Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia

A major observed and predicted impact of climate change on marine species is the poleward shift in their distributions and the resulting changes in community structure. Here, we used a Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model to project range shift of exploited marine fishes and invertebrates in Western Au...

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Main Authors: Cheung, W., Meeuwig, J., Feng, M., Harvey, Euan, Lam, V., Langlois, T., Slawinski, D., Sun, C., Pauly, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: CSIRO Publishing 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21101
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author Cheung, W.
Meeuwig, J.
Feng, M.
Harvey, Euan
Lam, V.
Langlois, T.
Slawinski, D.
Sun, C.
Pauly, D.
author_facet Cheung, W.
Meeuwig, J.
Feng, M.
Harvey, Euan
Lam, V.
Langlois, T.
Slawinski, D.
Sun, C.
Pauly, D.
author_sort Cheung, W.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description A major observed and predicted impact of climate change on marine species is the poleward shift in their distributions and the resulting changes in community structure. Here, we used a Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model to project range shift of exploited marine fishes and invertebrates in Western Australia. We combined published data andexpert knowledge to predict current species distributions for 30 tropical, sub-tropical and temperate species that occur along the coast of Western Australia. Using outputs from both a Regional Oceanographic Model and a Global Circulation Model, we simulated change in the distribution of each species. Our study shows that under the SRES (Special Report forEmission Scenarios) A1B scenario, the median rate of distribution shift is around 19 km decade 1 towards higher latitudes and 9m deeper decade 1 by 2055 relative to 2005. As a result, species gains and losses are expected along the south coast and north coast of Western Australia, respectively. Also, the coast of Western Australia is expected to experience a‘tropicalisation’ of the marine community in the future, with increasing dominance of warmer-water species. Such changes in species assemblages may have large ecological and socio-economic implications through shifts in fishing grounds and unexpected trophic effects.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2012
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-211012018-03-29T09:06:21Z Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia Cheung, W. Meeuwig, J. Feng, M. Harvey, Euan Lam, V. Langlois, T. Slawinski, D. Sun, C. Pauly, D. marine climate change Western - Australia dynamic bioclimate envelope model distribution shift A major observed and predicted impact of climate change on marine species is the poleward shift in their distributions and the resulting changes in community structure. Here, we used a Dynamic Bioclimate Envelope Model to project range shift of exploited marine fishes and invertebrates in Western Australia. We combined published data andexpert knowledge to predict current species distributions for 30 tropical, sub-tropical and temperate species that occur along the coast of Western Australia. Using outputs from both a Regional Oceanographic Model and a Global Circulation Model, we simulated change in the distribution of each species. Our study shows that under the SRES (Special Report forEmission Scenarios) A1B scenario, the median rate of distribution shift is around 19 km decade 1 towards higher latitudes and 9m deeper decade 1 by 2055 relative to 2005. As a result, species gains and losses are expected along the south coast and north coast of Western Australia, respectively. Also, the coast of Western Australia is expected to experience a‘tropicalisation’ of the marine community in the future, with increasing dominance of warmer-water species. Such changes in species assemblages may have large ecological and socio-economic implications through shifts in fishing grounds and unexpected trophic effects. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21101 10.1071/MF11205 CSIRO Publishing restricted
spellingShingle marine climate change
Western - Australia
dynamic bioclimate envelope model
distribution shift
Cheung, W.
Meeuwig, J.
Feng, M.
Harvey, Euan
Lam, V.
Langlois, T.
Slawinski, D.
Sun, C.
Pauly, D.
Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title_full Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title_fullStr Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title_full_unstemmed Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title_short Climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in Western Australia
title_sort climate-change induced tropicalisation of marine communities in western australia
topic marine climate change
Western - Australia
dynamic bioclimate envelope model
distribution shift
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/21101