Canopy-forming seaweeds sustain critical ecosystem services in coastal habitats. Around the world, many of these seaweeds are suffering strong declines, mainly attributed to the progressive increase in sea surface temperature, in combination with other stressors due to current global changes. The southernmost part of the NE Atlantic is among those areas most affected by climate change. In this study, we estimated the distributional contractions of seven of the most conspicuous seaweeds from the Atlantic coasts of the Iberian Peninsula using an Extent of Occurrence methodology. Overall, during the last three decades, range shifts have been more pronounced east of the Cantabrian Sea than along the western coast of the Iberian Peninsula. In particular, regions with a semi-permanent summer upwelling seem to be critical to the persistence of brown seaweeds, fucoids and kelps. Range contractions of the cold-temperate fucoids were estimated to be ca. 21% and 45% for Himanthalia elongata and Fucus serratus, respectively; and for the kelps Saccharina latissima and Laminaria hyperborea, 6% and 14%, respectively. Range contractions for warm-temperate kelps were estimated to be ca. 13% and 10% for Saccorhiza polyschides and L. ochroleuca, respectively. Finally, a decline in the warm-temperate red algae Gelidium corneum occurred only in the easternmost area of the Cantabrian Sea (Basque Country), leading to a distributional contraction of 7%. We recommend conservation actions to better manage the remnant populations of these canopy-forming seaweeds, and their inclusion in national and regional catalogues of endangered species and on international Red Lists.
1.Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Biodivers & Conservat Unit, C Tulipan S-N, Madrid 28933, Spain 2.Univ Alcala De Henares, EU US Marine Biodivers Res Grp, Franklin Inst, Madrid 28871, Spain 3.European Commiss, Joint Res Ctr, Directorate Sustainable Resources, Water & Marine Resources Unit, Ispra, Italy 4.Univ A Coruna, Dept Biol, Fac Sci, La Coruna 15071, Spain 5.Natl Univ Ireland, Irish Seaweed Res Grp, Ryan Inst, Galway, Galway, Ireland 6.Natl Univ Ireland, Earth & Ocean Sci Dept, Ryan Inst, Galway, Galway, Ireland 7.Natl Univ Ireland, Sch Nat Sci, Galway, Galway, Ireland 8.Herrera Kaia, AZTI, Div Marine Res, Portualdea S-N, Pasaia 20110, Spain 9.Univ Basque Country UPV EHU, Dept Plant Biol & Ecol, POB 644, Bilbao 48080, Spain 10.Univ Oviedo, Dept BOS Ecol, E-33071 Oviedo, Spain 11.Univ Cantabria, PCTCAN, Environm Hydraul Inst IH Cantabria, C Isabel Torres 15, Santander 39011, Spain 12.Univ Cadiz, Inst Univ Invest Marinas, Puerto Real 11510, Cadiz, Spain 13.Spanish Inst Oceanog IEO, Seaweed Culture Ctr, Oceanog Ctr Santander, Barrio Corbanera S-N Monte, Santander 39012, Spain 14.Univ Las Palmas Gran Canaria, Grp Biodiversidad & Conservac, IU, ECOAQUA, Marine Sci & Technol Pk,Crta Taliarte S-N, Telde 35214, Spain 15.Malaga Univ, Dept Biol Vegetal Bot, Fac Ciencias, Malaga 29071, Spain 16.Univ Complutense Madrid, Fac Biol, Dept Biodiversidad Ecol & Evoluc, C Jose Antonio Novais 12, Madrid 28040, Spain
Recommended Citation:
Casado-Amezua, P.,Araujo, R.,Barbara, I.,et al. Distributional shifts of canopy-forming seaweeds from the Atlantic coast of Southern Europe[J]. BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION,2019-01-01,28(5):1151-1172