Warm-water decapods are associated with the trophic amplification of climate warming in the North Sea - Archive ouverte HAL Access content directly
Journal Articles Biology Letters Year : 2010

Warm-water decapods are associated with the trophic amplification of climate warming in the North Sea

Abstract

A long-term time series of plankton and benthic records in the North Sea indicates an increase in decapods and a decline in their prey species that include bivalves and flatfish recruits. Here, we show that in the southern North Sea the proportion of decapods to bivalves doubled following a temperature-driven, abrupt ecosystem shift during the 1980s. Analysis of decapod larvae in the plankton reveals a greater presence and spatial extent of warm-water species where the increase in decapods is greatest. These changes paralleled the arrival of new species such as the warm-water swimming crab Polybius henslowii now found in the southern North Sea. We suggest that climate-induced changes among North Sea decapods have played an important role in the trophic amplification of a climate signal and in the development of the new North Sea dynamic regime.

Domains

Oceanography

Dates and versions

hal-00766638 , version 1 (18-12-2012)

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Cite

J. A. Lindley, Gregory Beaugrand, Christophe Luczak, Jean-Marie Dewarumez, Rr Kirby. Warm-water decapods are associated with the trophic amplification of climate warming in the North Sea. Biology Letters, 2010, 6, pp.773-776. ⟨10.1098/rsbl.2010.0394⟩. ⟨hal-00766638⟩
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