Climate Change and Diversity of Fishes and Invertebrates along a Subtropical Coast

Climate change impacts several physical and chemical properties of the oceans, and these changes affect the ecology of marine organisms. One important ecological consequence of climate change is the distribution shift of marine species toward higher latitudes, which has been recorded extensively in temperate regions. Changes in species distribution, and thus community structure, will have profound effects on the integrity of ecosystems. Furthermore, overall fish and invertebrate production has been predicted to increase in temperate regions and to decrease in the tropics, which will impact the socioeconomics of people who depend on marine resources. Here, we investigated the prevalence of 130 species of fish and invertebrates to demonstrate changes in their distributions over 35 years along a subtropical coast within the Gulf of Mexico using occupancy analysis. The results suggested that diversity increased across the coast, the majority of species increased in prevalence, and the ranges of many species expanded. Climate-mediated environmental variables were related to these changes, and suggested a variety of species-specific responses to climate change. Overall, warm-water associated species increased their prevalence whereas the cold-water associated species decreased their prevalence. The diversity increased because it is high in lower latitude than higher latitude, and species are invading from the south along the Texas coast. Although increased diversity may have positive effects on ecosystems, such changes in a short term will likely impact the ecology of these systems by introducing new species interactions or altering existing ones.