The Impact of Climate Change on the World’s Marine Ecosystems

Høegh-Guldberg, Ove; Bruno, John F.

doi:10.1126/science.1189930

Cited by 2,268 publications

(1,392 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Continued use of fossil fuels into the 21st century is predicted to lead to atmospheric CO 2 levels > 900 ppm by 2100 (under Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 8.5; Meinshausen et al, 2011), though the precise level is highly dependent on the emission scenario (Pachauri et al, 2014). These rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have led to an increase in global average temperatures of ~ 0.2°C decade -1 , much of which has been absorbed by the oceans, whilst the oceanic uptake of atmospheric CO 2 has led to major changes in surface ocean pH (Levitus et al, 2000(Levitus et al, , 2005Feely et al, 2008;Hoegh-Guldberg and Bruno, 2010;Mora et al, 2013;Roemmich et al, 2015). The deep sea has experienced dramatic changes in physical and chemical variables in the geological past.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sweetman

Thurber

Smith

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

253

289

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The deep sea encompasses the largest ecosystems on Earth. Although poorly known, deep seafloor ecosystems provide services that are vitally important to the entire ocean and biosphere. Rising atmospheric greenhouse gases are bringing about significant changes in the environmental properties of the ocean realm in terms of water column oxygenation, temperature, pH and food supply, with concomitant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems. Projections suggest that abyssal (3000-6000 m) ocean temperatures could increase by 1°C over the next 84 years, while abyssal seafloor habitats under areas of deep-water formation may experience reductions in water column oxygen concentrations by as much as 0.03 mL L -1 by 2100. Bathyal depths (200-3000 m) worldwide will undergo the most significant reductions in pH in all oceans by the year 2100 (0.29 to 0.37 pH units). O 2 concentrations will also decline in the bathyal NE Pacific and Southern Oceans, with losses up to 3.7% or more, especially at intermediate depths. Another important environmental parameter, the flux of particulate organic matter to the seafloor, is likely to decline significantly in most oceans, most notably in the abyssal and bathyal Indian Ocean where it is predicted to decrease by 40-55% by the end of the century. Unfortunately, how these major changes will affect deep-seafloor ecosystems is, in some cases, very poorly understood. In this paper, we provide a detailed overview of the impacts of these changing environmental parameters on deep-seafloor ecosystems that will most likely be seen by 2100 in continental margin, abyssal and polar settings. We also consider how these changes may combine with other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., fishing, mineral mining, oil and gas extraction) to further impact deep-seafloor ecosystems and discuss the possible societal implications.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Sweetman

Thurber

Smith

et al. 2017

Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene

253

289

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“…Climate change is directly or indirectly affecting the distribution, abundance, breeding, and migration of marine plants and animals (e.g., Doney et al., 2009; Hoegh‐Guldberg & Bruno, 2010; Ji et al., 2007; Jiao et al., 2015). Mean global temperatures will continue to rise even if greenhouse gas emissions are stabilized at present levels (IPCC, 2001, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The most primitive metazoan animals, the placozoans, show high sensitivity to increasing ocean temperatures and acidities

Schleicherova

Dulias

Osigus

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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The increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) leads to rising temperatures and acidification in the oceans, which directly or indirectly affects all marine organisms, from bacteria to animals. We here ask whether the simplest—and possibly also the oldest—metazoan animals, the placozoans, are particularly sensitive to ocean warming and acidification. Placozoans are found in all warm and temperate oceans and are soft‐bodied, microscopic invertebrates lacking any calcified structures, organs, or symmetry. We here show that placozoans respond highly sensitive to temperature and acidity stress. The data reveal differential responses in different placozoan lineages and encourage efforts to develop placozoans as a potential biomarker system.

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“…2008; Hoegh‐Guldberg & Bruno 2010). Oceanographic changes alter energy flow within food webs by increasing or decreasing the amount of primary and secondary production available to consumers (Beaugrand, Luczak & Edwards 2009; Brown et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the structure and temporal dynamics of seabird communities: the challenge of capturing marine ecosystem complexity

Moreno

Stowasser

McGill

et al. 2015

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Summary Understanding interspecific interactions, and the influences of anthropogenic disturbance and environmental change on communities, are key challenges in ecology. Despite the pressing need to understand these fundamental drivers of community structure and dynamics, only 17% of ecological studies conducted over the past three decades have been at the community level.Here, we assess the trophic structure of the procellariiform community breeding at South Georgia, to identify the factors that determine foraging niches and possible temporal changes. We collected conventional diet data from 13 sympatric species between 1974 and 2002, and quantified intra‐ and inter‐guild, and annual variation in diet between and within foraging habits. In addition, we tested the reliability of stable isotope analysis (SIA) of seabird feathers collected over a 13‐year period, in relation to those of their potential prey, as a tool to assess community structure when diets are diverse and there is high spatial heterogeneity in environmental baselines.Our results using conventional diet data identified a four‐guild community structure, distinguishing species that mainly feed on crustaceans; large fish and squid; a mixture of crustaceans, small fish and squid; or carrion. In total, Antarctic krill Euphausia superba represented 32%, and 14 other species a further 46% of the combined diet of all 13 predators, underlining the reliance of this community on relatively few types of prey. Annual variation in trophic segregation depended on relative prey availability; however, our data did not provide evidence of changes in guild structure associated with a suggested decline in Antarctic krill abundance over the past 40 years.Reflecting the differences in δ15 N of potential prey (crustaceans vs. squid vs. fish and carrion), analysis of δ15 N in chick feathers identified a three‐guild community structure that was constant over a 13‐year period, but lacked the trophic cluster representing giant petrels which was identified using conventional diet data.Our study is the first in recent decades to examine dietary changes in seabird communities over time. Conventional dietary analysis provided better resolution of community structure than SIA. However, δ15 N in chick feathers, which reflected trophic (level) specialization, was nevertheless an effective and less time‐consuming means of monitoring temporal changes.

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The Impact of Climate Change on the World’s Marine Ecosystems

Cited by 2,268 publications

References 54 publications

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

Major impacts of climate change on deep-sea benthic ecosystems

The most primitive metazoan animals, the placozoans, show high sensitivity to increasing ocean temperatures and acidities

Assessing the structure and temporal dynamics of seabird communities: the challenge of capturing marine ecosystem complexity

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