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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Fabrice StephensonORCiD
This is the final published version of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Public Library of Science, 2025.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. Humans have transformed ecosystems through habitat modification, harvesting, species introduction, and climate change. Changes in species distribution and composition are often thought to induce biotic homogenization, defined as an increase in the spatial similarity of species compositions through time. However, it is unclear whether homogenization is common in ocean ecosystems and if changes in similarity exhibit linear or more complex dynamics. Here, we assessed patterns of homogenization or its converse (differentiation) across more than 175,000 samples of 2,006 demersal fish species from 34 regions spanning six decades and 20% of the planet’s continental shelf area. While ten regions (29%) recorded significant homogenization, eleven (32%) recorded significant differentiation. Non-monotonic temporal fluctuations in species composition occurred in 15 regions, highlighting complex dynamics missed by before-and-after snapshots that can drive spurious conclusions about trends in similarity. Fishing pressure and temperature helped explain variance in similarity across years and regions. However, the strength and direction of these effects differed by region. Here we showed that, despite intense anthropogenic impacts on the oceans, the majority of demersal marine fish communities do not follow the global homogenization paradigm common in other realms.
Author(s): Kitchel ZJ, Maureaud AA, Fredston A, Shackell N, Merigot B, Thorson JT, Pecuchet L, Palacios-Abrantes J, Palomares MLD, Acon AE, Belchier M, Bono G, Carbonara P, Collins MA, Cubillos LA, Fairweather TP, Follesa MC, Garcia Ruiz C, Farriols Garau MT, Garofalo G, Isajlovic I, Kathena JN, Koen-Alonso M, Maiorano P, Manfredi C, Mifsud J, O'Driscoll RL, Sbrana M, Solmundsson J, Spedicato MT, Stephenson F, Werner K-M, Yepsen DV, Zupa W, Pinsky ML
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: PLOS Climate
Year: 2025
Volume: 4
Issue: 7
Online publication date: 09/07/2025
Acceptance date: 28/05/2025
Date deposited: 28/07/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2767-3200
Publisher: Public Library of Science
URL: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000659
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000659
Data Access Statement: The publicly available data used for this manuscript are from: Maureaud, A.A., Palacios-Abrantes, J., Kitchel, Z. et al. FISHGLOB_data: an integrated dataset of fish biodiversity sampled with scientific bottom-trawl surveys. Sci Data 11, 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02866-w. The dataset is available for download from the GitHub repository (https://github.com/AquaAuma/FishGlob_data/tree/main/outputs/Compiled_data; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15694178) and a release available for download on Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/records/10218308).
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