char = D;code = 68
Diversity of deep-water cetaceans in relation to temperature: implications for ocean warming.char = U;code = 85
Publication: Ecol. Lett. 2008 Nov ;11(11)::1198-207. :doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01234.x.
Publication Date: 2008 Nov
Study Author(s): Whitehead, Hal;McGill, Brian;Worm, Boris;
Institution: Department of Biology, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford St, Halifax, NS, Canada.
[email protected]
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Understanding the effects of natural environmental variation on biodiversity can help predict response to future anthropogenic change. Here we analyse a large, long-term data set of sightings of deep-water cetaceans from the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Seasonal and geographic changes in the diversity of these genera are well predicted by a convex function of sea-surface temperature peaking at c. 21 degrees C. Thus, diversity is highest at intermediate latitudes - an emerging general pattern for the pelagic ocean. When applied to a range of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global change scenarios, the predicted response is a decline of cetacean diversity across the tropics and increases at higher latitudes. This suggests that deep-water oceanic communities that dominate > 60% of the planet's surface may reorganize in response to ocean warming, with low-latitude losses of diversity and resilience.
PMID: 18793309
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