Biodiversity, climate change, and adaptation in the Mediterranean

Abstract

Potential for, and limits to, adaptation to environmental changes are critical for resilience and risk mitigation. The Mediterranean basin is a mosaic of biodiversity‐rich ecosystems long affected by human influence, whose resilience is now questioned by climate change. After reviewing the different components of biological adaptation, we present the main characteristics of marine and terrestrial biodiversity in the Mediterranean basin and of the pressures they face. Taking climatic trends into consideration, we discuss the adaptive potential of a range of ecosystems dominated by species without active dispersal. We argue that the high heterogeneity of Mediterranean landscapes and seascapes constitutes a laboratory for the study of adaptation when environmental conditions change rapidly and may provide opportunities for adaptation and adaptability of species and ecosystems. Adaptive management in the Mediterranean can and should harness the nature‐based solutions offered by both ecological and evolutionary processes for increasing the resilience of ecosystems to climate change.

Editorial: Biological invasions in the Mediterranean Sea

“…In an era of climate change and escalating transformations in ecological settings, the Mediterranean Sea is recognized as a hotspot of global biotic and abiotic changes (Moullec et al). With a semi-enclosed-and-locked configuration affected by physical, oceanic, and atmospheric processes (Bas, 2009), the Basin is characterised by well-defined mosaics of contrasting ecosystems that make it an appealing natural laboratory for the study of natural and human-induced changes (Aurelle et al, 2022).…”

Mediterranean Forest Research Agenda 2030

“…To track their ecological niches under a changing climate, tree species are shifting their range northwards (Morin et al, 2008) and to higher altitudes (Lucier et al, 2009). Those that cannot adapt sufficiently fast will decrease in abundance or become extinct in part or all of their range (Fady et al, 2016;Aurelle et al, 2022). Management actions, such as maintenance of genetic diversity and assisted species migration are recommended (IPCC, 2014).…”

Metabarcoding the eukaryotic community of a threatened, iconic Mediterranean habitat: Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows

“…However, P. oceanica meadows are suffering a range-wide decline (Marbà et al, 2014) that is sped up by climate change (Marbà & Duarte, 2010;Jordà et al, 2012), with carry-on consequences for its attendant biodiversity. These effects can be partially balanced by genetic and functional mechanisms (Aurelle et al, 2022;Edgeloe et al, 2022) that can contribute to the seagrass resilience. Besides the ecological and economic consequences that a regression of this habitat would have, centuries of carbon stored by these meadows would be released with meadow decline (Marbà et al, 2014), further aggravating the climate warming trend.…”