Biography: Dr. Jima is a Marine Biologist specializing in benthic ecology, meiobenthos, and marine biodiversity. She obtained her PhD in Marine Sciences in 2024, with a thesis focusing on meiofaunal communities in Arctic glacial fjords, particularly Kongsfjorden and Krossfjorden. Her research interests include benthic and meiobenthic biodiversity, taxonomy, marine ecology, Indian and polar marine ecosystem. Dr. Jima has authored and co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and two book chapters. She has extensive field experience from Indian waters, including research cruises in the Arabian Sea and ecological studies in the Lakshadweep lagoons and the Cochin estuary. She has received several national and international recognitions, including the recent Best Oral Presentation Award at the Estuarine and Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) 2024 conference and multiple international research travel grants. Dr. Jima is an active member of professional scientific societies, including ASLO (Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography), ECSA (Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association), and the Society of Marine Biologists (SOMB), India.
Abstract: The global ocean is experiencing rapid and unprecedented change driven by rising temperatures, acidification, deoxygenation, and intensifying anthropogenic pressures. These interacting stressors are transforming marine ecosystems and reshaping biodiversity patterns across spatial and temporal scales. Marine biodiversity metrics offer valuable tools for detecting ecological change, functioning as sensitive and spatially extensive bioindicators capable of identifying ecosystem shifts before critical thresholds are crossed. Major drivers of ocean transformation include ocean warming, with the ocean absorbing more than 90% of excess heat generated by climate change; ocean acidification, reflected by a decline of approximately 0.1 pH units in global surface waters since pre-industrial times; and ocean deoxygenation, with total ocean oxygen levels decreasing by about 2% since 1960. Increasing evidence shows that biological communities respond rapidly to these environmental changes. Shifts in plankton phenology and community composition closely track temperature anomalies, while benthic organisms exhibit changes in community structure, diversity, and functional traits under altered oxygen and temperature regimes. Coral bleaching events associated with thermal stress and the expansion of low-oxygen zones further demonstrate how climate stressors reshape marine ecosystems. Important biodiversity indicators include community turnover (β-diversity), phenological shifts, restructuring of benthic communities, size-spectrum and functional trait changes, and distributional shifts of sentinel species. Integrating biodiversity indicators with physical and biogeochemical observations can strengthen early detection of ecological transitions and support adaptive marine ecosystem management.