Short-term response of macroalgal communities to ocean warming in the Southern Bay of Biscay

Climate change is causing significant shifts in biological communities worldwide, including the degradation of marine communities. Previous research has predicted that southern Bay of Biscay canopy-forming subtidal macroalgal communities will shift into turf-forming Mediterranean-like communities by...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Arriaga Telleria, Olatz, Wawrzynkowski, P., Ibáñez Cantero, Héctor, Muguerza Latorre, Naiara, Díez San Vicente, Isabel, Pérez Ruzafa, María Isabel, Gorostiaga Garay, José María, Quintano Erraiz, Endika, Becerro, M. A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2023
País:España
Institución:Universidad del País Vasco
Repositorio:Addi. Archivo Digital para la Docencia y la Investigación
OAI Identifier:oai:addi.ehu.eus:10810/68133
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10810/68133
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:climate change
temperature
macroalgae
community temperature index (CTI)
canopy
subtidal
Iberian Peninsula
monitoring
Descripción
Sumario:Climate change is causing significant shifts in biological communities worldwide, including the degradation of marine communities. Previous research has predicted that southern Bay of Biscay canopy-forming subtidal macroalgal communities will shift into turf-forming Mediterranean-like communities by the end of the century. These predictions were based on a community-environment relationship model that used macroalgal abundance data and IPCC environmental projections. We have tested the short-term accuracy of that model by resampling the same communities and locations four years later and found the short-term predictions to be consistent with the observed communities. Changes in sea surface temperature were positively correlated with changes in the Community Temperature Index, suggesting that macroalgal communities had responded quickly to global warming. The changes over four years were significant, but canopy-forming macroalgae were more resilient in local sites with favourable temperature conditions. Our study demonstrated that updating predictive models with new data has the potential to yield reliable predictions and inform effective conservation strategies.