. Strain
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Marine habitat restoration, rocky shore ecology, eco-engineering, biodiversity, socio-ecology, threatened species & communities, kelp forest, seagrass communities, benthic invertebrates
Robert M. Suryan
NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Juneau, AK 99801, USA
Vertebrate predators: foraging, reproduction, population dynamics, climate change effects
Akinori Takasuka
Department of Aquatic Bioscience, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Small pelagic fish, population dynamics, growth and survival, early life biology, reproductive biology
Kam W. Tang
Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, 6300 Ocean Drive, Corpus Christi TX 78412, USA
Marine algal and plankton ecology, microbial processes, greenhouse gases, bioremediation
Leigh Torres
Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University Newport, OR 97365, USA
Spatial ecology, behavior, marine megafauna & seabirds, habitat use, predator-prey interactions, drones/Unoccupied Aerial Systems
Rob Toonen
Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Kāneʻohe, HI 96744, USA
Molecular & larval ecology, population genetics, phylogenetics, conservation, coral reefs
Antony J. Underwood
Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, Marine Ecological Laboratory A11, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Experimental intertidal and subtidal ecology, behavior, life cycles of sessile invertebrates
Shin-ichi Uye
Graduate School of Biosphere Science, Hiroshima University, Higashi-Hiroshima 739-8528, Japan
Plankton trophodynamics, jellyfish, copepods, population dynamics, feeding, coastal ecosystems
Tjisse van der Heide
Department of Coastal Systems, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), Den Burg, The Netherlands
Conservation Ecology Group, Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
Coastal ecology (incl. coastal dunes), organism environment interactions, human impact, ecosystem engineers, restoration design
Catarina Vinagre
CCMAR—Centre of Marine Sciences, University of Algarve, Faro 8005, Portugal
Food web network structure and properties, transitional ecosystems, climate warming
Adriana Vergés
School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Climate change, herbivory, restoration, seagrass, seaweeds, tropicalisation
Inés G. Viana
Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO-CSIC), Centro Oceanográfico de A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain
Coastal ocean, nitrogen cycling, stable isotopes, trophic ecology, marine macrophytes, anthropogenic impacts
Thomas Wernberg
UWA Oceans Institute & School of Biological Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
Subtidal seaweed ecosystems, kelp forests, climate change, ocean warming, marine extreme events
Christian Wild
Marine Ecology Department, Faculty of Biology and Chemistry, University of Bremen, Leobener Strasse 6, 28359 Bremen, Germany
Coral reef and seagrass meadow ecology and physiology, benthic community dynamics, nutrient cycles and energy transfers
Stephen Wing
Department of Marine Science, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
Food web structure, Southern Ocean ecosystems, trophic ecology, population biology
Marsh Youngbluth
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, 5600 U.S. 1 North, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA
Biological oceanography with special emphasis on zooplankton ecology and behavior
Review Editors
Review Editors critically assess the scientific value of manuscripts, and may advise authors in matters of manuscript presentation.
David G. Ainley
Los Gatos, CA, USA
Top levels of marine food webs, marine ornithology, marine mammalogy
Laura Airoldi
Chioggia, Italy
Salt marshes, macroalgae, artificial structures, invasive species, biodiversity conservation and restoration
A. C. Anil
Dona Paula, Goa, India
Biofouling, invertebrate larvae, phytoplankton ecology, coastal ecosystems
Philippe Archambault
Québec, QC, Canada
Benthic and rocky shore ecology, biodiversity, aquaculture–environment interactions
Gary T. Banta
Roskilde, Denmark
Benthic ecology and ecotoxicology, bioturbation, biogeochemical cycling
Marthán N. Bester
Hatfield, South Africa
Pinniped population ecology, feeding, dispersal and morphology
Patricia Bonin
Marseille, France
Structure and diversity of marine microbial communities, nitrogen cycle
Erik Bonsdorff
Turku/Åbo, Finland
Benthic ecology: structural & functional biodiversity, food webs, environmental impact studies
Barbara E. Brown
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Effects of anthropogenic and natural disturbances on coral reefs
Jeffrey A. Buckel
Morehead City, NC, USA
Fisheries ecology, predator-prey interactions, estimating vital rates
Scott C. Burgess
Tallahassee, FL, USA
Larval dispersal and life histories, benthic habitats and coral reef systems
Michael Castellini
Fairbanks, AK, USA
Marine mammals and birds: physiology of diving and feeding
Juan Carlos Castilla
Santiago, Chile
Rocky shore ecology, coastal management, invertebrate predators
Maura G. Chapman
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Benthic ecology, experimental design, impact assessment, restoration, biodiversity
John H. Choat
Townsville, QLD, Australia
Reef ecology, fish ecology and evolution, coral reefs
Sean D. Connell
Adelaide, SA, Australia
Macroecology, landscape ecology of urban habitats, disturbance, kelp forests
Rutger de Wit
Montpellier, France
Benthic microbial ecology, biogeochemical cycling, ecophysiological modelling
Omar Defeo
Montivedeo, Uruguay
Coastal ecology, conservation, anthropogenic impacts, sandy beaches, fisheries
Sergey Dobretsov
Muscat, Oman
Chemical ecology of invertebrates, microbiology, biofouling, larval settlement
Quay Dortch
Silver Spring, MD, USA
Phytoplankton: physiological ecology, nutrient dynamics, harmful algal blooms
Anastasios Eleftheriou
Heraklion, Greece
Benthos ecology, environmental impacts
Robert J. Feller
Columbia, SC, USA
Trophic dynamics and energetics, meiofauna, immunology, salt marsh ecology
Jonathan A. D. Fisher
St. John's, NL, Canada
Fisheries ecology and conservation, intertidal and community ecology
Nicholas S. Fisher
Stony Brook, NY, USA
Physiological ecology of phytoplankton
Peter Fong
Gettysburg, PA, USA
Invertebrates, rocky intertidal, mud flat ecology, reproduction, neurophysiology
Rodney M. Forster
Hull, UK
Photosynthesis and primary production, photoinhibition, methodology and modeling, remote sensing
Ken Furuya
Tokyo, Japan
Phytoplankton ecology, community structure, dynamics
José A. Garcia Charton
Murcia, Spain
Reef fishes, marine protected areas, population genetics, experimental design
Brendan J. Godley
Penryn, UK
Marine turtle biology, ecology and conservation, satellite tracking
Jaime Gómez-Gutiérrez
La Paz, BCS, Mexico
Zooplankton and nekton ecology: krill and copepod secondary production, parasitology and behavior
David Grémillet
Montpellier, France
Seabird behavior, energetics and evolution, anthropogenic effects
Eric R. Holm
West Bethesda, MD, USA
Larval settlement and metamorphosis, fouling communities, biofouling adhesion
Kevin Hovel
San Diego, CA, USA
Coastal landscape ecology, predator–prey interactions, marine invertebrates
Catriona Hurd
Hobart, TAS, Australia
Seaweed nutrient physiology and ecology, hydrodynamics and biomechanics
David Hyrenbach
Waimanalo, HI, USA
Marine bird and mammal biogeography, habitats and conservation
Judson Kenworthy
Beaufort, NC, USA
Community ecology, eelgrass, seagrass
Raphael M. Kudela
Santa Cruz, CA, USA
Phytoplankton ecology and physiology, harmful algal blooms, bio-optics and remote sensing
Hunter S. Lenihan
Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Temperate and coral reefs, estuaries, polar environments, fisheries, ecotoxicology
Samuel N. Luoma
Menlo Park, CA, USA
Feeding ecology of deposit feeders, geochemistry of trace elements in sediments
Mark Meekan
Perth, WA, Australia
Ecology of fish larvae, sharks, and coral reefs
Zhi-Ping Mei
Halifax, NS, Canada
Marine primary production, phytoplankton ecology, planktonic ecosystem model
Gilles Miron
Moncton, NB, Canada
Benthic ecology, recruitment and settlement processes, ecoethology
Peter J. Mumby
Exeter, UK
Multivariate statistical analysis, marine protected areas, coral reef ecology, fish populations
Takeshi Naganuma
Higashi-hiroshima, Japan
Microbial biogeography
Ivan Nagelkerken
Adelaide, SA, Australia
Fish and climate change, sensory ecology, coral reef fish ecology, fish behavior, mangrove ecosystems, connectivity
Helen Neil
Wellington, New Zealand
Marine geology, paleoceanography, paleoclimate, isotope geochemistry
Thomas Noji
Highlands, NJ, USA
Ecosystem processes, zooplankton ecology
Emil Ólafsson
Palma, Spain
Benthic ecology: energy flow and food webs, impact assessments, meiofauna
Per J. Palsbøll
Groningen, The Netherlands
Evolutionary, ecological, population and conservation genetics, marine mammals
Joseph R. Pawlik
Wilmington, NC, USA
Marine chemical ecology of invertebrates, chemical induction of larval settlement, natural products
Paulette Peckol
Northampton, MA, USA
Algal physiology, photosynthesis, effects of disturbance on coral reefs and reef fishes
Peter Petraitis
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Community ecology, reproductions and life history, experimental design and statistics
Peter Ralph
Sydney, NSW, Australia
Chlorophyll a fluorescence, coral bleaching, sea ice photosynthesis, toxicology
Courtney E. Richmond
Glassboro, NJ, USA
Ecological impacts of environmental stress, population dynamics, ecological modeling, life history strategies
Hans Ulrik Riisgård
Kerteminde, Denmark
Bioenergetics and filter-feeding in macroinvertebrates, environmental effects
Michael J. Risk
Hamilton, ON, Canada
Coral reef ecology, soft bottom ecology, coastal processes
Lawrence P. Rozas
Lafayette, LA, USA
Estuarine ecology, habitat restoration, decapod crustaceans, fishes
Benjamin Ruttenberg
Miami, FL, USA
Life history, recruitment and biogeography of reef fishes, marine reserves
Jarrod A. Santora
Petaluma, CA, USA
Marine mammals, predator–prey dynamics
David R. Schiel
Christchurch, New Zealand
Plant–herbivore interactions, ecology of algae, invertebrate fisheries, aquaculture
Scott A. Shaffer
San Jose, CA, USA
Seabird foraging ecology and energetics, electronic tagging, habitat use
Antonio Sole-Cava
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Invertebrate population genetics, cryptic speciation, reproduction, benthic ecology, invertebrate fisheries
Stylianos Somarakis
Heraklion, Crete, Greece
Marine fisheries ecology: reproduction and early life history, Mediterranean ecosystems
Erik Sotka
Charleston, SC, USA
Molecular and chemical ecology, evolution of biotic interactions
Martin Thiel
Coquimbo, Chile
Benthic ecology, biogeography, life history and behavioral ecology of marine invertebrates
Guglielmo Tita
Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC, Canada
Benthic ecology, meiofauna, aquaculture impacts, coastal zone management
Nick Tolimieri
Seattle, WA, USA
Fish ecology, population dynamics, larvae recruitment, competition and predation, regime shifts, experimental design
Dianne Tracey
Wellington, New Zealand
Deep-sea corals and deep-sea fisheries, biodiversity, seamount research
John F. Valentine
Dauphin Island, AL, USA
Biotic processes and flow of energy among trophic levels, seagrass food webs
Ingrid van Putten
Forrest, ACT, Australia
Environmental economics, behavioral economics, decision making, climate adaptation
Kay C. Vopel
Auckland, New Zealand
Benthic ecology, animal–sediment and sediment–seawater interactions, aquaculture effects
Wen-Xiong Wang
Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR
Ecotoxicology, biogeochemistry of trace elements, physiological ecology
Mark E. Warner
Lewes, DE, USA
Reef coral physiological ecology, photosynthesis and photoinhibition
Paula E. Whitfield
Beaufort, NC, USA
Invasion ecology and biology, climate change effects in marine communities