Climate-driven range expansion of a critically endangered top predator in northeast Atlantic waters

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Wynn, Russell B, Josey, Simon A, Martin, Adrian P, Johns, David G, Yésou, Pierre
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2007
• Subjects: Research Article; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2391175; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17650478; https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2007.0162

Global climate change is driving rapid distribution shifts in marine ecosystems; these are well established for lower trophic levels, but are harder to quantify for migratory top predators. By analysing a 25-year sightings-based dataset, we found evidence for rapid northwards range expansion of the critically endangered Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus in northeast Atlantic waters. A 0.6°C sea surface temperature increase in the mid-1990s is interpreted as an underlying controlling factor, while simultaneous northward shifts of plankton and prey fish species suggests a strong bottom-up control. Our results have important conservation implications and provide new evidence for climate-driven regime shift in Atlantic ecosystems.