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, i...