Climate change may have minor impact on zooplankton functional diversity in the Mediterranean Sea

AbstractIn this work we use a regional atmosphere–ocean coupled model (RAOCM) and its stand-alone atmospheric component to gain insight into the impact of atmosphere–ocean coupling on the climate change signal over the Iberian Peninsula (IP). The IP climate is influenced by both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean sea. Complex interactions with the orography take place there and high-resolution models are required to realistically reproduce its current and future climate. We find that under the RCP8.5 scenario, the generalized 2-m air temperature (T2M) increase by the end of the twenty-first century (2070–2099) in the atmospheric-only simulation is tempered by the coupling. The impact of coupling is specially seen in summer, when the warming is stronger. Precipitation shows regionally-dependent changes in winter, whilst a drier climate is found in summer. The coupling generally reduces the magnitude of the changes. Differences in T2M and precipitation between the coupled and uncoupled simulations are caused by changes in the Atlantic large-scale circulation and in the Mediterranean Sea. Additionally, the differences in projected changes of T2M and precipitation with the RAOCM under the RCP8.5 and RCP4.5 scenarios are tackled. Results show that in winter and summer T2M increases less and precipitation changes are of a smaller magnitude with the RCP4.5. Whilst in summer changes present a similar regional distribution in both runs, in winter there are some differences in the NW of the IP due to differences in the North Atlantic circulation. The differences in the climate change signal from the RAOCM and the driving Global Coupled Model show that regionalization has an effect in terms of higher resolution over the land and ocean.

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First record of Solea (Microchirus) boscanion (Osteichthyes: Soleidae) in the Mediterranean Sea, with data on other sympatric soleid species

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315402006331 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 82 (5) ◽

pp. 907-911 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Enric Massutí ◽

J.A. Reina-Hervás ◽

Domingo Lloris ◽

L. Gil de Sola

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

First Record ◽

Western Mediterranean ◽

The Other ◽

The Mediterranean

The capture of five specimens of Solea (Microchirus) boscanion (Osteichthyes: Soleidae), a species previously unrecorded in the Mediterranean, is reported from the Iberian coast (western Mediterranean). The main morphometric and meristic measurements of this species with data of the other sympatric, and morphologically very similar, soleids Microchirus variegatus and Buglossidium luteum are also given. The record is discussed in relation to climate change and competition between species.

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Mediterranean Sea climatic indices: monitoring long term variability and climate changes

10.5194/essd-2018-51 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Athanasia Iona ◽

Athanasios Theodorou ◽

Sarantis Sofianos ◽

Sylvain Watelet ◽

Charles Troupin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Time Series ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Climate Changes ◽

Salt Content ◽

Climatic Indices ◽

In Situ Observations ◽

The Mediterranean

Abstract. We present a new product composed of a set of thermohaline climatic indices from 1950 to 2015 for the Mediterranean Sea such as decadal temperature and salinity anomalies, their mean values over selected depths, decadal ocean heat and salt content anomalies at selected depth layers as well as their long times series. It is produced from a new high-resolution climatology of temperature and salinity on a 1/8° regular grid based on historical high quality in situ observations. Ocean heat and salt content differences between 1980–2015 and 1950–1979 are compared for evaluation of the climate shift in the Mediterranean Sea. The spatial patterns of heat and salt content shifts demonstrate in greater detail than ever before that the climate changes differently in the several regions of the basin. Long time series of heat and salt content for the period 1950 to 2015 are also provided which indicate that in the Mediterranean Sea there is a net mean volume warming and salting since 1950 with acceleration during the last two decades. The time series also show that the ocean heat content seems to fluctuate on a cycle of about 40 years and seems to follow the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation climate cycle indicating that the natural large scale atmospheric variability could be superimposed on to the warming trend. This product is an observations-based estimation of the Mediterranean climatic indices. It relies solely on spatially interpolated data produced from in-situ observations averaged over decades in order to smooth the decadal variability and reveal the long term trends with more accuracy. It can provide a valuable contribution to the modellers' community, next to the satellite-based products and serve as a baseline for the evaluation of climate-change model simulations contributing thus to a better understanding of the complex response of the Mediterranean Sea to the ongoing global climate change. The product is available here: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1210100.

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Evidencing the impact of climate change on the phytoplankton community of the Mediterranean Sea through a bioregionalization approach

Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans ◽

10.1029/2020jc016808 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

R El Hourany ◽

C Mejia ◽

G Faour ◽

M Crépon ◽

S Thiria

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Phytoplankton Community ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact

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Sub-chapter 2.1.2. Climate change induces bottom-up changes in the food webs of the Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean region under climate change ◽

10.4000/books.irdeditions.23409 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 219-228 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Fabien Moullec ◽

Fabio Benedetti ◽

Claire Saraux ◽

Elisabeth Van Beveren ◽

Yunne-Jai Shin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Food Webs ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Bottom Up ◽

The Mediterranean

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Impact of Climate Change on Surface Stirring and Transport in the Mediterranean Sea

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/2020gl089941 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (22) ◽

Author(s):

Enrico Ser‐Giacomi ◽

Gabriel Jordá‐Sánchez ◽

Javier Soto‐Navarro ◽

Sören Thomsen ◽

Juliette Mignot ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Impact Of Climate Change ◽

The Mediterranean

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Projected Rapid Habitat Expansion of Tropical Seagrass Species in the Mediterranean Sea as Climate Change Progresses

Frontiers in Plant Science ◽

10.3389/fpls.2020.555376 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 ◽

Author(s):

Pedro Beca-Carretero ◽

Mirta Teichberg ◽

Gidon Winters ◽

Gabriele Procaccini ◽

Hauke Reuter

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Seagrass Species ◽

The Mediterranean

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New Evidence of Mediterranean Climate Change and Variability from Sea Surface Temperature Observations

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12010132 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 132 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Andrea Pisano ◽

Salvatore Marullo ◽

Vincenzo Artale ◽

Federico Falcini ◽

Chunxue Yang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Surface Temperature ◽

Sea Surface Temperature ◽

Mediterranean Sea ◽

Sea Surface ◽

Western Basin ◽

Mean Values ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Impact ◽

Northeastern Atlantic

Estimating long-term modifications of the sea surface temperature (SST) is crucial for evaluating the current state of the oceans and to correctly assess the impact of climate change at regional scales. In this work, we analyze SST variations within the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent Northeastern Atlantic box (west of the Strait of Gibraltar) over the last 37 years, by using a satellite-based dataset from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service (CMEMS). We found a mean warming trend of 0.041 ± 0.006 ∘ C/year over the whole Mediterranean Sea from 1982 to 2018. The trend has an uneven spatial pattern, with values increasing from 0.036 ± 0.006 ∘ C/year in the western basin to 0.048 ± 0.006 ∘ C/year in the Levantine–Aegean basin. The Northeastern Atlantic box and the Mediterranean show a similar trend until the late 1990s. Afterwards, the Mediterranean SST continues to increase, whereas the Northeastern Atlantic box shows no significant trend, until ~2015. The observed change in the Mediterranean Sea affects not only the mean trend but also the amplitude of the Mediterranean seasonal signal, with consistent relative increase and decrease of summer and winter mean values, respectively, over the period considered. The analysis of SST changes occurred during the “satellite era” is further complemented by reconstructions also based on direct in situ SST measurements, i.e., the Extended Reconstructed SST (ERSST) and the Hadley Centre Sea Ice and Sea Surface Temperature dataset (HadISST), which go back to the 19th century. The analysis of these longer time series, covering the last 165 years, indicates that the increasing Mediterranean trend, observed during the CMEMS operational period, is consistent with the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO), as it closely follows the last increasing period of AMO. This coincidence occurs at least until 2007, when the apparent onset of the decreasing phase of AMO is not seen in the Mediterranean SST evolution.

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