Climate change has significant impacts on marine ecosystems, resulting in disruptions in biological interactions, shifts in community composition, and changes in the physiology of fish and other marine organisms. In this study conducted in the central Mediterranean Sea, the mean temperature of the catch (MTC) was employed as an indicator to investigate the climatological factors influencing the fish community. The MTC, which utilizes species-preferred temperatures, was calculated using bottom temperature (BT) data weighted against scientific catches. The estimated MTC increasing rates were 0.01 °C year^(-1) for the entire community, 0.017 °C year^(-1) for the shelf break, and 0.004 °C year^(-1) for the continental slope assemblage. We found that MTC is increasing at a lower rate compared to BT, suggesting a progressive under-adaptation of the fish community that seems not fully able to keep up with the ongoing pace of warming. The study identified sea surface temperature and bottom temperature as key drivers of changes in fish community composition. Notably, the fish community composition exhibited drastic changes over the studied period, and we suggest that the MTC can be a useful index to monitor such changes within the context of the EU’s climate change adaptation strategy.

Mediterranean fish communities are struggling to adapt to global warming. Evidence from the western coast of Italy / Valente, Salvatore; Moro, Stefano; Di Lorenzo, Manfredi; Milisenda, Giacomo; Maiorano, Luigi; Colloca, Francesco. - In: MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. - ISSN 1879-0291. - 191:(2023), pp. 1-11. [10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106176]

Mediterranean fish communities are struggling to adapt to global warming. Evidence from the western coast of Italy

Salvatore Valente
Primo
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;
Stefano Moro
Secondo
;
Luigi Maiorano
Penultimo
;
Francesco Colloca
Ultimo
2023

Abstract

Climate change has significant impacts on marine ecosystems, resulting in disruptions in biological interactions, shifts in community composition, and changes in the physiology of fish and other marine organisms. In this study conducted in the central Mediterranean Sea, the mean temperature of the catch (MTC) was employed as an indicator to investigate the climatological factors influencing the fish community. The MTC, which utilizes species-preferred temperatures, was calculated using bottom temperature (BT) data weighted against scientific catches. The estimated MTC increasing rates were 0.01 °C year^(-1) for the entire community, 0.017 °C year^(-1) for the shelf break, and 0.004 °C year^(-1) for the continental slope assemblage. We found that MTC is increasing at a lower rate compared to BT, suggesting a progressive under-adaptation of the fish community that seems not fully able to keep up with the ongoing pace of warming. The study identified sea surface temperature and bottom temperature as key drivers of changes in fish community composition. Notably, the fish community composition exhibited drastic changes over the studied period, and we suggest that the MTC can be a useful index to monitor such changes within the context of the EU’s climate change adaptation strategy.
2023
mean temperature of the catch; community composition; cluster analysis; multivariate analysis; Tyrrhenian Sea
01 Pubblicazione su rivista::01a Articolo in rivista
Mediterranean fish communities are struggling to adapt to global warming. Evidence from the western coast of Italy / Valente, Salvatore; Moro, Stefano; Di Lorenzo, Manfredi; Milisenda, Giacomo; Maiorano, Luigi; Colloca, Francesco. - In: MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH. - ISSN 1879-0291. - 191:(2023), pp. 1-11. [10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106176]
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/1692694
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