Marine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea

Garrabou, Joaquim; Gómez‐Gras, Daniel; Medrano, Alba; Cerrano, Carlo; Ponti, Massimo; Schlegel, Robert W.; Bensoussan, Nathaniel; Turicchia, Eva; Sini, Maria; Gerovasileiou, Vasilis; Teixidó, Núria; Mirasole, Alice; Tamburello, Laura; Cebrián, Emma; Rilov, Gil; Ledoux, J. B.; Souissi, Jamila Ben; Khamassi, Faten; Ghanem, Raouia; Benabdi, Mouloud; Grimes, Samir; Ocaña, Óscar; Bazaïri, Hocein; Hereu, Bernat; Linares, Cristina; Kersting, Diego K.; Rovira, Graciel la; Ortega, Júlia; Casals, David; Pagès‐Escolà, Marta; Margarit, Núria; Capdevila, Pol; Verdura, Jana; Ramos‐Esplá, A.A.; Izquierdo, Andrés; Barberá, Carmen; Rubio-Portillo, Esther; Anton, Irene; López‐Sendino, Paula; Díaz, David; Vázquez‐Luis, Maite; Duarte, Carlos M.; Marbà, Núria; Aspillaga, Eneko; Espinosa, Free; Grech, Daniele; Guala, Ivan; Azzurro, Ernesto; Farina, Simone; Gambi, María Cristina; Chimienti, Giovanni; Montefalcone, Monica; Azzola, Annalisa; Mantas, Torcuato Pulido; Fraschetti, Simonetta; Ceccherelli, Giulia; Kipson, Silvija; Bakran‐Petricioli, Tatjana; Petricioli, Donat; Jiménez, Carlos; Katsanevakis, Stelios; Kızılkaya, İnci Tüney; Kızılkaya, Zafer; Sartoretto, Stéphane; Rouanet, Élodie; Ruitton, Sandrine; Comeau, Steeve; Gattuso, Jean‐Pierre; Harmelin, Jean‐Georges

doi:10.1111/gcb.16301

Cited by 207 publications

(194 citation statements)

References 90 publications

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“…Daily monitoring of SSTs, as proxy, would, thus, be crucial to understand and forecast changes in biological responses at regional and global scale (Doney et al, 2012). Among them the detection of harmful algal blooms that might endangered several coastal zone, shifts in community organisation (from temperate to tropical species) and prevention in mass mortalities of endemic species (Garrabou et al, 2022;Smith et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussion/conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of the sea surface temperature to heatwaves during the France 2022 meteorological summer

Guinaldo¹,

Picart²,

Roquet³

2022

Preprint

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Abstract. Summer 2022 was memorable and record-breaking, ranking as the second hottest summer in France since the beginning of the measurements, with a seasonal average of 22.7 °C. In particular, France experienced multiple record-breaking heat waves. As the main heat sink of the Earth system, the oceans are at the forefront of events of this magnitude, which enhance oceanic disturbances such as marine heat waves. In this study, we investigated French maritime basins sea surface temperature to determine the ability of satellite measurements to track the response of surface waters to these events. Despite some gaps in data availability, we showed that during the meteorological summer of 2022, the mean sea surface temperature was between 1.3 °C and 2.6 °C above the long-term average (1982–2011). A focus on the heat wave from 31 July to 13 August was carried out and showed a significant sea surface temperature response to the heat wave with maximum temperatures measured locally at 30.8 °C in the North-western Mediterranean sea. Beyond the response to intense surface air temperatures, the contribution of other atmospheric variables was not negligible. Thus, we have shown that France experienced an August with above-average surface solar radiation correlated with below-average total cloud cover and anomalies in the distribution and intensity of wind speeds. The response to these different contributions depends on the hydrodynamic conditions, in particular the tides that ensure turbulent mixing. This is why the response is more pronounced in the Mediterranean, where the absence of dynamic mixing (below-average surface wind speed) is associated with an absence of tides. Our results were in line with previous studies and we confirmed here that even if the Mediterranean is a climate change hotspot, all maritime front are affected by a warming of surface waters. Our study therefore demonstrated the need for an efficient and sustainable operational system combining polar orbiting and geostationary satellites to prevent the alterations that threaten the oceans in the context of climate change.

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Section: Discussion/conclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of the sea surface temperature to heatwaves during the France 2022 meteorological summer

Guinaldo¹,

Picart²,

Roquet³

2022

Preprint

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“…The ocean microbiome is now facing the effects of rapid global change, with evidence of impacts observed over a timescale of decades [16]. For example, the Mediterranean has experienced a series of marine heat waves that resulted in recurrent mass mortality of benthic marine organisms, threatening ecosystem health and functioning [17]. However, there is currently no consensus on the main evolutionary responses of microbes to these events.…”

Section: The Evolving Ocean Microbiomementioning

confidence: 99%

Tracking contemporary microbial evolution in a changing ocean

Brennan

Logares

2023

Trends in Microbiology

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“…To assess the effects of seawater temperature on larvae survival and settlement, the collected larvae of both species (E. singularis and C. rubrum) were maintained under three temperature treatments: 20°C (control), 24°C, and 26°C (±0.2°C in each treatment). These temperature treatments were selected to represent extreme conditions in the Mediterranean Sea that (1) have already been observed during heatwaves in the last few years (24°C; T-MEDNet database, www.t-mednet.org; Garrabou et al, 2021Garrabou et al, , 2022, and (2) are expected to occur for periods as long as 3 weeks in duration by 2050 (25-26°C; Galli et al, 2017). Each treatment was maintained using 15 L water baths (one water bath for each temperature and species) inside a temperature-controlled experimental chamber (Conviron Gen2000).…”

Section: Experimental Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lethal and sublethal effects of thermal stress on octocorals early life‐history stages

Viladrich

Linares

Padilla‐Gamiño

2022

Global Change Biology

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The frequency and severity of marine heatwaves causing mass mortality events in tropical and temperate coral species increases every year, with serious consequences on the stability and resilience of coral populations. Although recovery and persistence of coral populations after stress events is closely related to adult fitness, as well as larval survival and settlement, much remains unknown about the effects of thermal stress on early life‐history stages of temperate coral species. In the present study, the reproductive phenology and the effect of increased water temperature (+4°C and +6°C above ambient, 20°C) on larval survival and settlement was evaluated for two of the most representative Mediterranean octocoral species (Eunicella singularis and Corallium rubrum). Our study shows that reproductive behavior is more variable than previously reported and breeding period occurs over a longer period in both species. Thermal stress did not affect the survival of symbiotic E. singularis larvae but drastically reduced the survival of the non‐symbiotic C. rubrum larvae. Results on larval biomass and caloric consumption suggest that higher mortality rates of C. rubrum exposed to increased temperature were not related to depletion of endogenous energy in larvae. The results also show that settlement rates of E. singularis did not change in response to elevated temperature after 20 days of exposure, but larvae may settle fast and close to their native population at 26°C (+6°C). Although previous experimental studies found that adult colonies of both octocoral species are mostly resistant to thermal stress, our results on early life‐history stages suggest that the persistence and inter‐connectivity of local populations may be severely compromised under continued trends in ocean warming.

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Marine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea

Cited by 207 publications

References 90 publications

Response of the sea surface temperature to heatwaves during the France 2022 meteorological summer

Response of the sea surface temperature to heatwaves during the France 2022 meteorological summer

Tracking contemporary microbial evolution in a changing ocean

Lethal and sublethal effects of thermal stress on octocorals early life‐history stages

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