A sea of change
The seas are not only rising, their temperature is increasing thanks to climate
change. But what effect will this have on the creatures that live around the UK
coasts? Pippa Moore and her colleagues at the Marine Biological Association
take a plunge into the Big Blue.
I
t is widely accepted that the
planet is experiencing a period of
rapid climate change, primarily
driven by human activities. Sea
surface temperatures (SST) around the
British coastline have increased. In
fact, data for the English Channel
0
show a 1 C rise in SST since 1990,
greater than any other change
recorded over the past 100 years
(Hawkins et al 2003). Because of this,
climate change impacts on our marine
biodiversity are of strategic concern
to the scientific community,
government, NGOs and the general
public.
The British Isles, particularly south-
west Britain, are ideally situated for
investigating the effects of climate
change as they straddle two major
marine biogeographic zones. This
Winner – Strawberry anemone
12 The edge Winter 2006
results in both warm (lusitanian) and
cool (boreal) species co-existing, living
at the northern or southern edge of
their biogeographic ranges. These
species have been shown to respond to
previous natural climate shifts and as
such are expected to respond to the
current rapid climate changes
affecting our seas.
Effects of global change on
plankton and fish
Early work carried out by researchers at
the Marine Biological Association of
the UK (MBA), for example, linked
fluctuations in the abundance of cold-
water planktonic herring larvae and
warm-water pilchard eggs with
fluctuations in climatic conditions
(Southward 1980). More recently a
northward shift of 10˚ latitude in the
distribution of southern species of
copepod in the eastern Atlantic has
been found (Beaugrand et al. 2002).
These species shifts could potentially
have large impacts on fish
communities as there will be a
mismatch in plankton availability at
the time of the year when food is
needed.
In the English Channel, work on both
commercial and non-commercial fish
populations found that changes in
mean annual sea surface temperature
(SST) accounted for the greatest
variation (24 per cent) in fish
community structure. Fishing pressure
also accounted for changes in the
commercial part of the population
(Genner et al 2004). Declines have
been seen in the abundance of larger
commercial species, such as skates,
rays and brill. Large increases have also
been noted in smaller trash species
(commercially caught fish not for
human consumption), such as poor
cod, red band-fish and dragonets. Such
shifts in fish species ranges have also
been observed in the North Sea (Perry
et al 2005). There have also been
changes in species migration and
spawning times in the English
Channel (Sims et al 2001, 2004).
Intertidal indicators of
climate change
As the most readily accessible marine
habitat in Europe, rocky shores have
been the focus of formal recording of
species distributions since the first half
 1963
© MBA
The change in fish sizes caught between the 1960s and now is clearly
evident in these MBA trawl photos taken in: left, Oct 1963; right, Nov 2001.
of the 20th Century. Rocky shores
are easily surveyed and can provide
cheap indicators of changes offshore.
The Marine Biodiversity and
Climate Change (MarClim) project
has recently analysed historic data
sets from the 1950s-1980s and
contemporary data on inter-
tidal indicator species abun-
dances, distributions and population
structure. The project has observed
eastern and northern range extensions
of many intertidal species with
southern biogeographic distributions
including: limpets, topshells, barnacles
and algae. In many cases the extension
of species ranges in the eastern English
Channel has been assisted by sea
defences which act as stepping stones
for species expansion to areas where
previously suitable hard substrata has
not been present (Herbert et al 2003).
K. Telnes
Loser – common tortoiseshell limpet
2001
Sea defences are likely to increase over
the next few years, providing more
habitat for species range expansion.
More can be found out about the
rocky shore survey work at
www.mba.ac.uk/marclim
Already some species are being
recorded as ‘winners’ or ‘losers’.
‘Winners’ include the strawberry
anemone Actinia fragacea and the
topshell Gibbula umbilicalis which
have both been recorded further north
and east in recent years. In contrast,
dabberlocks seaweed Alaria esculenta
and the common tortoiseshell limpet
Tectura testudinalis have both been
classed as ‘losers’ as their ranges are
contracting in the British Isles.
Although it is not clear how all species
will respond to climate change or the
speed that they will respond, what is
clear is that species ranges will change
and change independently of each
other. Different species mixtures will
occur resulting in large impacts on the
structure and function of marine
communities. Efforts are now being
made to understand the mechanisms
behind species responses to climate
change to inform predictive models to
forecast future species ranges and
community structure.
Getting
involved
The Marine Life Information
Network (MarLIN), in conjunction
with other agencies has been at
the forefront of coordinating a
volunteer marine recording
network. Volunteer recorders are
given a variety of resources
including marine life recording
schemes and identification guides
which focus on conspicuous and
easily identifiable species, many of
which are sensitive to climate
change. Findings are reported via
the MarLIN website where the
information is verified, validated,
entered into a database and made
available to all. To find out more
about getting involved, see the
MarLIN website:
www.marlin.ac.uk/LearningZone.
It is hoped that this sort of
inititative will strengthen links
between research and education as
well as contributing to baseline
data by providing wide
geographical and temporal
coverage, tapping into local
knowledge and picking up rare
occurrences of species.
Marine Biological Association:
www.mba.ac.uk Tel 01752 633207
Authors: Pippa Moore, Post doctoral research
assistant on the MarClim project - Steve
Hawkins, Director of MBA - Keith Hiscock,
Programme Director, MarLIN - Alan Southward,
Associate research fellow, MBA
The edge Winter 2006 13