IMIS

Publications | Institutes | Persons | Datasets | Projects | Maps
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Climate change impact on Balearic shearwater through a trophic cascade
Luczak, C.; Beaugrand, G.; Jaffre, M.; Lenoir, S. (2011). Climate change impact on Balearic shearwater through a trophic cascade. Biol. Lett. 7(5): 702-705. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2011.0225
In: Biology Letters. Royal Society Publishing: London. ISSN 1744-9561; e-ISSN 1744-957X, more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Balearic shearwater; climate change; trophic cascade; regime shift

Authors  Top 
  • Luczak, C., more
  • Beaugrand, G.
  • Jaffre, M.
  • Lenoir, S.

Abstract
    A recent study showed that a critically endangered migratory predator species, the Balearic shearwater Puffinus mauretanicus, rapidly expanded northwards in northeast Atlantic waters after the mid-1990s. As a significant positive correlation was found between the long-term changes in the abundance of this seabird and sea temperature around the British Isles, it was hypothesized that the link between the biogeographic shift and temperature occurred through the food web. Here, we test this conjecture and reveal concomitant changes in a regional index of sea temperature, plankton (total calanoid copepod), fish prey (anchovy and sardine) and the Balearic shearwater for the period 1980–2003. All three trophic levels exhibit a significant shift detected between 1994 and 1996. Our findings therefore support the assertion of both a direct and an indirect effect of climate change on the spatial distribution of post-breeding Balearic shearwater through a trophic cascade.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors