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Published VersionCC BY V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Climate change impacts on marine ecosystems through the lens of the size spectrum
Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, Vol.3(2), pp.233-243
2019
PMCID: PMC7289007
PMID: 33523153
Abstract
Climate change is a complex global issue that is driving countless shifts in the structure and function of marine ecosystems. To better understand these shifts, many processes need to be considered, yet they are often approached from incompatible perspectives. This article reviews one relatively simple, integrated perspective: the abundance-size spectrum. We introduce the topic with a brief review of some of the ways climate change is expected to impact the marine ecosystem according to complex numerical models while acknowledging the limits to understanding posed by complex models. We then review how the size spectrum offers a simple conceptual alternative, given its regular power law size-frequency distribution when viewed on sufficiently broad scales. We further explore how anticipated physical aspects of climate change might manifest themselves through changes in the elevation, slope and regularity of the size spectrum, exposing mechanistic questions about integrated ecosystem structure, as well as how organism physiology and ecological interactions respond to multiple climatic stressors. Despite its application by ecosystem modellers and fisheries scientists, the size spectrum perspective is not widely used as a tool for monitoring ecosystem adaptation to climate change, providing a major opportunity for further research.
Details
- Title
- Climate change impacts on marine ecosystems through the lens of the size spectrum
- Authors
- Ryan F. Heneghan (Corresponding Author) - Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaIan A. Hatton (Author) - Universitat Autònoma de BarcelonaEric D. Galbraith (Author) - Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
- Publication details
- Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, Vol.3(2), pp.233-243
- Publisher
- Portland Press Ltd
- Date published
- 2019
- DOI
- 10.1042/ETLS20190042
- ISSN
- 2397-8562; 2397-8554
- PMID
- 33523153; PMC7289007
- Copyright note
- © 2019 The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).
- Grant note
- 682602 / European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union MDM-2015-0552 / 'Maria de Maeztu' Program for Units of Excellence PCIN-2017-115 / Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, through the Acciones de Programacion Conjunta Internacional
- Organisation Unit
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99744889902621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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