Climate Change Impacts on Intertidal Ecosystems

Intertidal ecosystems occupy the narrow coastal band between high and low tide, where organisms must endure rapid fluctuations in temperature, salinity and immersion. Climate change is reshaping these habitats through gradual shifts in baseline conditions and an increased frequency of extreme events. Rising sea temperatures and ocean acidification are altering calcification rates and physiological performance in molluscs and barnacles, while more intense storm activity and marine heatwaves drive episodic mortality and changes in community composition. Many intertidal species exhibit poleward range shifts as they track suitable thermal niches, leading to biotic homogenisation and novel species interactions. Simultaneously, declines in foundation species such as mussel beds or canopy‐forming algae can cascade through trophic networks, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem resilience. The combined effects of pervasive warming, altered carbonate chemistry and episodic disturbances create a dynamic mosaic of stress and recovery, with important implications for coastal biodiversity, fisheries and conservation management.

Research from Nature Portfolio

A resurvey of a historic mussel bed community in northern California found that, over eight decades, overall species diversity has been maintained despite warming, but the relative abundance of southern‐affinity species has increased. Shifts in community composition mirror regional temperature trends and illustrate how long‐term monitoring can reveal resilience alongside subtle biogeographic change. Analyses of shellfish populations in the western North Atlantic over two decades document significant declines in mussel and barnacle recruitment and in common gastropod abundances, correlating with warmer sea temperatures and reduced aragonite saturation. These losses point to simplification of rocky‐shore food webs and underscore the sensitivity of calcifiers to warming and acidified conditions. Studies of extreme marine heatwave events in the northeast Pacific demonstrate that prolonged warm anomalies and enhanced poleward currents can trigger poleward range extensions for numerous southern‐origin species, leading to recruitment booms in limpets and barnacles and foreshadowing longer‐term community restructuring in biogeographic transition zones.

Climate Change Impacts on Intertidal Ecosystems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in climate change impacts on intertidal ecosystems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Intertidal zone: The coastal area between high and low tide marks, subject to alternating immersion and exposure.

Ocean acidification: Decrease in seawater pH due to absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide, affecting calcifying organisms.

Marine heatwave: Prolonged periods of anomalously high sea surface temperatures that can disrupt marine communities.

Latitudinal diversity gradient: The pattern of change in species richness from equatorial to polar regions.

Foundation species: Organisms that create or modify habitat structure and strongly influence community composition, such as mussel beds or canopy-forming algae.

References

1. Evaluating historical changes in a mussel bed community in northern California. Scientific Reports (2025).
2. Declines over the last two decades of five intertidal invertebrate species in the western North Atlantic. Communications Biology (2020).
3. Widespread shifts in the coastal biota of northern California during the 2014–2016 marine heatwaves. Scientific Reports (2019).
4. Ocean acidification increases susceptibility to sub-zero air temperatures in ecosystem engineers and limits poleward range shifts. eLife (2023).
5. Marine latitudinal diversity gradients are generally absent in intertidal ecosystems. Ecology (2023).
6. Impacts of Pervasive Climate Change and Extreme Events on Rocky Intertidal Communities: Evidence From Long-Term Data. Frontiers in Marine Science (2021).