Global warming and artificial shorelines reshape seashore biogeography

Aim: Rapid anthropogenic warming coupled with changes in land use is
altering the distributions of species, with consequences for ecosystem
functioning and services. It is crucial to evaluate species range shifts
based on understanding of the interaction of temperature with non-climatic
factors such as habitat availability and dispersal potential. Here, we aim
to investigate roles of environment temperature, habitat availability and
population connectivity on the distributions of hard-shore intertidal
animals. We further examine potential roles of extensive artificial
seawall construction in enabling poleward expansion of species in China,
thus reshaping coastal biogeography. Location: Chinese coast. Time period:
2013-2017. Major taxa studied: Intertidal invertebrates. Methods: We took
an integrative approach encompassing distributional ecology, thermal
physiology, molecular genetics, heat budget modeling and larval dispersal,
to elucidate how interacting multiple drivers, including temperature,
habitat availability and larval dispersal, determine distributions of
hard-shore invertebrates, focusing on what sets their range edges at a
boundary between biogeographic provinces. Results: Our results untangle
the complex interactions of global climate change with the impacts of
regional scale coastal development. Temperature, larval transport and
habitat availability are the major proximate factors controlling the range
limits of coastal marine species. The artificial shorelines provide
suitable habitats for hard-shore species on the Yangtze River Delta, and
minimum temperature at winter is an important factor setting the new
northern range limit of these hard-shore species along the Chinese coast.
Main conclusions: In the face of global warming and global sprawl of
marine hard infrastructure, species distributions, community structures
and biogeographic patterns are experiencing dramatic changes. The combined
influence of multiple human stressors including climate change and
artificial shoreline can be evaluated by using a multidisciplinary
framework, including ecological distribution, physiological sensitivity of
species to these stressors, and the role of dispersal in maintaining
population connectivity.