Major shifts in biogeographic regions of freshwater fishes as evidence of the Anthropocene epoch

Type Article
Date 2023-11
Language English
Author(s) Leroy BorisORCID1, Bellard CélineORCID2, Dias Murilo S.ORCID3, Hugueny BernardORCID4, Jézéquel CélineORCID4, Leprieur Fabien5, Oberdorff ThierryORCID4, Robuchon MarineORCID6, Tedesco Pablo A.ORCID4
Affiliation(s) 1 : Unité Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA, UMR 8067), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Université, Université de Caen Normandie, CNRS, IRD, Université des Antilles, Paris, France.
2 : Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
3 : Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília (UnB), Brasília-DF, Brazil.
4 : UMR5174 EDB (Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique), CNRS, IRD, UPS, Université Paul Sabatier, F-31062 Toulouse, France.
5 : MARBEC, Univ Montpellier, IRD, CNRS, IFREMER, Montpellier, France.
6 : Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission, Directorate for Sustainable Resources, 21027 Ispra (VA), Italy.
Source Science Advances (2375-2548) (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)), 2023-11 , Vol. 9 , N. 46 , P. eadi5502 (13p.)
DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adi5502
WOS© Times Cited 1
Abstract

Animals and plants worldwide are structured in global biogeographic regions, which were shaped by major geologic forces during Earth history. Recently, humans have changed the course of events by multiplying global pathways of introduction for nonindigenous species and propagating local species extirpations. Here, we report on how introductions and extirpations have changed the distributions of freshwater fishes worldwide and how it affected their natural biogeographic regions. We found major shifts in natural regions, with the emergence of an intercontinental region arising from the fusion of multiple faunas, which we named Pan-Anthropocenian Global North and East Asia (PAGNEA). The PAGNEA region is evocative of the Pangea supercontinent, as flows of introductions show that dispersal has become possible again across multiple continents, suggesting that human activities have superseded natural geological forces. Our results constitute evidence on the expected modification of biostratigraphic boundaries based on freshwater fish, which are abundant in the fossil record, thereby supporting the concept of the Anthropocene epoch.

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Leroy Boris, Bellard Céline, Dias Murilo S., Hugueny Bernard, Jézéquel Céline, Leprieur Fabien, Oberdorff Thierry, Robuchon Marine, Tedesco Pablo A. (2023). Major shifts in biogeographic regions of freshwater fishes as evidence of the Anthropocene epoch. Science Advances, 9(46), eadi5502 (13p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adi5502 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00861/97261/