2023-11-29 12:36:07
Sea turtles are on the move and may contribute to the global decline of seagrass beds. – UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
MADRID, 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A new study from the University of Southampton sheds light on the impact climate change is having on marine environments in a global phenomenon known as ‘tropicalization’.
In the ocean, tropical species are moving from the equator towards the poles as sea temperature increases. Meanwhile, temperate species are retreating as it gets too hot, they face increased competition for habitat, and new predators enter the picture, among other factors.
This massive movement of marine life, called tropicalization, is changing the ecological landscape of our oceans and generating a cascade of consequences for ecosystems, biodiversity and, potentially, the global economy.
The publication of the study coincides with the start of COP28, where world policymakers gather and commit to addressing the impact of global warming. Researchers say we need to better understand the consequences of tropicalization to predict its development, respond to its effects and assist conservation efforts to protect biodiversity around the world.
In recent years, climate change has altered physical factors that affect species dispersal, such as ocean currents in areas separating tropical/subtropical and temperate regions. These boundary currents of warm waters They are warming faster than the global average of seawater, which facilitates the movement of species towards the poles and reinforces the retraction of temperate species.
The first case of this process was identified in the Mediterranean Sea, now considered a “critical point of tropicalization” due to the increase in tropical species present. Since then, tropicalization has been documented globally across mid-latitudes.
Karolina Zarzyczny, a researcher at the University of Southampton and lead author of the paper, said it’s a statement: “Tropicalization is having a multitude of ecological and evolutionary consequences for species, communities and entire ecosystems, with the potential to alter global diversity patterns.
“Research conducted over the past twenty years has focused primarily on ecological impacts, meaning our understanding of their evolutionary consequences is limited. Given how closely ecology and evolution interact, a comprehensive strategy involving monitoring and action , and integrate genetic and evolutionary research with the ecological changes we are seeing are essential to better understand the drivers and consequences of tropicalization.”
The study published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution is an extensive review of the literature published over the last 20 years. It is the first step in making the scientific community understand the gaps in our understanding of the problem.
“Although the abundance, distribution and occurrence of species in tropical, subtropical and temperate zones has been documented many times, there is a fundamental lack of understanding of the long-term evolutionary consequences once new species live together,” says Dr. Suzanne Williams, a scientific associate at the Natural History Museum and co-author of the article.
“Answering questions about how species evolve and interact with their environment involves employing a variety of methods, including historical records and, of course, museum collections. Scientific data and museum specimens, both digitized and physical, are information key reference for studying tropicalization”.
Given the close interaction between ecology and evolution, interactions between altered species can lead to the evolution of new traits or behaviors. For example, in a recent study led by Dr. Phil Fenberg, associate professor at the University of Southampton, barnacles from temperate volcanoes have begun to “bend” to defend themselves from tropical predators that expand along the Baja California peninsula in Mexico.
Similarly, tropical damselfishes and sprawling temperate reef fishes have been documented to alter their feeding and social behaviors to allow coexistence.
Other evolutionary consequences could involve the proliferation of more thermally resistant species or the loss of unique genetic diversity as temperate species recede. Such a reduction in genetic diversity could be problematic as it may affect the species’ ability to adapt to future stressors.
The phenomenon is not only an ecological concern; It also carries important socioeconomic implications, not all of them negative.
FROM MARSHES TO MANGROVES
During her research, Karolina Zarzyczny observed cases where salt marshes were being replaced by mangrove-dominated ecosystems. Mangroves have a greater carbon sequestration capacity than the temperate marshes they are replacing, which can be good news to reduce CO2 levels in the atmosphere.
Furthermore, the expansion of coral communities is expected to have a positive impact on the local economy due to the increase in diving-based tourism. That said, coral communities that expand due to tropicalization tend to be of the same species and therefore They do not offer the same variety of habitat that would be seen in traditional corals.
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