The ecological and evolutionary consequences of tropicalisation

Zarzyczny, Karolina M.; Rius, Marc; Williams, Suzanne T.; Fenberg, Phillip B.

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2023.10.006

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 121 publications

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“…Species are expected to perform at a lower capacity at their warm range edges (Zarzyczny et al., 2023 ). As the physiological tolerance limits of T. australiae have not been described, and Tripneustes are known to experience die‐offs in heatwave conditions and salinity decreases (Lawrence & Agatsuma, 2020 ), marine heatwaves and storms during our survey period (Lachs et al., 2021 ) may have contributed to their decline and limited recovery in this region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…declined across all size classes during the 9‐year survey period. Niche availability in a receiving ecosystem is crucial for the establishment of an invading or range extending population (Bates et al., 2014 ; Miller et al., 2023 ; Zarzyczny et al., 2023 ). It is thus possible that subtropical reefs in this region may not experience an influx of tropical sea urchins, while the populations of C. rodgersii are dominant and stable, and that C. rodgersii mediates ecological dynamics of other taxa in this region.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These transition zones are often influenced by western boundary currents that transport propagules of tropical and subtropical species poleward, as seen in Australia and Japan (Vergés et al., 2014 ). In these regions, many species live at the edges of their warm or cool thermal ranges, making them highly vulnerable to climate driven thermal anomalies (Beger et al., 2014 ; Mulders et al., 2022 ; Poloczanska et al., 2016 ; Stuart‐Smith et al., 2022 ; Zarzyczny et al., 2023 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Globally, there has been a shift from the dominance of cool to warm affinity species in marine transition zones, a phenomenon called topicalization (Mulders et al., 2022 ; Vergés et al., 2014 ). In a warming ocean, range shifts are often explained by biogeographic affinity, with warm‐affinity species increasing in abundance and diversity at their leading edges and cold‐affinity species decreasing at their warm‐range margins (Horta e Costa et al., 2014 ; Mulders et al., 2022 ; Poloczanska et al., 2016 ; Stuart‐Smith et al., 2022 ; Zarzyczny et al., 2023 ). Along with the direct effects of heat stress on temperate species, such as cold‐water kelps, topicalization is often characterised by changes in biotic interactions, including marked changes in herbivory due to the range extension and increased abundance of tropical herbivorous fishes (Vergés et al., 2014 , 2016 ; Wernberg et al., 2016 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taxa‐dependent temporal trends in the abundance and size of sea urchins in subtropical eastern Australia

McLaren,

Sommer,

Pandolfi

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Subtropical reefs host a dynamic mix of tropical, subtropical, and temperate species that is changing due to shifts in the abundance and distribution of species in response to ocean warming. In these transitional communities, biogeographic affinity is expected to predict changes in species composition, with projected increases of tropical species and declines in cool‐affinity temperate species. Understanding population dynamics of species along biogeographic transition zones is critical, especially for habitat engineers such as sea urchins that can facilitate ecosystem shifts through grazing. We investigated the population dynamics of sea urchins on coral‐associated subtropical reefs at 7 sites in eastern Australia (28.196° S to 30.95° S) over 9 years (2010–2019), a period impacted by warming and heatwaves. Specifically, we investigated the density and population size structure of taxa with temperate (Centrostephanus rodgersii, Phyllacanthus parvispinus), subtropical (Tripneustes australiae) and tropical (Diadema spp.) affinities. Counter to expectation, biogeographic affinity did not explain shifts in species abundances in this region. Although we expected the abundance of tropical species to increase at their cold range boundaries, tropical Diadema species declined across all sites. The subtropical T. australiae also showed declines, while populations of the temperate C. rodgersii were remarkably stable throughout our study period. Our results show that temporal patterns of sea urchin populations in this region cannot be predicted by bio‐geographic affinity alone and contribute critical information about the population dynamics of these important herbivores along this biogeographic transition zone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Taxa‐dependent temporal trends in the abundance and size of sea urchins in subtropical eastern Australia

McLaren,

Sommer,

Pandolfi

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Temperate seas, where the biota is already adapted to the large seasonal variability of temperature at mid-latitudes, provide the best-known examples [6,7]. In particular, temperate seas are experiencing what has been called 'tropicalisation' (British English) or 'tropicalization' (American English), a neologism coined to indicate temperature increase and the concurrent arrival and establishment of (sub)tropical species, which may lead to changes in the regional marine chorological spectrum [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Changing Biogeography of the Ligurian Sea: Seawater Warming and Further Records of Southern Species

Azzola,

Bianchi,

Merotto

et al. 2024

Diversity

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Global warming is causing poleward expansion of species ranges. Temperate seas, in particular, are undergoing a process known as ‘tropicalisation’, i.e., the combination of sea-water warming and establishment of southern species. The Ligurian Sea is one of the coldest sectors of the Mediterranean and has thus been characterized by a dearth of warm-temperate species and a comparative abundance of cold-temperate species. This paper uses a time series of sea surface temperature (SST) and new records of thermophilic fish species to reconsider the biogeography of the Ligurian Sea. SST has risen by about 0.7 °C on average between 1948 and 2023, but two phases may be distinguished: a cool one (ended in the mid-1980s) and a warm one (still ongoing); the latter phase shows alternating periods of rapid warming and comparatively stationary temperature. The arrival of thermophilic species coincided with the periods of rapid warming; some of these species were established in the subsequent stationary periods. Heatwaves and climate-related diseases associated with the periods of rapid warming have caused mass mortalities of autochthonous species. Our knowledge on the biogeography of the Ligurian Sea was established during the cool phase; the present situation, however, calls for re-defining the chorological spectrum of the Ligurian Sea biota.

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Spatial structuring of coral traits along a subtropical-temperate transition zone persists despite localised signs of tropicalisation

Sahin,

E. Bosch,

Cooper

et al. 2024

Coral Reefs

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Climate-driven species range expansions are underway with more tropically affiliated species, including Scleractinian corals, becoming increasingly abundant at higher latitudes. However, uncertainty remains on how these range shifts will affect reef-scale ecosystem processes, which will ultimately depend on the traits of the taxa that dominate these assemblages. Here, we quantified spatiotemporal patterns in the taxonomic and trait structure of coral assemblages along the subtropical-temperate coast of Western Australia (27°–34°S). Coral abundance was generally low and coral cover < 5% across our study sites. Coral assemblages shared similarities in morphological trait structures across the latitudinal gradient, mostly characterised by taxa with simple morphologies; yet subtle differences were also observed across latitudes, with high-latitude corals characterised by slower growth rates and reduced maximum colony sizes. We found a 3.4-fold increase (from 1 to 3.4 individuals m−2) in coral abundance at one heavily disturbed location, where canopy-forming seaweeds were replaced by turfing algae, a pattern that was partly driven by an increase in the relative contribution of warm affinity taxa, such as Acropora spp. We predicted these changes would be reflected in different components of functional diversity; yet, despite a localised signal of tropicalisation, we only observed subtle changes in the functional identity, richness, evenness, and divergence. The spatially invariant trait structure of coral assemblages suggests that the nature of ecosystem functions will likely remain unchanged during early stages of tropicalisation, and hence their contribution to temperate reef-scale ecological processes will depend on dominance over other benthic foundational species.

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The ecological and evolutionary consequences of tropicalisation

Cited by 12 publications

References 121 publications

Taxa‐dependent temporal trends in the abundance and size of sea urchins in subtropical eastern Australia

Taxa‐dependent temporal trends in the abundance and size of sea urchins in subtropical eastern Australia

The Changing Biogeography of the Ligurian Sea: Seawater Warming and Further Records of Southern Species

Spatial structuring of coral traits along a subtropical-temperate transition zone persists despite localised signs of tropicalisation

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