Warm-water decapods and the trophic amplification of climate in the North Sea |
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Authors: | J A Lindley G Beaugrand C Luczak J-M Dewarumez R R Kirby |
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Institution: | 1.Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, Plymouth, UK;2.Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, LOG UMR 8187, France;3.School of Marine Science and Engineering, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK |
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Abstract: | A long-term time series of plankton and benthic records in the North Sea indicates an increase in decapods and a decline in their prey species that include bivalves and flatfish recruits. Here, we show that in the southern North Sea the proportion of decapods to bivalves doubled following a temperature-driven, abrupt ecosystem shift during the 1980s. Analysis of decapod larvae in the plankton reveals a greater presence and spatial extent of warm-water species where the increase in decapods is greatest. These changes paralleled the arrival of new species such as the warm-water swimming crab Polybius henslowii now found in the southern North Sea. We suggest that climate-induced changes among North Sea decapods have played an important role in the trophic amplification of a climate signal and in the development of the new North Sea dynamic regime. |
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Keywords: | benthos bivalves flatfish Polybius henslowii range temperature |
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