Marine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea

Type Article
Date 2022-10
Language English
Author(s) Garrabou JoaquimORCID1, 2, Gómez‐gras DanielORCID1, 3, Medrano AlbaORCID3, Cerrano CarloORCID4, 5, Ponti MassimoORCID6, 7, Schlegel RobertORCID8, Bensoussan NathanielORCID1, 2, Turicchia EvaORCID6, 7, Sini MariaORCID9, Gerovasileiou VasilisORCID10, 11, Teixido NuriaORCID8, 12, Mirasole AliceORCID12, Tamburello LauraORCID12, Cebrian EmmaORCID13, Rilov GilORCID14, Ledoux Jean‐baptisteORCID1, 15, Souissi Jamila BenORCID16, 17, Khamassi FatenORCID16, Ghanem RaouiaORCID17, Benabdi MouloudORCID18, Grimes Samir19, Ocaña Oscar20, Bazairi Hocein21, Hereu BernatORCID3, Linares CristinaORCID3, Kersting Diego KurtORCID3, La Rovira GracielORCID3, Ortega Júlia3, Casals DavidORCID3, Pagès‐escolà Marta3, Margarit NúriaORCID3, Capdevila PolORCID22, Verdura Jana23, Ramos AlfonsoORCID24, Izquierdo AndresORCID25, Barbera CarmenORCID24, Rubio‐portillo EstherORCID26, Anton IreneORCID25, López‐sendino PaulaORCID1, Díaz DavidORCID27, Vázquez‐luis MaiteORCID27, Duarte Carlos28, 29, Marbà NuriaORCID29, Aspillaga EnekoORCID29, Espinosa Free30, Grech DanieleORCID31, Guala IvanORCID31, Azzurro ErnestoORCID12, 32, Farina SimoneORCID33, Cristina Gambi MariaORCID34, Chimienti GiovanniORCID7, 35, Montefalcone MonicaORCID36, Azzola AnnalisaORCID36, Mantas Torcuato PulidoORCID4, Fraschetti SimonettaORCID7, 37, Ceccherelli GiuliaORCID38, Kipson SilvijaORCID39, 40, Bakran‐petricioli TatjanaORCID40, Petricioli DonatORCID41, Jimenez CarlosORCID42, 43, Katsanevakis SteliosORCID9, Kizilkaya Inci TuneyORCID44, Kizilkaya ZaferORCID45, Sartoretto StephaneORCID46, Elodie Rouanet47, Ruitton Sandrine2, Comeau SteeveORCID8, Gattuso Jean‐pierreORCID8, 48, Harmelin Jean‐georges47
Affiliation(s) 1 : Institut de Ciències del Mar‐CSIC Barcelona ,Spain
2 : Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, MIO Aix Marseille Univ Marseille, France
3 : Departament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO) Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona, Spain
4 : Dept of Life and Environmental Sciences, Polytechnic University of Marche Ancona, Italy
5 : Fano Marine Centre, Fano, Italy
6 : Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences University of Bologna Ravenna, Italy
7 : CoNISMa, Rome, Italy
8 : Laboratoire d'Océanographie de Villefranche Sorbonne, Université, CNRS, Villefranche‐sur‐mer, France
9 : Department of Marine Sciences University of the Aegean Mytilene,Greece
10 : Department of Environment, Faculty of Environment Ionian University Zakynthos, Greece
11 : Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture (IMBBC) Heraklion, Greece
12 : Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Department of Integrative Marine Ecology Ischia Marine Centre Naples, Italy
13 : Centre d'Estudis Avançats de Blanes (CEAB‐CSIC) Girona ,Spain
14 : National Institute of Oceanography Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR) Haifa ,Israel
15 : CIIMAR‐Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research University of Porto Matosinhos ,Portugal
16 : National Agronomic Institute of Tunisia Tunis University of Carthage Tunis ,Tunisia
17 : Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Climate Change Laboratory‐LR11ES09 University of Tunis El Manar Tunis ,Tunisia
18 : Abyss Environmental Services Algiers ,Algeria
19 : Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences de la Mer et de l'Aménagement (ENSSMAL) Alger, Algeria
20 : MMC (Museo del Mar de Ceuta) Ceuta ,Spain
21 : Laboratory 'Biodiversity, Ecology and Genome', Faculty of Sciences Mohamed V University in Rabat Rabat, Morocco
22 : School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol, UK
23 : Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS Nice ,France
24 : Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada Universidad de Alicante Alicante, Spain
25 : CIMAR—Universidad de Alicante Alicante, Spain
26 : Dpt. Physiology, Genetics and Microbiology Alicante,Spain
27 : Centro Oceanográfico de Baleares (IEO‐CSIC) Palma de Mallorca ,Spain
28 : Red Sea Research Center King Abudllah University of Science and Technology Thuwal ,Saudi Arabia
29 : Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats Mallorca,Spain
30 : Laboratorio de Biología Marina Universidad de Sevilla Sevilla, Spain
31 : IMC—International Marine Centre Oristano, Italy
32 : CNR‐IRBIM, NR‐IRBIM, National Research Council Institute of Biological Resources and Marine Biotechnologies Ancona ,Italy
33 : Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Deptartment of Integrative Marine Ecology Genoa Marine Centre Genoa ,Italy
34 : National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics, OGS Trieste ,Italy
35 : Department of Biology University of Bari Aldo Moro Bari,Italy
36 : Department of Earth, Environment and Life Sciences University of Genoa Genoa, Italy
37 : Department of Biology University of Naples Federico II Naples ,Italy
38 : Dipartimento di Chimica e Farmacia University of Sassari Sassari ,Italy
39 : SEAFAN Zagreb ,Croatia
40 : Faculty of Science, Department of Biology University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
41 : D.I.I.V. Ltd for Marine, Freshwater and Subterranean Ecology Sali ,Croatia
42 : Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre Nicosia ,Cyprus
43 : The Cyprus Institute Energy Environment and Water Research Center Aglantzia ,Cyprus
44 : Department of Biology, Faculty of Science Ege University Izmir, Turkey
45 : Mediterranean Conservation Society Izmir, Turkey
46 : IFREMER, Brest, France
47 : GIS Posidonie, OCEANOMED—MIO—Case 901 Marseille, France
48 : Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. Sciences Po, Paris, France
Source Global Change Biology (1354-1013) (Wiley), 2022-10 , Vol. 28 , N. 19 , P. 5708-5725
DOI 10.1111/gcb.16301
WOS© Times Cited 126
Keyword(s) climate change, coralligenous habitats, foundation species, habitat-forming species, impact assessment, marine conservation, marine heatwaves, temperate reefs
Abstract

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) and mass mortality events (MMEs) of marine organisms are one of their main ecological impacts. Here, we show that during the 2015–2019 period, the Mediterranean Sea has experienced exceptional thermal conditions resulting in the onset of five consecutive years of widespread MMEs across the basin. These MMEs affected thousands of kilometers of coastline from the surface to 45 m, across a range of marine habitats and taxa (50 taxa across 8 phyla). Significant relationships were found between the incidence of MMEs and the heat exposure associated with MHWs observed both at the surface and across depths. Our findings reveal that the Mediterranean Sea is experiencing an acceleration of the ecological impacts of MHWs which poses an unprecedented threat to its ecosystems' health and functioning. Overall, we show that increasing the resolution of empirical observation is critical to enhancing our ability to more effectively understand and manage the consequences of climate change.

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Garrabou Joaquim, Gómez‐gras Daniel, Medrano Alba, Cerrano Carlo, Ponti Massimo, Schlegel Robert, Bensoussan Nathaniel, Turicchia Eva, Sini Maria, Gerovasileiou Vasilis, Teixido Nuria, Mirasole Alice, Tamburello Laura, Cebrian Emma, Rilov Gil, Ledoux Jean‐baptiste, Souissi Jamila Ben, Khamassi Faten, Ghanem Raouia, Benabdi Mouloud, Grimes Samir, Ocaña Oscar, Bazairi Hocein, Hereu Bernat, Linares Cristina, Kersting Diego Kurt, La Rovira Graciel, Ortega Júlia, Casals David, Pagès‐escolà Marta, Margarit Núria, Capdevila Pol, Verdura Jana, Ramos Alfonso, Izquierdo Andres, Barbera Carmen, Rubio‐portillo Esther, Anton Irene, López‐sendino Paula, Díaz David, Vázquez‐luis Maite, Duarte Carlos, Marbà Nuria, Aspillaga Eneko, Espinosa Free, Grech Daniele, Guala Ivan, Azzurro Ernesto, Farina Simone, Cristina Gambi Maria, Chimienti Giovanni, Montefalcone Monica, Azzola Annalisa, Mantas Torcuato Pulido, Fraschetti Simonetta, Ceccherelli Giulia, Kipson Silvija, Bakran‐petricioli Tatjana, Petricioli Donat, Jimenez Carlos, Katsanevakis Stelios, Kizilkaya Inci Tuney, Kizilkaya Zafer, Sartoretto Stephane, Elodie Rouanet, Ruitton Sandrine, Comeau Steeve, Gattuso Jean‐pierre, Harmelin Jean‐georges (2022). Marine heatwaves drive recurrent mass mortalities in the Mediterranean Sea. Global Change Biology, 28(19), 5708-5725. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16301 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00787/89888/