Année de publication
2024

Journal

Global Change Biology
Volume
30
Ticket
1
Date de publication
Jan-01-2024
DOI
10.1111/gcb.v30.110.1111/gcb.17157
URL
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/13652486/30/1https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.17157https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.17157
Numéro ISSN
1354-1013
Catégorie HCERES
ACL - Articles dans des revues internationales ou nationales avec comité de lecture répertoriées par l'HCERES ou dans les bases de données internationales
Résumé

While spatial distribution shifts have been documented in many marine fishes under global change, the responses of elasmobranchs have rarely been studied, which may have led to an underestimation of their potential additional threats. Given their irreplaceable role in ecosystems and their high extinction risk, we used a 24-year time series (1997–2020) of scientific bottom trawl surveys to examine the effects of climate change on the spatial distribution of nine elasmobranch species within Northeast Atlantic waters. Using a hierarchical modeling of species communities, belonging to the joint species distribution models, we found that suitable habitats for four species increased on average by a factor of 1.6 and, for six species, shifted north-eastwards and/or to deeper waters over the past two decades. By integrating species traits, we showed changes in habitat suitability led to changes in the elasmobranchs trait composition. Moreover, communities shifted to deeper waters and their mean trophic level decreased. We also note an increase in the mean community size at maturity concurrent with a decrease in fecundity. Because skates and sharks are functionally unique and dangerously vulnerable to both climate change and fishing, we advocate for urgent considerations of species traits in management measures. Their use would make it better to identify species whose loss could have irreversible impacts in face of the myriad of anthropogenic threats.