Crustose coralline algal growth, calcification and mortality following a marine heatwave in Western Australia

Short, Jessie; Foster, Taryn; Falter, James L.; Kendrick, Gary A.; McCulloch, Malcolm T.

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2015.07.003

Cited by 47 publications

(37 citation statements)

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“…The influence of the warming event on the understory algae was less evident and more variable than for the rest of the community. For the southernmost islands (ISM and ISJ), we found a decrease in cover of coralline crustose algae, which have been reported to be sensitive to MHWs (Martin and Gattuso, 2009;Smale and Wernberg, 2013;Voerman et al, 2013;Wernberg et al, 2013Wernberg et al, , 2016Short et al, 2015;. However, the role of heatwaves in regulating abundance of coralline algae is still not clearly understood, since other factors, such as the loss of canopy cover (Irving et al, 2004(Irving et al, , 2005Flukes et al, 2014) or ocean acidification (McCoy and Kamenos, 2015), might also be influential for this group.…”

Section: Loss Of Cold-water Species and Increase In Some Warm Affinitmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…Anthropogenic climate change is expected to remain one of the main threats to biological systems throughout the 21st century (Thomas et al, 2004;Pereira et al, 2010;Pecl et al, 2017), making it a central theme in ecology, and challenging science to understand and predict ecosystems' responses to these changing conditions. Among the manifestations of climate change is the intensification of MHWs (Oliver et al, 2018), with corresponding impacts reported globally in different taxonomic groups and geographic areas (Garrabou et al, 2009;Marba and Duarte, 2010;Smale and Wernberg, 2013;Voerman et al, 2013;Short et al, 2015;Cavole et al, 2016;Oliver et al, 2017;Tuckett et al, 2017;Ruthrof et al, 2018;Smale et al, 2019). In this context, it is relevant to identify and monitor those areas where sentinel species for climate change are more responsive to warming and to MHWs in particular, such as near warm edge distribution limit.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Extreme Marine Heatwaves Alter Kelp Forest Community Near Its Equatorward Distribution Limit

et al. 2019

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Climate change is increasing the frequency and severity of marine heatwaves. A recent extreme warming event (2014-2016) of unprecedented magnitude and duration in the California Current System allowed us to evaluate the response of the kelp forest community near its southern (warm) distribution limit. We obtained sea surface temperatures for the northern Pacific of Baja California, Mexico, and collected kelp forest community data at three islands, before and after the warming event. The warming was the most intense and persistent event observed to date, with low-pass anomalies 1 • C warmer than the previous extremes during the 1982-1984 and 1997-1998 El Niños. The period between 2014 and 2017 accounted for ∼50% of marine heatwaves days in the past 37 years, with the highest maximum temperature intensities peaking at 5.9 • C above average temperatures for the period. We found significant declines in the number of Macrocystis pyrifera individuals, except at the northernmost island, and corresponding declines in the number of fronds per kelp individual. We also found significant changes in the community structure associated with the kelp beds: half of the fish and invertebrate species disappeared after the marine heatwaves, species with warmer affinities appeared or increased their abundance, and introduced algae, previously absent, appeared at all islands. Changes in subcanopy and understory algal assemblages were also evident; however, the response varied among islands. These results suggest that the effect of global warming can be more apparent in sensitive species, such as sessile invertebrates, and that warming-related impacts have the potential to facilitate the establishment of tropical and invasive species.

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Section: Loss Of Cold-water Species and Increase In Some Warm Affinitmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme Marine Heatwaves Alter Kelp Forest Community Near Its Equatorward Distribution Limit

et al. 2019

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“…Extreme climatic events such as marine heat waves can drive marginal populations to extinction (Smale & Wernberg, ), but annual mean and maximum water temperatures are also responsible for mortality events in the intertidal zone (Rivadeneira & Fernández, ; Jones et al ., ). Thermal stress can also strongly regulate population dynamics by impairing reproduction (Riera et al ., ) and algal growth (Short et al ., ). As populations of an intertidal canopy‐forming species suffer a reduction in reproduction and growth, overall abundance is affected (Riera et al ., ) and algal cover diminishes, in turn decreasing individuals’ survival and increasing vulnerability to additional stressors (Brawley & Johnson, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Upwelling areas as climate change refugia for the distribution and genetic diversity of a marine macroalga

Lourenço

Zardi

McQuaid

et al. 2016

Journal of Biogeography

102

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Aim Global climate change has profound and diverse effects on biological diversity. Identifying present-day climate refugia is an increasingly recognized strategy for the management of biodiversity loss. Such refugia are potential safe havens that enhance environmental diversity by buffering the effects of large scale change, facilitating species persistence at regional scales and conserving unique genetic diversity. Although their ecological effects are well studied, the potential of upwelling centres to act as refugia in a scenario of climate warming remains largely unexplored. Here, we investigate whether upwelled waters act as refugia in a region heavily affected by recent climatic changes.Location Shores of south-western Iberia and north-western Africa.Methods We compared changes in distribution of the canopy-forming macroalga Fucus guiryi with sea surface temperature patterns in five upwelling areas and adjacent warmer regions. Population diversity and structure was inferred from genotypic analyses using nine microsatellite loci.Results Fucus guiryi has disappeared from large expanses of non-upwelling shores, currently persisting in areas characterized by strong upwelling and reduced or non-significant rates of warming. Populations of F. guiryi were more abundant towards upwelling centres. Furthermore, the genetic characterization of populations revealed distinct genetic groups associated with each upwelling system. Main conclusionsWithin a large region of predominantly changing climate, we highlight the fundamental importance of upwelling areas as favourable, comparatively stable climates where F. guiryi has retreated and persists, preserving unique portions of the species' genetic pool.

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“…We also consider that it could be possible that some coralline algal populations are capable of locally adapting to changes in temperature over periods of time, while other calcifying benthic species, such as corals, will struggle to keep pace with warming. This will be particularly true if coralline algae can tolerate marine heatwave events, which is largely unknown, except for some contradictory results showing either increased or no change in mortality and no change in calcification rates after these events in Western Australia (Short et al, 2015;Cornwall et al, in preparation). In addition to factors mentioned above, their mixture of sexual and asexual reproduction gives them additional benefits.…”

Section: Coralline Algal Bleachingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Ocean Warming on Coralline Algal Calcification: Meta-Analysis, Knowledge Gaps, and Key Recommendations for Future Research

2019

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Coralline algae are foundation species in many hard-bottom ecosystems acting as a settlement substrate, and binding together and even creating reefs in some locations. Ocean acidification is known to be a major threat to coralline algae. However, the effects of ocean warming are less certain. Here we bring multiple lines of evidence together to discuss the potential impacts of ocean warming on these ecologically crucial taxa. We use a meta-analysis of 40 responses within 14 different studies available which assessed the effects of increasing temperature on coralline algal calcification in laboratory experiments. We find a net negative impact of increasing temperature on coralline algal calcification at 5.2 • C above ambient conditions. Conversely, negative effects are observed when temperature drops below 2.0 • C from ambient conditions. We propose that some coralline algae will be more capable of both acclimatizing and locally adapting to increasing ocean temperatures over the coming decades. This is because many species possess short generation times, the ability to opportunistically rapidly utilize open space, and relatively high phenotypic plasticity. However, less resistant and resilient species will be those that are long-lived, those with long generation times, or with narrow thermal tolerances (e.g., tropical taxa living close to their thermal maxima). Additionally, ocean warming will occur simultaneously with ocean acidification, a potentially greater threat to coralline algae, which could also reduce any tolerance to ocean warming for many species. To maximize the potential to accurately determine how coralline algae will respond to future ocean warming and marine heatwaves, future research should use environmentally relevant temperature treatments, use appropriate acclimation times and follow best practices in experimental design.

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Crustose coralline algal growth, calcification and mortality following a marine heatwave in Western Australia

Cited by 47 publications

References 59 publications

Extreme Marine Heatwaves Alter Kelp Forest Community Near Its Equatorward Distribution Limit

Extreme Marine Heatwaves Alter Kelp Forest Community Near Its Equatorward Distribution Limit

Upwelling areas as climate change refugia for the distribution and genetic diversity of a marine macroalga

Impacts of Ocean Warming on Coralline Algal Calcification: Meta-Analysis, Knowledge Gaps, and Key Recommendations for Future Research

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