Mr Yann Herrera Fuchs1
1University Of Tasmania
Over three billion people rely on marine biodiversity for their livelihood; however, in warming seas, species’ responses to changing temperatures remain largely unpredictable. We used a nationally standardised direct observational dataset (underwater visual censuses) to assess the distributional movements of 579 Australian shallow-water reef fish and invertebrate species over a decade. Observed latitudinal limits of most species examined (75%) moved more than 1 degree (> 111 km), with different responses along warming and cooling coasts. Tropical species tended to retreat towards the equator with cooling, while temperate species contracted poleward with warming. Poleward range limits moved more rapidly than equatorward limits, at about half the rate of temperature change (0.2 deg C per decade). Our results highlight the high sensitivity of range edges to inter-annual temperature changes, and the influence of heatwaves on species’ distributions. To safeguard marine ecosystems and the livelihoods of the ocean-dependent people in an era of changing climate, greater conservation effort is required to protect vulnerable species at range edges bounded by biogeographic barriers.
Presentation Slides – Yann HerreraFuchs
