Climate-driven regime shift of a temperate marine ecosystem

Science. 2016 Jul 8;353(6295):169-72. doi: 10.1126/science.aad8745.

Authors

Thomas Wernberg¹, Scott Bennett², Russell C Babcock³, Thibaut de Bettignies⁴, Katherine Cure⁵, Martial Depczynski⁶, Francois Dufois⁷, Jane Fromont⁸, Christopher J Fulton⁹, Renae K Hovey¹⁰, Euan S Harvey¹¹, Thomas H Holmes¹², Gary A Kendrick¹⁰, Ben Radford¹³, Julia Santana-Garcon², Benjamin J Saunders¹¹, Dan A Smale¹⁴, Mads S Thomsen¹⁵, Chenae A Tuckett¹⁰, Fernando Tuya¹⁶, Mathew A Vanderklift⁷, Shaun Wilson¹²

Affiliations

¹ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. thomas.wernberg@uwa.edu.au.
² School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Department of Environment and Agriculture, School of Science, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia. Department of Global Change Research, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (Universitat de les Illes Balears - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas), Esporles, Spain.
³ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Oceans and Atmosphere, General Post Office Box 2583, Brisbane, Queensland 4001, Australia.
⁴ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Service du Patrimoine Naturel, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 36 Rue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire CP41, Paris 75005, France.
⁵ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Australian Institute of Marine Science, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
⁶ Australian Institute of Marine Science, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
⁷ CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Private Bag 5, Wembley, Western Australia 6913, Australia.
⁸ Western Australian Museum, Locked Bag 49, Welshpool DC, Western Australia 6986, Australia.
⁹ Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory 2601, Australia.
¹⁰ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹¹ Department of Environment and Agriculture, School of Science, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia 6102, Australia.
¹² School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Marine Science Program, Science Division, Department of Parks and Wildlife, Kensington, Western Australia 6151, Australia.
¹³ Australian Institute of Marine Science, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. School of Geography and Environmental Science, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹⁴ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. School of Geography and Environmental Science, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia.
¹⁵ School of Plant Biology and Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, 39 Fairway, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia. Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK.
¹⁶ Marine Ecology Group, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Canterbury, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand.

PMID: 27387951
DOI: 10.1126/science.aad8745

Abstract

Ecosystem reconfigurations arising from climate-driven changes in species distributions are expected to have profound ecological, social, and economic implications. Here we reveal a rapid climate-driven regime shift of Australian temperate reef communities, which lost their defining kelp forests and became dominated by persistent seaweed turfs. After decades of ocean warming, extreme marine heat waves forced a 100-kilometer range contraction of extensive kelp forests and saw temperate species replaced by seaweeds, invertebrates, corals, and fishes characteristic of subtropical and tropical waters. This community-wide tropicalization fundamentally altered key ecological processes, suppressing the recovery of kelp forests.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Anthozoa / physiology*
Australia
Climate Change*
Coral Reefs*
Extinction, Biological*
Fishes
Kelp / physiology*
Seawater
Temperature
Tropical Climate*