Climate change will reshuffle marine ecosystems in unexpected ways, study finds

Warming of the oceans due to climate change will mean fewer productive fish species to catch in the future, according to a new Rutgers study.

There is a mixed picture of ocean health presented in a new study. Climate warms will cause large species and commercially important fisheries to shift out of their historical ranges, but they will not be as abundant in their new geographic ranges. A cod fisherman in the Atlantic might still find fish 200 years from now, but in fewer numbers.

The species we fish today will be there tomorrow, but they will not be in the same abundance. The population growth rates are low, which makes it easier to catch fish.

The direct impacts of climate change on individual species were the focus of previous studies. While these one-at-a-time species projections offer insights into the composition of ocean communities in a warming world, they have largely failed to consider how food-web interactions will affect the pace of change.

The process of one species being nourished at the expense of another was looked at in the new study.

The researchers found that predator-prey interactions cause many species to shift their ranges more slowly than climate.

The model suggests that over the next 200 years of warming, species are going to continually reshuffle and be in the process of shifting their ranges.

Millions of species are moving poles in a reorganization of life on the planet. Animals and other organisms must eat, and our understanding of these dynamics ignores that feature. This knowledge gap has been filled by the researchers who looked at how the basic need for sustenance affects species movements.

The model wasspatially explicit and included parameters such as metabolism, body size and optimal temprature ranges. By accounting for climate change, they found that trophic interactions hamper the ability to respond quickly to warming temperatures. The arrival of new food sources to their pre-warming ranges has led to larger-bodied top predators staying longer than smaller prey in historical habitats.

Pinsky said that these dynamics will be in one place but globally.

More information: Body-size and food-web interactions mediate species range shifts under warming, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2755. rspb.royalsocietypublishing.or … .1098/rspb.2021.2755 Journal information: Proceedings of the Royal Society B Citation: Climate change will reshuffle marine ecosystems in unexpected ways, study finds (2022, April 12) retrieved 12 April 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-climate-reshuffle-marine-ecosystems-unexpected.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.