Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Physiology, Ecological Niches and Species Distribution

  • Published:
Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Although many studies have debated the theoretical links between physiology, ecological niches and species distribution, few studies have provided evidence for a tight empirical coupling between these concepts at a macroecological scale. We used an ecophysiological model to assess the fundamental niche of a key-structural marine species. We found a close relationship between its fundamental and realized niche. The relationship remains constant at both biogeographical and decadal scales, showing that changes in environmental forcing propagate from the physiological to the macroecological level. A substantial shift in the spatial distribution is detected in the North Atlantic and projections of range shift using IPCC scenarios suggest a poleward movement of the species of one degree of latitude per decade for the 21st century. The shift in the spatial distribution of this species reveals a pronounced alteration of polar pelagic ecosystems with likely implications for lower and upper trophic levels and some biogeochemical cycles.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Araújo MB, Guisan A. 2006. Five (or so) challenges for species distribution modelling. Journal of Biogeography 33: 1677-1688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Batten SD, Clark R, Flinkman J, Hays G, John E, John AWG, Jonas T, Lindley JA, Stevens DP, Walne A. 2003. CPR sampling: the technical background, materials, and methods, consistency and comparability. Progress in Oceanography 58: 193-215.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G. 2004. I. Introduction and methodology. In: Beaugrand G, Edwards M, Jones A, Stevens D, Eds. Continuous plankton records: a plankton atlas of the North Atlantic Ocean (1958–1999). Marine Ecology Progress Series

  • Beaugrand G. 2009. Decadal changes in climate and ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Deep-Sea Res II 56:656–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G, Brander KM, Lindley JA, Souissi S, Reid PC. 2003. Plankton effect on cod recruitment in the North Sea. Nature 426: 661-664.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G, Edwards M, Brander K, Luczak C, Ibañez F. 2008. Causes and projections of abrupt climate-driven ecosystem shifts in the North Atlantic. Ecology Letters: 11, 1157-1168.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G, Helaouët P. 2008. Simple procedures to assess and compare the ecological niche of species. Marine Ecology Progress Series: 363, 29-37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beaugrand G, Ibañez F, Lindley JA. 2001. Geographical distribution and seasonal and diel changes of the diversity of calanoid copepods in the North Atlantic and North Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series: 219, 205-219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Begon M, Townsend CR, Harper JL. 2006. Ecology. From individuals to ecosystems. Bath: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bucklin A, Astthorsson OS, Gislason A, Allen LD, Smolenack SB, Wiebe PH. 2000. Population genetic variation of Calanus finmarchicus in Icelandic waters: preliminary evidence of genetic differences between Atlantic and Arctic populations. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57: 1592-1604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carlotti F, Radach G. 1996. Seasonal dynamics of phytoplankton and Calanus finmarchicus in the North Sea as revealed by a coupled one-dimensional model. Limnology and Oceanography 41: 522-539.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chase JM, Leibold MA. 2003. Ecological niches – linking classical and contemporary approaches. Chicago/IL : The University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover RJ. 1988. Comparative life histories in the genera Calanus and Neocalanus in high latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Hydrobiologia 167/168: 127–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cushing DH. 1997. Towards a science of recruitment in fish populations. Oldendorf/Luhe: Ecology Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dietrich G. 1964. Oceanic polar front survey. Research Geophysic 2: 291-308.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene CH, Pershing AJ, Consersi A, Planque B, Hannah C, Sameoto D, Head E, Smith PC, Reid PC, Jossi J, Mountain D, Beneld MC, Wiebe PH, Durbin E. (2003) Trans-Atlantic responses of Calanus finmarchicus populations to basin-scale forcing associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation. Progress in Oceanography 58:310-312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guisan A, Thuiller W. 2005. Predicting species distribution: offering more than simple habitat models. Ecology Letters 8: 993-1009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guisan A, Zimmermann NE. 2000. Predictive habitat distribution models in ecology. Ecological Modelling 135: 147-186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath MR, Astthorsson OS, Dunn J, Ellertsen B, Gaard E, Gislason A, Gurney WSC, Hind AT, Irigoien X, Melle W, Niehoff B, Olsen K, Skreslet S, Tande KS. 2000. Comparative analysis of Calanus finmarchicus demography at locations around the Northeast Atlantic. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57: 1562-1580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heath MR, Backhaus JO, Richardson K, McKenzie E, Slagstad D, Beare D, Dunn J, Fraser JG, Gallego A, Hainbucher D, Hay S, Jonasdottir S, Madden H, Mardaljevic J, Schacht A. 1999. Climate fluctuations and the spring invasion of the North Sea by Calanus finmarchicus. Fisheries Oceanography 8 (suppl. 1): 163-176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helaouët P, Beaugrand G. 2007. Statistical study of the ecological niche of Calanus finmarchicus and C. helgolandicus in the North Atlantic Ocean and adjacent seas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 345: 147-165.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hirche H-J. 1990. Egg production of Calanus finmarchicus at low temperature. Marine Biology 106: 53-58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirche H-J. 1996. Diapause in the marine copepod, Calanus finmarchicus: a review. Ophelia 44: 129-143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirche H-J, Kwasniewski S. 1997. Distribution, reproduction and development of Calanus species in the northeast Atlantic in relation to environmental conditions. Journal of Marine Systems 10: 299-317.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirche H-J, Meyer U, Niehoff B. 1997. Egg production of Calanus finmarchicus-effect of temperature, food and season. Marine Biology 127: 609-620.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirzel AH, Hausser J, Chessel D, Perrin N. 2002. Ecological-niche factor analysis: How to compute habitat-suitability maps without absence data? Ecology 83: 2027-2036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hirzel AH, Le Lay G, Helfer V, Randin C, Guisan A. 2006. Evaluating the ability of habitat suitability models to predict species presences. Ecological Modelling 199: 142-152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huggett RJ. 2004. Fundamentals of biogeography. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hutchinson GE. 1957. A treatise on limnology Geography, physics, and chemistry 1. New York: John Wiley & Sons. 555p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change W.G.I 2007. Climate change 2007 The physical science basis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 996p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krauss W. 1986. The North Atlantic current. Journal of geophysical research 91: 5061-5074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lam NSN. 1983. Spatial interpolation methods: a review. The American cartographer 10: 129-149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Legendre P, Legendre L. 1998. Numerical Ecology. 2 edn. The Netherlands: Elsevier Science BV. 853p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leibold MA. 1995. Niche concept revisited: Mechanistic models and community context. Ecology 76: 1371-1382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lomolino MV, Riddle BR, Brown JH. 2006. Biogeography. Sunderland: Sinauer Associates Inc. 845p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Longhurst A. 1998. Ecological geography of the Sea. London: Academic Press. 390p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauchline J. 1998. The biology of calanoid copepods. San Diego: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parmesan C. 2005. Biotic Response: Range and abundance changes. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearson RG, Dawson TP. 2003. Predicting the impacts of climate change on the distribution of species: are bioclimate envelope models useful? Global Ecology & Biogeography 12: 361-371.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peterson AT. 2003. Predicting the geography of species’ invasions via ecological niche modeling. The Quarterly review of Biology 78: 419-433.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Planque B, Batten SD. 2000. Calanus finmarchicus in the North Atlantic: the year of Calanus in the context of interdecadal change. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57: 1528-1535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Provan J, Beatty GE, Keating SL, Maggs CA, Savidge G. 2008. High dispersal potential has maintained long-term population stability in the North Atlantic copepod Calanus finmarchicus. Proceedings of the royal society of London B. 276: 301-307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam HR. 1988. Sources, sinks, and population regulation. American Naturalist 132: 652-661.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pulliam HR. 2000. On the relationship between niche and distribution. Ecology Letters 3: 349-361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reid PC, Beaugrand G. 2002. Interregional biological responses in the North Atlantic to hydrometeorological forcing. Sherman K, Skjoldal H-R, editors. Changing states of the Large Marine Ecosystems of the North Atlantic. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science. p27-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid PC, Colebrook JM, Matthews JBL, Aiken J, Barnard R, Batten SD, Beaugrand G, Buckland C, Edwards M, Finlayson J, Gregory L, Halliday N, John AWG, Johns D, Johnson AD, Jonas T, Lindley JA, Nyman J, Pritchard P, Richardson AJ, Saxby RE, Sidey J, Smith MA, Stevens DP, Tranter P, Walne A, Wootton M, Wotton COM, Wright JC. 2003. The Continuous Plankton Recorder: concepts and history, from plankton indicator to undulating recorders. Progress in Oceanography 58: 117-173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson K, Jonasdottir SH, Hay SJ, Christoffersen A. 1999. Calanus finmarchicus egg production and food availability in the Faroe–Shetland Channel and northern North Sea: October–March. Fisheries Oceanography 8: 153-162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roeckner E, Arpe K, Bengtsson L, Christoph M, Claussen M, Dumenil L, Esch M, Giorgetta M, Schlese U, Schulzweida U. 1996. The atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM-4: Model description and simulation of present-day climate. Hamburg: Max-Planck Institut für Meteorologie. 90p

  • Schmidt-Nielsen K. 1990. Animal physiology: adaptation and environment. New York: Cambridge University Press. 602p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soberon J, Peterson AT. 2005. Interpretation of models of fundamental ecological niches and species’ distributional areas. Biodiversity Informatics 2: 1-10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Speirs D, Gurney WSC, Holmes SJ, Heath MR, Wood SN, Clarke ED, Harms IH, Hirche H-J, McKenzie E. 2004. Understanding demography in an advective environment: modelling Calanus finmarchicus in the Norwegian Sea. Journal of Animal Ecology 73: 897-910.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundby S. 2000. Recruitment of Atlantic cod stocks in relation to temperature and advection of copepod populations. Sarsia 85: 277-298.

    Google Scholar 

  • Woodruff S, Slutz R, Jenne R, Steurer P. 1987. A comprehensive ocean-atmosphere dataset. Bulletin of the American meteorological society 68: 1239-1250.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to all the past and present members and supporters of the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science whose sustained help has allowed the establishment and maintenance of the CPR data-set in the long-term. Consortium support for the CPR survey is provided by agencies from the following countries: United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Faroe Islands, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway and the European Union. We thank the owners, masters and crews of the ships that towed the CPRs on a voluntary basis. This research is part of the European network of Excellence EUR-OCEANS.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Pierre Helaouët

    Present address: Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth, PL1 2PB, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, UMR CNRS LOG 8187, Station Marine, BP 80, 62930, Wimereux, France

    Pierre Helaouët & Gregory Beaugrand

Authors
  1. Pierre Helaouët
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gregory Beaugrand
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pierre Helaouët.

Additional information

Author Contributions

Pierre Helaouët and Gregory Beaugrand—conceived the project. Pierre Helaouët—performed the analyses. Gregory Beaugrand and Pierre Helaouët—co-wrote the paper.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Helaouët, P., Beaugrand, G. Physiology, Ecological Niches and Species Distribution. Ecosystems 12, 1235–1245 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9261-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-009-9261-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation