Climate change 'endangers sea life'
Wednesday, 20 Dec 2006 13:54
Starfish are just one species of the species affected by climate change
Science In Focus
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Britain's coastal marine species are moving northwards to cooler waters as a result of climate change, research has shown.
A four-year, multi-partner study has found "strong evidence" of changes in the abundance, range and population structures of intertidal species due to a rise of 1C in sea temperatures.
According to the MarClim project (marine biodiversity and climate change), many of the changes in southern species have occurred as a result of increased reproductive output.
In northern species, the decline in abundance is thought to be linked to a decrease in their reproductive output.
Dr Nova Mieszkowska of the Marine Biological Association, who was one of the scientists involved in the MarClim project, told the Today programme that as a result of the 1C rise, there has been a "real shift" in warm water species moving northwards and cold water species becoming "quite a lot less abundant".
"It's not actually individual animals that are moving; it's their distributional limits," she explained.
"The biggest problem with a lot of these animals is they actually can't move because they're fixed to the rocks. So they make a very, very useful early warning indicator because they're actually dying out because they can't escape from the changing climates."
Species identified by MarClim as being affected include barnacles, limpets, snails, mussels, anemones, starfish, and many of the marine algae which are "very important" for the fisheries' nursing grounds.