ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5692-7660
Current Organisation
IFREMER
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-11-2022
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.16496
Abstract: Distributional shifts in species ranges provide critical evidence of ecological responses to climate change. Assessments of climate-driven changes typically focus on broad-scale range shifts (e.g. poleward or upward), with ecological consequences at regional and local scales commonly overlooked. While these changes are informative for species presenting continuous geographic ranges, many species have discontinuous distributions-both natural (e.g. mountain or coastal species) or human-induced (e.g. species inhabiting fragmented landscapes)-where within-range changes can be significant. Here, we use an ecosystem engineer species (Sabellaria alveolata) with a naturally fragmented distribution as a case study to assess climate-driven changes in within-range occupancy across its entire global distribution. To this end, we applied landscape ecology metrics to outputs from species distribution modelling (SDM) in a novel unified framework. SDM predicted a 27.5% overall increase in the area of potentially suitable habitat under RCP 4.5 by 2050, which taken in isolation would have led to the classification of the species as a climate change winner. SDM further revealed that the latitudinal range is predicted to shrink because of decreased habitat suitability in the equatorward part of the range, not compensated by a poleward expansion. The use of landscape ecology metrics provided additional insights by identifying regions that are predicted to become increasingly fragmented in the future, potentially increasing extirpation risk by jeopardising metapopulation dynamics. This increased range fragmentation could have dramatic consequences for ecosystem structure and functioning. Importantly, the proposed framework-which brings together SDM and landscape metrics-can be widely used to study currently overlooked climate-driven changes in species internal range structure, without requiring detailed empirical knowledge of the modelled species. This approach represents an important advancement beyond predictive envelope approaches and could reveal itself as paramount for managers whose spatial scale of action usually ranges from local to regional.
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 11-05-2021
DOI: 10.3389/FMARS.2021.654141
Abstract: Reef-building species are recognized as having an important ecological role and as generally enhancing the ersity of benthic organisms in marine habitats. However, although these ecosystem engineers have a facilitating role for some species, they may exclude or compete with others. The honeycomb worm Sabellaria alveolata ( Linnaeus, 1767 ) is an important foundation species, commonly found from northwest Ireland to northern Mauritania, whose reef structures increase the physical complexity of the marine benthos, supporting high levels of bio ersity. Local patterns and regional differences in taxonomic and functional ersity were examined in honeycomb worm reefs from 10 sites along the northeastern Atlantic to explore variation in ersity across biogeographic regions and the potential effects of environmental drivers. While taxonomic composition varied across the study sites, levels of ersity remained relatively constant along the European coast. Assemblages showed high levels of species turnover compared to differences in richness, which varied primarily in response to sea surface temperatures and sediment content, the latter suggesting that local characteristics of the reef had a greater effect on community composition than the density of the engineering species. In contrast, the functional composition of assemblages was similar regardless of taxonomic composition or biogeography, with five functional groups being observed in all sites and only small differences in abundance in these groups being detected. Functional groups represented primarily filter-feeders and deposit-feeders, with the notable absence of herbivores, indicating that the reefs may act as biological filters for some species from the local pool of organisms. Redundancy was observed within functional groups that may indicate that honeycomb worm reefs can offer similar niche properties to its associated assemblages across varying environmental conditions. These results highlight the advantages of comparing taxonomic and functional metrics, which allow identification of a number of ecological processes that structure marine communities.
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 19-12-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.12.19.519605
Abstract: Joint Species Distribution Models (jSDM) are increasingly used to explain and predict bio ersity patterns. jSDMs account for species co-occurrence patterns and can include phylogeny or functional traits to better capture the processes shaping communities. Yet, several factors may limit or affect the interpretability and predictive ability of jSDMs : missing abiotic predictors, omitting ecologically-important species, or increasing the number of model parameters by adding phylogeny and/or trait information. We assessed how interpretability, explanatory and predictive power of jSDM varied across four alternative models focusing on 99 coastal benthic marine polychaete species: (1) a baseline jSDM with no additional information sources other than abiotic predictors and residual co-occurrence patterns, (2) a jSDM including phylogeny alone or (3) in combination with traits data and (4) a jSDM including monitoring information related to additional species s led alongside the target assemblage (i.e. non-target species that are not of direct interest but potentially interact with the target assemblage). The four models fitted on both presence/absence and abundance data from a regional monitoring programme were assessed using complementary metrics. We compared performance at both species- and community-level, considering multiple facets of species responses and assemblage ersity. For both presence/absence and abundance data, all models displayed good and similar explanatory power but varied in their interpretability and predictive power. Considering trait data provides insights on species response along environmental gradients, which is a decisive element for model interpretability. Relative to the baseline model, predictive power increased by 26% when including data on additional species, whereas only marginal changes were detected for the two other models. These patterns are explained by changes in the species-environment relationships and residual co-occurrence patterns inferred by these models. Overall, this study highlights that adequate strategy to fit jSDM depends on data at hand, modelling objective and research question. To understand observed community space-time variability, adding phylogenetic or trait information is most effective. Inclusion of non-target species is however a better strategy to predict how the target species assemblage responds to environmental changes. Importantly, we provide a comprehensive toolbox for the comparative assessment of jSDM performance.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-02-2021
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.13224
Abstract: To investigate some of the environmental variables underpinning the past and present distribution of an ecosystem engineer near its poleward range edge. locations spanning ,400 km around Ireland. We collated past and present distribution records on a known climate change indicator, the reef‐forming worm Sabellaria alveolata (Linnaeus, 1767) in a biogeographic boundary region over 182 years (1836–2018). This included repeat s ling of 60 locations in the cooler 1950s and again in the warmer 2000s and 2010s. Using species distribution modelling, we identified some of the environmental drivers that likely underpin S. alveolata distribution towards the leading edge of its biogeographical range in Ireland. Through plotting 981 records of presence and absence, we revealed a discontinuous distribution with discretely bounded sub‐populations, and edges that coincide with the locations of tidal fronts. Repeat surveys of 60 locations across three time periods showed evidence of population increases, declines, local extirpation and recolonization events within the range, but no evidence of extensions beyond the previously identified distribution limits, despite decades of warming. At a regional scale, populations were relatively stable through time, but local populations in the cold Irish Sea appear highly dynamic and vulnerable to local extirpation risk. Contemporary distribution data (2013–2018) computed with modelled environmental data identified specific niche requirements which can explain the many distribution gaps, namely wave height, tidal litude, stratification index, then substrate type. In the face of climate warming, such specific niche requirements can create environmental barriers that may prevent species from extending beyond their leading edges. These boundaries may limit a species’ capacity to redistribute in response to global environmental change.
No related grants have been discovered for Aurélien Boyé.