Climate alters the migration phenology of coastal marine species

Abstract

Significant shifts in the phenology of life-cycle events have been observed in diverse taxa throughout the global oceans. While the migration phenology of marine fish and invertebrates is expected to be sensitive to climate change, the complex nature of these patterns has made measurement difficult and studies rare. With continuous weekly observations spanning 7 decades in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island (USA), the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography trawl survey provides an unprecedented opportunity to investigate the influence of climate on the migrations of marine species in the northwest Atlantic. Analyses of the survey observations of 12 species indicated that residence periods have changed by as much as 118 d, with shifts in the timing of both ingress to and egress from the coastal zone. The residence periods of warm-water species expanded while those of cold-water species contracted. Dirichlet regressions fit to the annual presence-absence patterns of each species identified interannual temperature variations, fluctuations in ocean circulation, and long-term warming all as having a significant effect on migration phenology. Additionally, temperature gradients within Narragansett Bay were shown by generalized additive models to cause detectable shifts in local spatial distributions during coastal residency. These novel findings mirror results found in the spatial domain and therefore suggest that the studied species are adapting their spatiotemporal distributions to track their thermal niche in a changing climate. If so, characterizing the spatial and temporal aspects of climate responses across species will be critical to understanding ongoing changes in marine ecosystems and successfully managing the fisheries they support.

Ontogenetic Changes in Behavioral and Energetic Responses of Juvenile Atlantic Croaker to an Estuarine Salinity Gradient

“…2013; Langan et al. 2021). Summer temperatures that exceed a species’ thermal tolerance threshold, however, would likely affect the phenological response by causing egress to occur earlier (Neuheimer et al.…”

“…Temperature increases cause changes in the phenology (timing of immigration and emigration) of fishes into and out of estuaries, whereby summer residents generally exhibit earlier ingress and later egress, a global response pattern across taxa (Poloczanska et al 2013;Langan et al 2021). Summer temperatures that exceed a species' thermal tolerance threshold, however, would likely affect the phenological response by causing egress to occur earlier (Neuheimer et al 2011;Thaxton et al 2020).…”

How Does Climate Change Affect Emergent Properties of Aquatic Ecosystems?

“…There are fewer examples of altered migration phenology and seasonal residence times of warm water fishes, with implications for seasonal species diversity and dominance, but these patterns are increasing (Wood et al 2009; Cohen et al 2018; Staudinger et al 2019). For example, a recent study analyzing a 60‐year historical dataset of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, observed changes ranging from weeks to months in the migration phenology of 8 out of 12 fish and squid species, with summer species extending and winter species contracting residence times in the system (Langan et al 2021). Friedland et al (2020) used an ensemble of species distribution and habitat models to evaluate changes in hundreds of fishes and invertebrates across the Northeast continental shelf.…”

“…There are relatively few modern day examples of aquatic homogenization, unless non‐native invasive species are considered (Scott and Helfman 2001; Villéger et al 2011, 2015; Magurran et al 2015). One exception is the rapid range and phenology expansions of squid populations in coastal areas, including the Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas in the California Current (Stewart et al 2014), and longfin inshore squid Doryteuthis pealeii in the Gulf of Maine (Mills et al 2013) and Narragansett Bay systems (Langan et al 2021). These short‐lived (i.e., life spans of 1–2 years), and highly opportunistic predators, have taken advantage of warming waters and changes in oxygen minimum zones to expand into habitats and exert biological control on prey in novel habitats (Pershing et al 2019).…”

Northern shrimp Pandalus borealis population collapse linked to climate-driven shifts in predator distribution

“…Climate change has led to well-documented changes in marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecological communities stemming from a diversity of processes, including productivity changes, shifts in species distributions, and changes in timing of seasonal events (phenology) [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. These in turn have the potential to alter competitive and predator-prey interactions, with consequences for species dominance, biodiversity and population persistence.…”