The future of the northeast Atlantic benthic flora in a high CO2 world

• Published in: Ecology and Evolution
• Main Authors: Brodie, Juliet, Williamson, Christopher J., Smale, Dan A., Kamenos, Nicholas A., Mieszkowska, Nova, Santos, Rui, Cunliffe, Michael, Steinke, Michael, Yesson, Christopher, Anderson, Kathryn M., Asnaghi, Valentina, Brownlee, Colin, Burdett, Heidi L., Burrows, Michael T., Collins, Sinead, Donohue, Penelope J. C., Harvey, Ben, Foggo, Andrew, Noisette, Fanny, Nunes, Joana, Ragazzola, Federica, Raven, John A., Schmidt, Daniela N., Suggett, David, Teichberg, Mirta, Hall-Spencer, Jason M.
• Other Authors: University of St Andrews. Earth and Environmental Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Calcified algae; Climate change; Invasive species; Macroalgae; Microphytobenthos; Seagrasses; Volatile gases; Ocean acidification; Climate-change; Coralline algae; Carbon; Kelp; Growth; Temperature; Ecosystems; Evolution; QH301 Biology; SDG 13 - Climate Action; SDG 14 - Life Below Water; QH301; Northeast Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5212; https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1105

This work was funded by the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme (cofunded by NERC, Defra, and DECC), NERC OARP Grant: NE/H016996/1 “Ocean Acidification Impacts on Sea-Surface Biogeochemistry and climate”, with additional support from the Marine Biological Association (MBA) and the Natural History Museum. Seaweed and seagrass communities in the northeast Atlantic have been profoundly impacted by humans, and the rate of change is accelerating rapidly due to runaway CO2 emissions and mounting pressures on coastlines associated with human population growth and increased consumption of finite resources. Here, we predict how rapid warming and acidification are likely to affect benthic flora and coastal ecosystems of the northeast Atlantic in this century, based on global evidence from the literature as interpreted by the collective knowledge of the authorship. We predict that warming will kill off kelp forests in the south and that ocean acidification will remove maerl habitat in the north. Seagrasses will proliferate, and associated epiphytes switch from calcified algae to diatoms and filamentous species. Invasive species will thrive in niches liberated by loss of native species and spread via exponential development of artificial marine structures. Combined impacts of seawater warming, ocean acidification, and increased storminess may replace structurally diverse seaweed canopies, with associated calcified and noncalcified flora, with simple habitats dominated by noncalcified, turf-forming seaweeds. Publisher PDF Peer reviewed