Climate change is threatening marine biodiversity in two ways—temperature increases and acidification. This study demonstrates that from 1960 to 2009 North Atlantic calcifying plankton primarily responded to temperature changes. Plankton communities showed an abrupt shift circa 1996, a time of a substantial temperature increase, and some taxa exhibited a poleward movement in agreement with expected biogeographical changes under ocean warming. Although acidification may become a serious threat to marine calcifiers, over the study period the primary driver of spatial distribution was ocean temperature.
- Gregory Beaugrand
- Abigail McQuatters-Gollop
- Eric Goberville
