The compounding cost of warm summers on coastal resilience
A two-year field experiment in British Columbia, Canada, reveals that repeated exposure to warm summers has additive negative effects on intertidal communities. While these communities can recover from a single warm season, successive warm summers lead to a more depauperate and less diverse ecosystem over time. The study found that warming reduced organism densities, altered population dynamics, and shifted community structure, effects likely mediated by declines in foundational barnacle species. Notably, the impact of a second warm year was largely independent of the first, indicating a lack of acclimatization and pointing to a straightforward, cumulative burden from recurring climate stress.
Why it might matter to you: This research directly informs ecological modeling and conservation planning by demonstrating that the temporal pattern of warming—not just its magnitude—critically shapes community outcomes. For professionals focused on biodiversity, ecosystem services, or climate adaptation, these findings underscore the need to incorporate stressor recurrence into vulnerability assessments and resilience strategies. It suggests that recovery windows between disturbances are crucial, and that protecting foundation species may be a key lever for maintaining overall community stability under changing climatic regimes.
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