Dataset Information

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean.

ABSTRACT: Global warming causes the poleward shift of the trailing edges of marine ectotherm species distributions. In the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, continental masses and oceanographic barriers do not allow natural connectivity with thermophilic species pools: as trailing edges retreat, a net diversity loss occurs. We quantify this loss on the Israeli shelf, among the warmest areas in the Mediterranean, by comparing current native molluscan richness with the historical one obtained from surficial death assemblages. We recorded only 12% and 5% of historically present native species on shallow subtidal soft and hard substrates, respectively. This is the largest climate-driven regional-scale diversity loss in the oceans documented to date. By contrast, assemblages in the intertidal, more tolerant to climatic extremes, and in the cooler mesophotic zone show approximately 50% of the historical native richness. Importantly, approximately 60% of the recorded shallow subtidal native species do not reach reproductive size, making the shallow shelf a demographic sink. We predict that, as climate warms, this native biodiversity collapse will intensify and expand geographically, counteracted only by Indo-Pacific species entering from the Suez Canal. These assemblages, shaped by climate warming and biological invasions, give rise to a 'novel ecosystem' whose restoration to historical baselines is not achievable.

SUBMITTER: Albano PG

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7892420 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean.

Albano Paolo G PG Steger Jan J Bošnjak Marija M Dunne Beata B Guifarro Zara Z Turapova Elina E Hua Quan Q Kaufman Darrell S DS Rilov Gil G Zuschin Martin M

Proceedings. Biological sciences 20210106 1942

Global warming causes the poleward shift of the trailing edges of marine ectotherm species distributions. In the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, continental masses and oceanographic barriers do not allow natural connectivity with thermophilic species pools: as trailing edges retreat, a net diversity loss occurs. We quantify this loss on the Israeli shelf, among the warmest areas in the Mediterranean, by comparing current native molluscan richness with the historical one obtained from surficial ...[more]

PMID: 33402072

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Project description:Background and aimsAubrieta is a taxonomically difficult genus from the Brassicaceae family with approximately 20 species centred in Turkey and Greece. Species boundaries and their evolutionary history are poorly understood. Therefore, we analysed bio- and phylogeographic relationships and evaluated morphological variation to study the evolution of this genus.MethodsPhylogenetic analyses of DNA sequence variation of nuclear-encoded loci and plastid DNA were used to unravel phylogeographic patterns. Morphometric analyses were conducted to study species delimitation. DNA sequence-based mismatch distribution and climate-niche analyses were performed to explain various radiations in space and time during the last 2·5 million years.Key resultsSpecies groups largely show non-overlapping distribution patterns in the eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor. We recognized 20 species and provide evidence for overlooked species, thereby highlighting taxonomical difficulties but also demonstrating underexplored species diversity. The centre of origin of Aubrieta is probably Turkey, from which various clades expanded independently towards Asia Minor, south to Lebanon and west to Greece and the Balkans during the Pleistocene.ConclusionsPleistocene climatic fluctuations had a pronounced effect on Aubrieta speciation and radiation during the last 1·1 million years in the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor. In contrast to many other Brassicaceae, speciation processes did not involve excessive formation of polyploids, but displayed formation of diploids with non-overlapping present-day distribution areas. Expansions from the Aubrieta centre of origin and primary centre of species diversity showed adaptation trends towards higher temperature and drier conditions. However, later expansion and diversification of taxa from within the second centre of species diversity in Greece started ?0·19 Mya and were associated with a general transition of species adaptation towards milder temperatures and less dry conditions.

Project description:We determined the environmental correlates of vascular plant biodiversity in the Baetic-Rifan region, a plant biodiversity hotspot in the western Mediterranean. A catalog of the whole flora of Andalusia and northern Morocco, the region that includes most of the Baetic-Rifan complex, was compiled using recent comprehensive floristic catalogs. Hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) of the different ecoregions of Andalusia and northern Morocco were conducted to determine their floristic affinities. Diversity patterns were studied further by focusing on regional endemic taxa. Endemic and nonendemic alpha diversities were regressed to several environmental variables. Finally, semi-partial regressions on distance matrices were conducted to extract the respective contributions of climatic, altitudinal, lithological, and geographical distance matrices to beta diversity in endemic and nonendemic taxa. We found that West Rifan plant assemblages had more similarities with Andalusian ecoregions than with other nearby northern Morocco ecoregions. The endemic alpha diversity was explained relatively well by the environmental variables related to summer drought and extreme temperature values. Of all the variables, geographical distance contributed by far the most to spatial turnover in species diversity in the Baetic-Rifan hotspot. In the Baetic range, elevation was the most significant driver of nonendemic species beta diversity, while lithology and elevation were the main drivers of endemic beta diversity. Despite the fact that Andalusia and northern Morocco are presently separated by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, the Baetic and Rifan mountain ranges have many floristic similarities - especially in their western ranges - due to past migration of species across the Strait of Gibraltar. Climatic variables could be shaping the spatial distribution of endemic species richness throughout the Baetic-Rifan hotspot. Determinants of spatial turnover in biodiversity in the Baetic-Rifan hotspot vary in importance between endemic and nonendemic species.

Dataset Information

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean.

Publications

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean.

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