Sea-surface temperature anomalies mediate changes in fish richness and abundance in Western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries ...

• Main Author: Oke, Tobi
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2022
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx3ph; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.8w9ghx3ph

Aim: Anthropogenic-driven warming of marine systems has resulted in a series of biological and physiological responses that are fundamentally altering ecosystem structure. Because estuaries exist at the land-ocean interface, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of ocean warming as they can undergo rapid biogeochemical and hydrological shifts due to climate and land-use change. We explored how fish diversity structures—turnover, richness and abundance—have changed in the western North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries through space and time and the drivers of change. Location: North Atlantic and Northern Gulf of Mexico Taxa: Fish Results: We found that species richness and abundance, turnover have increased in North Atlantic and northern Gulf of Mexico estuaries in the last 3 decades. These changes were mediated largely by sea-surface temperature anomalies, especially in more northern estuaries where warming has been relatively pronounced. There is also an indication that urbanization, perhaps ... : We compiled long-term (>30 years), continent-wide fisheries independent trawl surveys conducted in estuaries—from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico (U.S. waters)—and combined these with climate and land-use-land-cover data to examine trends and ecological drivers of fish richness, abundance, and turnover using mixed-effect models. ...