Wrong-way migrations of benthic species driven by ocean warming and larval transport

Heidi L. Fuchs (), Robert J. Chant, Elias J. Hunter, Enrique N. Curchitser, Gregory P. Gerbi and Emily Y. Chen
Additional contact information
Heidi L. Fuchs: Rutgers University
Robert J. Chant: Rutgers University
Elias J. Hunter: Rutgers University
Enrique N. Curchitser: Rutgers University
Gregory P. Gerbi: Skidmore College
Emily Y. Chen: Rutgers University

Nature Climate Change, 2020, vol. 10, issue 11, 1052-1056

Abstract: Abstract Ocean warming has predictably driven some marine species to migrate polewards or to deeper water, matching rates of environmental temperature change (climate velocity) to remain at tolerable temperatures. Most species conforming to expectations are fish and other strong swimmers that can respond to temperature change by migrating as adults. On the Northwest Atlantic continental shelf, however, many benthic invertebrates’ ranges have instead shifted southwards and into shallower, warmer water. We tested whether these ‘wrong-way’ migrations could arise from warming-induced changes in the timing of spawning (phenology) and transport of drifting larvae. The results showed that larvae spawned earlier in the year encounter more downwelling-favourable winds and river discharge that drive transport onshore and southwards. Phenology and transport explained most observed range shifts, whereas climate velocity was a poor predictor. This study reveals a physical mechanism that counterintuitively pushes benthic species, including commercial shellfish, into warmer regions with higher mortality.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0894-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcli:v:10:y:2020:i:11:d:10.1038_s41558-020-0894-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/nclimate/

DOI: 10.1038/s41558-020-0894-x

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Climate Change is currently edited by Bronwyn Wake

More articles in Nature Climate Change from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().