Macroalgal community shifts in a warming planet: short and long-term dynamics and refugia in the southern bay of biscay
- Autores: Olatz Arriaga Telleria
- Directores de la Tesis: Endika Quintano Erraiz (dir. tes.), Mikel Becerro García (dir. tes.), José María Gorostiaga Garai (dir. tes.), José Ignacio Saiz Salinas (tut. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universidad del País Vasco - Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea ( España ) en 2024
- Idioma: inglés
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Francisco Arenas Parra (presid.), Isabel Salcedo Larralde (secret.), Rosa María Viejo García (voc.)
- Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Medio Ambiente y Recursos Marinos por la Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: ADDI
- Resumen
This thesis examined climate change's impact on macroalgal communities in the southern Bay ofBiscay. Rising temperatures triggered the deborealization of these communities, reducing theabundance of cold-affinity species, including the primary canopy-forming species. Subsequently,small warm-affinity species thrived, signaling the onset of a tropicalization process. As a result, thesystem transitioned from canopy to turf-dominated communities, becoming less temperate and moretropical, losing algal abundance but gaining species richness. Macroalgae responded quickly toshort-term shifts, aligning with long-term expectations for the area. Degraded areas prevailed in theeast, while the known upwelling in the west preserved canopy-forming communities, creating aneast-to-west tropicalization gradient. Within degraded areas, specific locations showed highresilience and maintained canopy-forming communities like those over 30 years ago. These refugia,characterized by lower temperatures than surrounding degraded sites, provided critical insights forconservation strategies to preserve the Bay of Biscay's biodiversity.
