Arctic marine forest distribution models showcase potentially severe habitat losses for cryophilic species under climate change.

ABSTRACT: The Arctic is among the fastest-warming areas of the globe. Understanding the impact of climate change on foundational Arctic marine species is needed to provide insight on ecological resilience at high latitudes. Marine forests, the underwater seascapes formed by seaweeds, are predicted to expand their ranges further north in the Arctic in a warmer climate. Here, we investigated whether northern habitat gains will compensate for losses at the southern range edge by modelling marine forest distributions according to three distribution categories: cryophilic (species restricted to the Arctic environment), cryotolerant (species with broad environmental preferences inclusive but not limited to the Arctic environment), and cryophobic (species restricted to temperate conditions) marine forests.

SUBMITTER: Bringloe TT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9314671 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature