The future of the northeast Atlantic benthic flora in a high CO2 world

Ecology and Evolution

Juliet Brodie⁵  Christopher J. Williamson⁵  Dan A. Smale¹²  Nicholas A. Kamenos⁸  Nova Mieszkowska¹²  Rui Santos⁶  Michael Cunliffe¹²  Michael Steinke⁹  Christopher Yesson⁵  Kathryn M. Anderson²  Valentina Asnaghi¹³  Colin Brownlee¹²  Heidi L. Burdett¹⁶  Michael T. Burrows³  Sinead Collins^5,10  Penelope J. C. Donohue⁸  Ben Harvey^5,15  Andrew Foggo^1,5  Fanny Noisette^4,5  Joana Nunes^5,7  Federica Ragazzola^5,14  John A. Raven^5,17  Daniela N. Schmidt^5,14  David Suggett⁹  Mirta Teichberg^5,11 

[1] Marine Biology and Ecology Research Centre, School of Marine Sciences and Engineering, Plymouth University, UK;Department of Zoology, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada;Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll, UK;CNRS, UMR, Roscoff Cedex, France;Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, UK;Marine Plant Ecology Research Group (ALGAE), Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal;Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK;School of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK;School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK;Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK;Leibniz-Zentrum für Marine Tropenökologie, Bremen, Germany;Marine Biological Association of the UK, Plymouth, UK;DiSTAV - University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy;School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK;Institute of Biology, Environmental and Rural Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth, UK;Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of St Andrews, Fife, UK;Division of Plant Science, University of Dundee at the James Hutton Institute, Dundee, UK

关键词: Calcified algae;    climate change;    invasive species;    macroalgae;    microphytobenthos;    seagrasses;    volatile gases;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.1105

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Seaweed and seagrass communities in the northeast Atlantic have been profoundly impacted by humans, and the rate of change is accelerating rapidly due to runaway CO₂ emissions and mounting pressures on coastlines associated with human population growth and increased consumption of finite resources. Here, we predict how rapid warming and acidification are likely to affect benthic flora and coastal ecosystems of the northeast Atlantic in this century, based on global evidence from the literature as interpreted by the collective knowledge of the authorship. We predict that warming will kill off kelp forests in the south and that ocean acidification will remove maerl habitat in the north. Seagrasses will proliferate, and associated epiphytes switch from calcified algae to diatoms and filamentous species. Invasive species will thrive in niches liberated by loss of native species and spread via exponential development of artificial marine structures. Combined impacts of seawater warming, ocean acidification, and increased storminess may replace structurally diverse seaweed canopies, with associated calcified and noncalcified flora, with simple habitats dominated by noncalcified, turf-forming seaweeds.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.