Subtidal Benthic Invertebrates Shifting Northward Along the US Atlantic Coast

"What's in a name?" Bairdia fasciata Brady, 1870, and two new Caribbean species of Bairdoppilata (Bairdiidae, Podocopida, Ostracoda)

The single specimen of Bairdia fasciata Brady, 1870 in the Great North Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, is declared to be the holotype by monotypy. Because it is a closed carapace, the internal characters remain unknown. Taxonomically, neither the genus nor the species is identifiable, nor can the subsequent identification in Belize be confirmed. New sampling at the type locality in the Cape Verde Islands is recommended, to recover a population for taxonomic re-description. Here, two new species of Genus Bairdoppilata are described from the carbonate platform of Belize, Ba. magnafasciata, n. sp. and Ba. parvafasciata, n. sp. Both display similarities to B. fasciata from the Cape Verde Islands, but neither one can be identified with that species. Both species are widely distributed in shallow coastal assemblages around the central and northern Caribbean. In taxonomy, names matter, and the correction of published misidentifications is essential. Clarification of these species enables more accurate delineation of ecological and biogeographical distributions in Caribbean assemblages.

Benthic macroinvertebrate community response to environmental changes over seven decades in an urbanized estuary in the northeastern United States

Narragansett Bay is representative of New England, USA urbanized estuaries, with colonization in the early 17th century, and development into industrial and transportation centers in the late 18th and early 20th century. Increasing nationwide population and lack of infrastructure maintenance led to environmental degradation, and then eventual improvement after implementation of contaminant control and sewage treatment starting in the 1970s. Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure was expected to respond to these environmental changes. This study assembled data sets from the 1950s through 2010s to examine whether quantitative aggregate patterns in the benthic community corresponded qualitatively to stressors and management actions in the watershed. In Greenwich Bay and Providence River, patterns of benthic response corresponded to the decline and then improvement in sewage treatment at the Fields Point wastewater treatment plant. In Mount Hope Bay, the benthos corresponded to changes in bay fish populations due to thermal discharge from the Brayton Point power plant. The benthos of the Upper West Passage corresponded to climatic changes that caused regime shifts in the plankton and fish communities. Future work will examine the effects of further environmental improvements in the face of continued climatic changes and population growth.

Species better track climate warming in the oceans than on land

There is mounting evidence of species redistribution as climate warms. Yet, our knowledge of the coupling between species range shifts and isotherm shifts remains limited. Here, we introduce BioShifts-a global geo-database of 30,534 range shifts. Despite a spatial imbalance towards the most developed regions of the Northern Hemisphere and a taxonomic bias towards the most charismatic animals and plants of the planet, data show that marine species are better at tracking isotherm shifts, and move towards the pole six times faster than terrestrial species. More specifically, we find that marine species closely track shifting isotherms in warm and relatively undisturbed waters (for example, the Central Pacific Basin) or in cold waters subject to high human pressures (for example, the North Sea). On land, human activities impede the capacity of terrestrial species to track isotherm shifts in latitude, with some species shifting in the opposite direction to isotherms. Along elevational gradients, species follow the direction of isotherm shifts but at a pace that is much slower than expected, especially in areas with warm climates. Our results suggest that terrestrial species are lagging behind shifting isotherms more than marine species, which is probably related to the interplay between the wider thermal safety margin of terrestrial versus marine species and the more constrained physical environment for dispersal in terrestrial versus marine habitats.

Six decades of change in pollution and benthic invertebrate biodiversity in a southern New England estuary

Pollution has led to a decline of benthic invertebrate biodiversity of Narragansett Bay, raising questions about effects on ecosystem functions and services including shellfish production, energy flow to fishes, and biogeochemical cycles. Changes in community composition and taxonomic distinctness (biodiversity) were calculated from the 1950s-when quantitative benthic invertebrate data first became available-to 2015. Change in community composition of the bay was correlated with changes in dissolved inorganic nitrogen, dissolved oxygen, and sediment contaminants. A mid-bay reference site showed moderate changes in community composition but no change in biodiversity. In contrast, a more impacted site in the upper bay showed substantial differences in community composition over time and a decline in taxonomic distinctness. Bay-wide, as inputs of some stressors such as nutrients and sediment contaminants have declined, there are signs of recovery of benthic biodiversity but other stressors such as temperature and watershed development are increasing.