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Published (Version of Record)CC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Intergrading reef communities across discrete seaweed habitats in a temperate-tropical transition zone: Lessons for species reshuffling in a warming ocean
Ecology and evolution, Vol.12(1), e8538
2022
PMCID: PMC8796930
PMID: 35127041
Abstract
Temperate reefs are increasingly affected by the direct and indirect effects of climate change. At many of their warm range edges, cool-water kelps are decreasing, while seaweeds with warm-water affinities are increasing. These habitat-forming species provide different ecological functions, and shifts to warm-affinity seaweeds are expected to modify the structure of associated communities. Predicting the nature of such shifts at the ecosystem level is, however, challenging, as they often occur gradually over large geographical areas. Here, we take advantage of a climatic transition zone, where cool-affinity (kelp) and warm-affinity (Sargassum) seaweed forests occur adjacently under similar environmental conditions, to test whether these seaweed habitats support different associated seaweed, invertebrate, coral, and fish assemblages. We found clear differences in associated seaweed assemblages between habitats characterized by kelp and Sargassum abundance, with kelp having higher biomass and seaweed diversity and more cool-affinity species than Sargassum habitats. The multivariate invertebrate and fish assemblages were not different between habitats, despite a higher diversity of fish species in the Sargassum habitat. No pattern in temperature affinity of the invertebrate or fish assemblages in each habitat was found, and few fish species were exclusive to one habitat or the other. These findings suggest that, as ocean warming continues to replace kelps with Sargassum, the abundance and diversity of associated seaweeds could decrease, whereas fish could increase. Nevertheless, the more tropicalized seaweed habitats may provide a degree of functional redundancy to associated fauna in temperate seaweed habitats.
Details
- Title
- Intergrading reef communities across discrete seaweed habitats in a temperate-tropical transition zone: Lessons for species reshuffling in a warming ocean
- Authors/Creators
- Yannick Mulders - Ocean InstituteKaren Filbee-Dexter - Ocean InstituteSahira Bell - Ocean InstituteNestor E. Bosch - UWA Oceans Inst, Perth, WA, AustraliaAlbert Pessarrodona - Ocean InstituteDefne Sahin - Ocean InstituteSofie Vranken - Ocean InstituteSalvador Zarco-Perello - Ocean InstituteThomas Wernberg - Ocean Institute
- Publication Details
- Ecology and evolution, Vol.12(1), e8538
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Number of pages
- 14
- Grant note
- DP170100023; DE1901006192 / Australian Research Council Winifred V. Scott Estate
- Identifiers
- 991005592756007891
- Copyright
- © 2022 The Authors
- Murdoch Affiliation
- Harry Butler Institute
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
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- 3 Agriculture, Environment & Ecology
- 3.2 Marine Biology
- 3.2.509 Marine Algae
- Web Of Science research areas
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- Evolutionary Biology
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