Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Year Published
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
Cited by 1 publication
References 2 publications
The ocean-the Earth's largest ecosystem-is increasingly affected by anthropogenic climate change 1,2 . Large and globally consistent shifts have been detected in species phenology, range extension and community composition in marine ecosystems [3][4][5] . However, despite evidence for ongoing change, it remains unknown whether marine ecosystems have entered an Anthropocene 6 state beyond the natural decadal to centennial variability. This is because most observational time series lack a long-term baseline, and the few time series that extend back into the pre-industrial era have limited spatial coverage 7,8 . Here we use the unique potential of the sedimentary record of planktonic foraminifera-ubiquitous marine zooplankton-to provide a global pre-industrial baseline for the composition of modern species communities. We use a global compilation of 3,774 seafloor-derived planktonic foraminifera communities of pre-industrial age 9 and compare these with communities from sediment-trap time series that have sampled plankton flux since ad 1978 (33 sites, 87 observation years). We find that the Anthropocene assemblages differ from their pre-industrial counterparts in proportion to the historical change in temperature. We observe community changes towards warmer or cooler compositions that are consistent with historical changes in temperature in 85% of the cases. These observations not only confirm the existing evidence for changes in marine zooplankton communities in historical times, but also demonstrate that Anthropocene communities of a globally distributed zooplankton group systematically differ from their unperturbed pre-industrial state.To determine whether anthropogenic climate change has affected the marine environment beyond its natural state, it is essential to compare modern observations to a pre-industrial baseline. Because such a baseline is available for the physical state of the ocean, it has been established that, in response to global warming, the sea-surface temperature field has changed significantly since the onset of industrialization approximately 170 years ago 1,2 (Fig. 1). Marine ecosystem research, on the other hand, is almost exclusively based on observations since the mid-twentieth century and the pre-industrial baseline is therefore mostly unknown. Although existing observations provide strong evidence for changes in marine ecosystems in a direction that is consistent with late-twentieth century climate change 3,4,10,11 , this lack of a pre-industrial reference prevents assessing the degree to which Anthropocene marine ecosystems differ from their natural, preindustrial state 12 . This affects our ability to predict the effects of global change on marine ecosystem functioning and the resulting impacts on the resources that they provide to society.Planktonic foraminifera are a globally ubiquitous group of marine zooplankton. Their distribution is primarily controlled by temperature 13,14 . About 40 morphospecies are known 15 ; they occur most abundantly in the surface mixed layer, but some s...
The ocean-the Earth's largest ecosystem-is increasingly affected by anthropogenic climate change 1,2 . Large and globally consistent shifts have been detected in species phenology, range extension and community composition in marine ecosystems [3][4][5] . However, despite evidence for ongoing change, it remains unknown whether marine ecosystems have entered an Anthropocene 6 state beyond the natural decadal to centennial variability. This is because most observational time series lack a long-term baseline, and the few time series that extend back into the pre-industrial era have limited spatial coverage 7,8 . Here we use the unique potential of the sedimentary record of planktonic foraminifera-ubiquitous marine zooplankton-to provide a global pre-industrial baseline for the composition of modern species communities. We use a global compilation of 3,774 seafloor-derived planktonic foraminifera communities of pre-industrial age 9 and compare these with communities from sediment-trap time series that have sampled plankton flux since ad 1978 (33 sites, 87 observation years). We find that the Anthropocene assemblages differ from their pre-industrial counterparts in proportion to the historical change in temperature. We observe community changes towards warmer or cooler compositions that are consistent with historical changes in temperature in 85% of the cases. These observations not only confirm the existing evidence for changes in marine zooplankton communities in historical times, but also demonstrate that Anthropocene communities of a globally distributed zooplankton group systematically differ from their unperturbed pre-industrial state.To determine whether anthropogenic climate change has affected the marine environment beyond its natural state, it is essential to compare modern observations to a pre-industrial baseline. Because such a baseline is available for the physical state of the ocean, it has been established that, in response to global warming, the sea-surface temperature field has changed significantly since the onset of industrialization approximately 170 years ago 1,2 (Fig. 1). Marine ecosystem research, on the other hand, is almost exclusively based on observations since the mid-twentieth century and the pre-industrial baseline is therefore mostly unknown. Although existing observations provide strong evidence for changes in marine ecosystems in a direction that is consistent with late-twentieth century climate change 3,4,10,11 , this lack of a pre-industrial reference prevents assessing the degree to which Anthropocene marine ecosystems differ from their natural, preindustrial state 12 . This affects our ability to predict the effects of global change on marine ecosystem functioning and the resulting impacts on the resources that they provide to society.Planktonic foraminifera are a globally ubiquitous group of marine zooplankton. Their distribution is primarily controlled by temperature 13,14 . About 40 morphospecies are known 15 ; they occur most abundantly in the surface mixed layer, but some s...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
Contact Info
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Product
Resources
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.
