Northerly shift of warm-water copepods in the western subarctic North Pacific: Continuous Plankton Recorder samples (2001-2013)

Abstract

Spatial and temporal variation in copepod community structure, abundance, distribution and biodiversity were examined in the western subarctic North Pacific (40–53°N, 144–173°E) during 2001–2013. Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) observational data during the summer season (June and July) were analyzed. The latitudinal distribution of warm-water species in June shifted northward after 2011 while no apparent latitudinal shift of cold-water and other species was observed. Species number and the Shannon–Wiener biodiversity index (H′) in June tended to increase in the northern area after 2011. The warm-water species abundance and center latitude of warm-water distribution were positively correlated with sea surface temperature (SST) across sampling locations, whereas no significant correlations with SST were observed for cold-water species or other species. Warm SSTs in June after 2011 appeared to cause the northward shift of warm-water species distribution, which in turn contributed to the higher biodiversity in the northern area. This study demonstrated the rapid response of warm-water species to warm SST variation, whereas cold-water and other species did not exhibit such clear responses. These findings indicate that the response of copepods to environmental changes differs among copepod species, highlighting the importance of investigating lower trophic levels to the species level to evaluate individual species’ responses to climate change.