Thermal niche warming is more consistent than range shifts in marine species under climate change

Abstract

Marine species are widely expected to shift poleward or into deeper waters in response to rising ocean temperatures. However, our knowledge is primarily based on studies examining range shifts along single dimensions at a time (e.g., latitude or depth). Failing to address how movements along multiple dimensions interact, including associated changes in thermal exposure, may result in misleading conclusions and predictions of species distribution and community composition under global warming. To address this knowledge gap, we here develop and apply a multidimensional framework that jointly evaluates climate-driven redistribution of marine fish across latitude, longitude, depth and realized thermal niches, based on long-term scientific bottom-trawl surveys throughout the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific. Our results show that net redistributions are generally small and highly region-specific, while the realized thermal niches of species have warmed substantially over the past three decades. These findings demonstrate that spatial redistribution is generally failing to keep pace with rising temperatures and challenge the prevailing assumption that marine species will move to escape warming. This has direct implications for biodiversity indicators that rely on distributional shifts as evidence of climate impacts, as well as climate-informed management and conservation of marine ecosystems, fisheries, and biodiversity at large.