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Climate, currents and species traits contribute to early stages of marine species redistribution
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Climate, currents and species traits contribute to early stages of marine species redistribution

Jorge García Molinos, Heather L. Hunt, Madeline E. Green, Curtis Champion, Jason R. Hartog and Gretta T. Pecl
Communications biology, Vol.5, pp.1-10
03/12/2022
PMID: 36463333
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Published (Version of record) Open Access CC BY V4.0
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Abstract

Biooceanography Climate-change ecology
Anthropogenic climate change is causing a rapid redistribution of life on Earth, particularly in the ocean, with profound implications for humans. Yet warming-driven range shifts are known to be influenced by a variety of factors whose combined effects are still little understood. Here, we use scientist-verified out-of-range observations from a national citizen-science initiative to assess the combined effect of long-term warming, climate extremes (i.e., heatwaves and cold spells), ocean currents, and species traits on early stages of marine range extensions in two warming ‘hotspot’ regions of southern Australia. We find effects of warming to be contingent upon complex interactions with the strength of ocean currents and their mutual directional agreement, as well as species traits. Our study represents the most comprehensive account to date of factors driving early stages of marine species redistributions, providing important evidence for the assessment of the vulnerability of marine species distributions to climate change. Out-of-range observations by citizen scientists and species range data reveal climatic, oceanographic, and ecological drivers of marine species redistributions.

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