Chia-Ying Ko

INTRODUCTION Transposable elements (TEs) are pervasive and dynamic components of eukaryotic genomes, deeply influencing genome structure, evolution, and adaptation. Once dismissed as ‘junk’ or ‘selfish’ DNA, TEs are now recognized as key drivers of genetic innovation, carrying regulatory sequences and protein-coding domains that affect host gene expression and genome dynamics (Almeida et al., 2022; Fedoroff, 2012).

1 INTRODUCTION Geographic range is one of the fundamental ecological and evolutionary characteristics of a species, and investigating shift patterns of species' geographic ranges over time enables us to better quantify contemporary climate change impacts across large spatial extents (Gaston, 2003; Pecl et al., 2017; Poloczanska et al., 2016; Tomiolo & Ward, 2018) and improve our understandings of local to regional biodiversity threats, ecological network structure, and higher-level ecosystem...

Here, we implemented a study using monthly samples collected over 5 years from Dongsha Island, which is a remote island in the northern SCS, 440 km off the coast of the southern Taiwan. Located at a crossroads of the aforementioned currents, the seasonal variability of macro ocean litter that drifted onto Dongsha Island could be highly influenced by the combined effect of these currents.