What is this collection about?

Marine heatwaves are recognised as a significant and growing threat to ecological systems worldwide. Impacts from marine heatwaves include widespread coral bleaching, habitat losses, food-web disruption, and harmful algal blooms. Beyond the event itself, impacts can be longer-lasting, such as altered species distributions, increased susceptibility to disease, and weakened resilience to future events.

With this cross-journal Collection, we invite manuscripts that highlight impacts of marine heatwaves on ecological systems. Communications Earth & Environment, Communications Sustainability, Nature Communications, npj Ocean Sustainability, and npj Biodiversity will consider original Articles, Reviews and Perspectives. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment will consider Reviews and Perspectives. Scientific Reports will consider original Articles.

Why is this collection important?

Marine heatwaves can reshape ocean life, creating rapid ecosystem disruption across entire foodwebs. This has implications for fisheries, coastal protections, and coastal carbon storage. In the context of ongoing climate change, it is key to better understand the impacts of marine heatwaves, to protect and rehabilitate marine ecosystems.

This is a cross-journal collection between Communications Earth & Environment, Communications Sustainability, Nature Communications, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, npj Ocean Sustainability, npj Biodiversity, and Scientific Reports. Authors are welcome to submit to any of the participating journals. All manuscripts published in the collection are hosted on a dedicated nature portfolio portal, giving articles high visibility beyond the journal they are published in.

Why submit to a collection?

Collections like this one help promote high-quality science. They are led by In-House Editors who are experts in their fields and supported by a dedicated team of Commissioning Editors and Managing Editors at Springer Nature. Collection manuscripts typically see higher citations, downloads, and Altmetric scores, and provide a one-stop-shop on a cutting-edge topic of interest.

Who is involved?

Communications Earth & Environment is edited by both in-house professional editors and Editorial Board Members. 

Communications Sustainability is edited by both in-house professional editors and Editorial Board Members. 

Nature Communications is edited by in-house professional editors.

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment is edited by in-house professional editors.

npj Ocean Sustainability is edited by a team of external academic editors.

npj Biodiversity is edited by a team of external academic editors.

Scientific Reports is managed by in-house professional editors and edited by Editorial Board Members.

Our editors work closely together to ensure the quality of our published papers and consistency in author experience.

How can I submit my paper?

• Visit the Collection page to find out more about this collection and submit your article.