MSGID: 1:317/3 64b0cf80   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Multiple ecosystems in hot water after marine heatwave surges across the   
   Pacific    
      
     Date:   
         July 13, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of California - Santa Barbara   
     Summary:   
         Rising ocean temperatures are sweeping the seas, breaking records   
         and creating problematic conditions for marine life. Unlike   
         heatwaves on land, periods of abrupt ocean warming can surge for   
         months or years.   
      
         Around the world these 'marine heatwaves' have led to mass species   
         mortality and displacement events, economic declines and habitat   
         loss.   
      
         New research reveals that even areas of the ocean protected from   
         fishing are still vulnerable to these extreme events fueled by   
         climate change.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   Rising ocean temperatures are sweeping the seas, breaking records and   
   creating problematic conditions for marine life. Unlike heatwaves on land,   
   periods of abrupt ocean warming can surge for months or years. Around the   
   world these 'marine heatwaves' have led to mass species mortality and   
   displacement events, economic declines and habitat loss. New research   
   reveals that even areas of the ocean protected from fishing are still   
   vulnerable to these extreme events fueled by climate change.   
      
   A study published today in Global Change Biology,led by researchers at UC   
   Santa Barbara, found that while California's network of marine protected   
   areas (MPAs) provide many social and ecological benefits, they are not   
   resilient to the effects of ocean warming. MPAs are locations in the ocean   
   where human activities such as fishing are restricted to conserve and   
   protect marine ecosystems, habitats, species and cultural resources. The   
   study, part of a 10- year review of California's MPA network conducted   
   at UCSB's National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis (NCEAS),   
   found that marine heatwaves impact ecological communities regardless of   
   whether they are protected inside MPAs.   
      
   "MPAs in California and around the world have many benefits, such as   
   increased fish abundance, biomass and diversity," said Joshua Smith,   
   who led the study while he was a postdoctoral researcher at NCEAS . "But   
   they were never designed to buffer the impacts of climate change or   
   marine heatwaves."  Smith and co-authors from all over the world were   
   part of an NCEAS working group formed to synthesize decades of long-term   
   ecological monitoring data from California's diverse ocean habitats. The   
   group, co-led by Jenn Caselle, a researcher with UCSB's Marine Science   
   Institute, and Kerry Nickols, a professor from Cal State University   
   Northridge who now works with the non-profit Ocean Visions, aimed to   
   provide actionable scientific results to California's policy makers and   
   natural resource managers, as part of a statewide Decadal Evaluation of   
   the MPA network. Their analyses spanned the largest marine heatwave on   
   record, which rolled through the Pacific Ocean toward California from   
   2014- 2016. The monster marine heatwave was formed from an environmental   
   double- whammy -- unusual ocean warming nicknamed "The Blob," followed by   
   a major El Nin~o event that prolonged the sweltering sea temperatures. The   
   marine heatwave blanketed the West Coast from Alaska to Baja and left a   
   wake of altered food webs, collapsed fisheries, and shifted populations   
   of marine life among various other consequences.   
      
   As MPA managers around the world face increasing climate shocks, the   
   extent to which MPAs can buffer the worst of these events has become an   
   important question. The working group scientists asked how the ecological   
   communities in California's protected areas fared after such a severe and   
   prolonged heatwave: Would the communities shift and if so, how? Would   
   they 'bounce back' when the marine heatwave subsided? Could the marine   
   protected areas protect sensitive populations or facilitate recovery?   
   To find answers to their questions, they synthesized over a decade of   
   data collected from 13 no-take MPAs located in a variety of ecosystems   
   along the Central Coast: rocky intertidal zones, kelp forests, shallow   
   and deep rocky reefs. The team looked at fish, invertebrates and seaweed   
   populations inside and outside these areas, using data from before,   
   during and after the heatwave.   
      
   They also focused on two of these habitats, rocky intertidal and kelp   
   forests, at 28 MPAs across the full statewide network to gauge whether   
   these locations promoted one particular form of climate resilience --   
   maintaining both population and community structure.   
      
   "We used no-take MPAs as a type of comparison to see whether the protected   
   ecological communities fared better to the marine heatwave than places   
   where fishing occurred," said Smith, now an Ocean Conservation Research   
   Fellow at Monterey Bay Aquarium.   
      
   The results are somewhat sobering, though not altogether unexpected.   
      
   "The MPAs did not facilitate resistance or recovery across habitats or   
   across communities," Caselle said. "In the face of this unprecedented   
   marine heatwave, communities did change dramatically in most   
   habitats. But, with one exception, the changes occurred similarly   
   both inside and outside the MPAs. The novelty of this study was that   
   we saw similar results across many different habitats and taxonomic   
   groups, from deepwater to shallow reefs and from fishes to algae."   
   The implication of these findings, according to Smith, is that every part   
   of the ocean is under threat from climate change. "MPAs are effective   
   in many of the ways they were designed, but our findings suggest that   
   MPAs alone are not sufficient to buffer the effects of climate change."   
   The key question now is what will happen in the future? At the time of   
   this study using data through 2020, the ecological communities have not   
   returned to their former, pre-heatwave state. According to the paper,   
   these ecological communities shifted toward a "pronounced decline in the   
   relative proportion of cold-water species and an increase in warm water   
   species." For example, increases in the abundance of the sen~orita fish   
   (Oxyjulis californica), a subtropical species with warm water affinity   
   and previously rare in central California, had an outsized influence   
   on the shift of communities. Whether these species persist in their new   
   locations remains to be seen.   
      
   "This study makes it clear why long-term monitoring of California's MPAs   
   is so critical," said Caselle. "Some of these time series are longer   
   than 25 years at this point and the data are critical to understanding   
   and readying human communities for the changes occurring in our marine   
   communities." Continued study will show if future shifts in marine   
   communities occur at different rates or to different base states in MPAs   
   compared to fished areas.   
      
   Despite the limited ability of MPAs to resist the grip of the marine   
   heatwave, they do confer benefits, not the least of which is the   
   ability to study the complex effects of climate change in areas not   
   impacted by fishing. As areas of minimal human interference that are   
   regularly monitored, they present opportunities to study the response   
   of marine ecosystems to shifting conditions and potentially tailor   
   management techniques accordingly. Moreover, as Smith stated, "the   
   ecological communities in MPAs are still being protected, even if they   
   are different as a result of the heatwave. Given that marine heatwaves   
   are anticipated to increase in frequency and magnitude into the future,   
   swift climate action and nature-based solutions are needed as additional   
   pathways to enhance the health of our oceans."  Kerry Nickols adds,   
   "With the devastating impacts of climate change already apparent, it is   
   very important that we are upfront about climate solutions - - as long   
   as we are burning fossil fuels and warming the globe marine ecosystems   
   will be at risk, even if they are protected from fishing."  This paper   
   is the first in a series led by the NCEAS working group. Forthcoming   
   articles examine human engagement across the California MPA network,   
   the effect of MPAs on fish populations and fisheries, and a synthesis   
   of marine protected areas that work for people and nature.   
      
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Fish # Nature # Marine_Biology # Sea_Life   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Environmental_Awareness # Oceanography #   
                   Environmental_Issues # Ecology   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Climate o Marine_conservation o Global_warming o Ocean o   
             Marine_biology o Attribution_of_recent_climate_change o Coast   
             o Fishery   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_California_-_Santa_Barbara. Original written by Sonia   
   Fernandez. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. Joshua G. Smith, Christopher M. Free, Cori Lopazanski, Julien Brun,   
         Clarissa R. Anderson, Mark H. Carr, Joachim Claudet, Jenifer   
         E. Dugan, Jacob G. Eurich, Tessa B. Francis, Scott L. Hamilton,   
         David Mouillot, Peter T. Raimondi, Richard M. Starr, Shelby   
         L. Ziegler, Kerry J. Nickols, Jennifer E. Caselle. A marine   
         protected area network does not confer community structure   
         resilience to a marine heatwave across coastal ecosystems. Global   
         Change Biology, 2023; DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16862   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230713142059.htm   
      
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