Abstract
A recent increase in sea temperature has established a new ecosystem dynamic regime in the North Sea. Climate-induced changes in decapods have played an important role. Here, we reveal a coincident increase in the abundance of swimming crabs and lesser black-backed gull colonies in the North Sea, both in time and in space. Swimming crabs are an important food source for lesser black-backed gulls during the breeding season. Inhabiting the land, but feeding mainly at sea, lesser black-backed gulls provide a link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, since the bottom-up influence of allochthonous nutrient input from seabirds to coastal soils can structure the terrestrial food web. We, therefore, suggest that climate-driven changes in trophic interactions in the marine food web may also have ensuing ramifications for the coastal ecology of the North Sea.
Highlights
Temperature is an important driver of the trophodynamics of the North Sea ecosystem and a recent shift in temperature, in combination with overfishing, has established a new ecosystem dynamic regime through a series of internal mechanisms [1]
We found significant positive correlations between sea surface temperature (SST) and decapod larvae, between decapod larvae and adult swimming crabs and between adult swimming crabs and the population growth of lesser black-backed gull colonies in both France and Belgium with either 0, a 1 or a 3–4 year lags in the relationships, respectively
We confirmed the identity of 34 swimming crab larvae in Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) samples, finding three Necora puber, 17 Liocarcinus depurator and 14 P. henslowii
Summary
A recent increase in sea temperature has established a new ecosystem dynamic regime in the North Sea. Climate-induced changes in decapods have played an important role. We reveal a coincident increase in the abundance of swimming crabs and lesser black-backed gull colonies in the North Sea, both in time and in space. Swimming crabs are an important food source for lesser black-backed gulls during the breeding season. Inhabiting the land, but feeding mainly at sea, lesser black-backed gulls provide a link between marine and terrestrial ecosystems, since the bottom-up influence of allochthonous nutrient input from seabirds to coastal soils can structure the terrestrial food web. We examine how changes in adult swimming crabs between 2000 and 1986 are correlated with the population growth rate of the 21 major North Sea colonies of lesser black-backed gulls
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