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Thermal niche, large-scale movements and implications of climate change for a critically endangered marine vertebrate
Climate change is expected to have a number of impacts on biological communities including range extensions and contractions. Recent analyses of multidecadal data sets have shown such monotonic shifts in the distribution of plankton communities and various fish species, both groups for which there is a large amount of historical data on distribution. However, establishing the implications of climate change for the range of endangered species is problematic as historic data are often lacking. We therefore used a different approach to predict the implications of climate change for the range of the critically endangered planktivourous leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea). We used long-term satellite telemetry to define the habitat utilization of this species. We show that the northerly distribution limit of this species can essentially be encapsulated by the position of the 15°C isotherm and that the summer position of this isotherm has moved north by 330 km in the North Atlantic in the last 17 years. Consequently, conservation measures will need to operate over ever-widening areas to accommodate this range extension.
History
Journal
Global change biologyVolume
12Issue
7Pagination
1330 - 1338Publisher
WileyLocation
London, EnglandPublisher DOI
ISSN
1354-1013Language
engPublication classification
C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journalCopyright notice
2006, WileyUsage metrics
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No categories selectedKeywords
bycatchconservationleatherback turtlelonglinerange expansionScience & TechnologyLife Sciences & BiomedicineBiodiversity ConservationEcologyEnvironmental SciencesBiodiversity & ConservationEnvironmental Sciences & EcologyLEATHERBACK SEA-TURTLESDERMOCHELYS-CORIACEAATLANTICIMPACTSFISHFISHERIESACCURACYHABITAT
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