Changes in higher trophic level productivity, diversity and niche space in a rapidly warming continental shelf ecosystem

Details

• Journal Title:
  Science of The Total Environment
• Personal Author:
  Friedland, Kevin D. ; Langan, Joseph A. ; Large, Scott I. ; Selden, Rebecca L. ; Link, Jason S. ; Watson, Reg A. ; Collie, Jeremy S.
• NOAA Program & Office:
  NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; NEFSC (Northeast Fisheries Science Center) ; OAA (Office of Assistant Administrator)
• Description:
  There is long-standing ecological and socioeconomic interest in what controls the diversity and productivity of ecosystems. That focus has intensified with shifting environmental conditions associated with accelerating climate change. The U.S. Northeast Shelf (NES) is a well-studied continental shelf marine ecosystem that is among the more rapidly warming marine systems worldwide. Furthermore, many constituent species have experienced significant distributional shifts. However, the system response of the NES to climate change goes beyond simple shifts in species distribution. The fish and macroinvertebrate communities of the NES have increased in species diversity and overall productivity in recent decades, despite no significant decline in fishing pressure. Species distribution models constructed using random forest classification and regression trees were fit for the dominant species in the system. Over time, the areal distribution of occupancy habitat has increased for approximately 80% of the modeled taxa, suggesting most species have significantly increased their range and niche space. These niche spaces were analyzed to determine the area of niche overlap between species pairs. For the vast majority of species pairs, interaction has increased over time suggesting greater niche overlap and the increased probability for more intense species interactions, such as between competitors or predators and prey. Furthermore, the species taxonomic composition and size structure indicate a potential tropicalization of the fish community. The system and community changes are consistent with the view that the NES may be transitioning from a cold temperate or boreal ecoregion to one more consistent with the composition of a warm temperate or Carolinian system.
• Source:
  Science of The Total Environment, 704, 135270
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135270
• ISSN:
  0048-9697
• Format:
  pdf
• Publisher:
  Elsevier BV
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Rights Information:
  Accepted Manuscript
• Rights Statement:
  The NOAA IR provides access to this content under the authority of the government's retained license to distribute publications and data resulting from federal funding. While users may legally access this content, the copyright owners retain rights that govern the reproduction, redistribution, and re-use of this work. The user is solely responsible for complying with applicable copyright law.
• Compliance:
  Submitted
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9d8ca96047183ab14819d7d091867d0fbc019bfe8465e297f97a4b3c9e141e0947c6a4a46002a7eafa43cd52e24b7365eaa2d5e6b51d8494a071d0eb7e761126
• Download URL:
  https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/66493/noaa_66493_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.02 MB ]