Environmental Studies and Forestry

Global impacts of marine heatwaves on coastal foundation species

K. E. Smith, M. Aubin, et al.

Discover the critical global impacts of marine heatwaves on foundational coastal species. This groundbreaking research by Kathryn E. Smith, Margot Aubin, and their colleagues uncovers how these events threaten biodiversity and ecological function across diverse marine ecoregions.

00:00

Playback language: English

Index

Abstract

This study investigates the global impacts of marine heatwaves (MHWs) on coastal foundation species (macroalgae, seagrass, corals). Analysis of 1322 shallow coastal areas across 85 marine ecoregions reveals that intense summer MHWs significantly contribute to the decline of these species, particularly at their warm-range edges. Several ecoregions show resilience, suggesting factors like cumulative MHW intensity, temperature, and location within a species' range mediate impacts. The loss of foundation species threatens biodiversity, ecological function, and ecosystem services.

Publisher

Nature Communications

Published On

Jun 13, 2024

Authors

Kathryn E. Smith, Margot Aubin, Michael T. Burrows, Karen Filbee-Dexter, Alistair J. Hobday, Neil J. Holbrook, Nathan G. King, Pippa J. Moore, Alex Sen Gupta, Mads Thomsen, Thomas Wernberg, Edward Wilson, Dan A. Smale

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

Environmental Studies and Forestry

Impacts of marine heatwaves on top predator distributions are variable but predictable

H. Welch, M. S. Savoca, et al.

Economics

Contrasting influences of biogeophysical and biogeochemical impacts of historical land use on global economic inequality

S. Liu, Y. Wang, et al.

Earth Sciences

Frequent marine heatwaves hidden below the surface of the global ocean

D. Sun, F. Li, et al.

Environmental Studies and Forestry

Global patterns of climate change impacts on desert bird communities

L. Ma, S. R. Conradie, et al.

Listen, Learn & Level Up

Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.

No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.

listen to research audio papers with researchbunny