1. Changes in fish communities due to benthic habitat shifts under ocean acidification conditions
- Author
-
Shigeki Wada, Sylvain Agostini, Jason M. Hall-Spencer, Federico Quattrocchi, Carlo Cattano, Kazuo Inaba, Ben P. Harvey, Marco Milazzo, G. Turco, Cattano C., Agostini S., Harvey B.P., Wada S., Quattrocchi F., Turco G., Inaba K., Hall-Spencer J.M., and Milazzo M.
- Subjects
Environmental Engineering ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Range (biology) ,Coral ,Reef-associated fish ,010501 environmental sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Japan ,Environmental Chemistry ,Animals ,Ecosystem ,Marine ecosystem ,Seawater ,Scleractinian coral cover ,Biogenic habitat complexity, Carbon dioxide, Reef-associated fish, Scleractinian coral cover ,Waste Management and Disposal ,Biogenic habitat complexity ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,Ecology ,Coral Reefs ,fungi ,Global warming ,Ocean acidification ,Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ,Pollution ,Habitat ,Carbon dioxide ,Benthic zone ,Environmental science ,geographic locations - Abstract
Ocean acidification will likely change the structure and function of coastal marine ecosystems over coming decades. Volcanic carbon dioxide seeps generate dissolved CO2 and pH gradients that provide realistic insights into the direction and magnitude of these changes. Here, we used fish and benthic community surveys to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of fish community properties off CO2 seeps in Japan. Adding to previous evidence from ocean acidification ecosystem studies conducted elsewhere, our findings documented shifts from calcified to non-calcified habitats with reduced benthic complexity. In addition, we found that such habitat transition led to decreased diversity of associated fish and to selection of those fish species better adapted to simplified ecosystems dominated by algae. Our data suggest that near-future projected ocean acidification levels will oppose the ongoing range expansion of coral reef-associated fish due to global warming.
- Published
- 2020