Species traits and climate velocity explain geographic range shifts in an ocean‐warming hotspot |
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| Authors: | Jennifer M Sunday Gretta T Pecl Stewart Frusher Alistair J Hobday Nicole Hill Neil J Holbrook Graham J Edgar Rick Stuart‐Smith Neville Barrett Thomas Wernberg Reg A Watson Dan A Smale Elizabeth A Fulton Dirk Slawinski Ming Feng Ben T Radford Peter A Thompson Amanda E Bates |
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| Institution: | 1. Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada;2. Earth to Ocean Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada;3. Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia;4. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Hobart, Australia;5. School of Plant Biology & UWA Oceans Institute, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia;6. Australian Institute of Marine Science, Crawley, Australia;7. The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, The Laboratory, Plymouth, UK;8. CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, Floreat, WA, Australia;9. School of Earth and Environment, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia;10. Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK |
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| Abstract: | Species' ranges are shifting globally in response to climate warming, with substantial variability among taxa, even within regions. Relationships between range dynamics and intrinsic species traits may be particularly apparent in the ocean, where temperature more directly shapes species' distributions. Here, we test for a role of species traits and climate velocity in driving range extensions in the ocean‐warming hotspot of southeast Australia. Climate velocity explained some variation in range shifts, however, including species traits more than doubled the variation explained. Swimming ability, omnivory and latitudinal range size all had positive relationships with range extension rate, supporting hypotheses that increased dispersal capacity and ecological generalism promote extensions. We find independent support for the hypothesis that species with narrow latitudinal ranges are limited by factors other than climate. Our findings suggest that small‐ranging species are in double jeopardy, with limited ability to escape warming and greater intrinsic vulnerability to stochastic disturbances. |
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| Keywords: | Benthic invertebrates climate change climate response fishes functional traits invasion range expansion range shifts range size |
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