Abstract
Since the Fourth IPCC Assessment Report, it has been widely accepted that anthropogenic climate change has been altering the distribution, phenology, physiology and demography of species globally. However, this "knowledge" relies overwhelmingly on observations from terrestrial systems (less than 1 % of the observations in the study quantifying the generalisation are marine). Attempting to resolve this, a US National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis Working Group recently completed a major review of observed ecological responses of marine biota to climate change, compiling a database of ~1 700 observations from > 200 separate studies. The only data for beaches come from four studies relating to turtle and penguin nesting, three studies on tide-flat cockles, and one study relating to flies in seaweed wrack; none of these quantitative descriptions of ecological responses to climate change were from typical invertebrate communities of ocean-exposed sandy beaches. By contrast, observations of climate impacts on rocky shores are plentiful in the database (> 200 time series). Rocky shore ecologists have long maintained that intertidal zones provide tractable model systems for climate-impact studies. Sandy beaches offer similar opportunities, and have a smaller, but still significant legacy of historical studies. For climate impacts on beaches to be quantified, we urgently need to identify all sources of data that may contribute. These could include museum records, library resources (including university dissertations and theses), and time series held by government and citizen-science agencies. The priority is the collation of datasets that will facilitate comparative analysis of beach species' distributions, abundances or phenologies at distinct points in space and time. In regions where no such data exist, we must seek opportunities to establish and maintain consistent time series of observations. Particularly important in this regard, is the a priori development of specific hypotheses that can be tested using the data collected. Here, emerging tools like the velocity of climate change and seasonal climate shift can be useful in identifying locations that may be particularly susceptible to climate change impacts, thereby maximising potential benefits of research investment.