Fig. 5: Mortality trait patterns across three main regions (western, central, and eastern) in the Mediterranean Sea from 1986 to 2020.

a Spatial definition of the three main regions; b proportion of mortality records (solid) to total records (white) for each impacted trait at each region. Traits are A, Feeding (a. no, autotrophs, b. active filter feeders with cilia, c. active filter feeders by pumping, d. passive filter feeders, e. herbivores and grazers, f. carnivores, and g. detritivores), B, Maximum longevity (1. lower than one year to one year, 2. two to five years, 3. five to ten years, 4. ten to twenty years, and 5. more than 20 years), C, Coloniality (1. colonial/modular, 2. solitary), D, Morphological form (b. encrusting, c. filamentous, f. articulated, h. cup-like, i. massive-encrusting, j. massive-hemispheric, k. massive-erect, and l. tree-like), E, Carbon storage (a. yes, b. potentially, and c. no), F, Energetic resources (1. photosynthetic autotroph, 2. photo-heterotroph, and 3. heterotroph), G, Height (1. very small, 2. small, 3. medium, 4. large, and 5. very large), H, Growth rate (1. extreme slow, 2. slow, 3. intermediate, 4. fast, and 5. very fast), I, Calcification (a. with calcareous structures and b. without calcareous structures), and J, Motility (1. sessile and 2. vagile). See Supplementary Table 3 for more information on trait category description; c trait space occupied by functional entities (FEs) in the three regions according to all records. The global trait space is filled in white. The total number of mortality records (N) is indicated on the top right of each panel. Due to heterogeneity in the number of observations across regions, the legends within each panel showing the non-impacted FEs (in white), damaged FEs (in color), and associated trait volume (V) display only 100 observations within the region; and d impact of abiotic, biotic, and combined mortality drivers on trait volume. Values ranged from 0 (white) to a maximum of 11.7% (red) in the Western basin in 2018.