Global alteration of ocean ecosystem functioning due to increasing human CO2 emissions

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Nagelkerken, Ivan, Connell, Sean D.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: National Academy of Sciences 2015
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4629388/; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26460052; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1510856112

People are not only concerned about climate change and its effects on plant and animal diversity but also about how humans are fundamentally changing the globe’s largest ecosystem that sustains economic revenue and food for many countries. We show that many species communities and ocean habitats will change from their current states. Ocean acidification and warming increase the potential for an overall simplification of ecosystem structure and function with reduced energy flow among trophic levels and little scope for species to acclimate. The future simplification of our oceans has profound consequences for our current way of life, particularly for coastal populations and those that rely on oceans for food and trade.