When species don't move together: Non-concurrent range shifts in Eastern Pacific kelp forest communities.

ABSTRACT: Species range shifts due to changing ocean conditions are occurring around the world. As species move, they build new interaction networks as they shift from or into new ecological communities. Typically, species ranges are modeled individually, but biotic interactions have been shown to be important to creating more realistic modeling outputs for species. To understand the importance of consumer interactions in Eastern Pacific kelp forest species distributions, we used a Maxent framework to model a key foundation species, giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera), and a dominant herbivore, purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus). With neither species having previously been modeled in the Eastern Pacific, we found evidence for M. pyrifera expansion in the northern section of its range,

SUBMITTER: Cortese MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11125554 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature