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Enhanced fish production during a period of extreme global warmth

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  • Gregory L. Britten

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Elizabeth C. Sibert

    (Harvard University
    Harvard University
    Yale University)

Abstract

Marine ecosystem models predict a decline in fish production with anthropogenic ocean warming, but how fish production equilibrates to warming on longer timescales is unclear. We report a positive nonlinear correlation between ocean temperature and pelagic fish production during the extreme global warmth of the Early Paleogene Period (62-46 million years ago [Ma]). Using data-constrained modeling, we find that temperature-driven increases in trophic transfer efficiency (the fraction of production passed up trophic levels) and primary production can account for the observed increase in fish production, while changes in predator-prey interactions cannot. These data provide new insight into upper-trophic-level processes constrained from the geological record, suggesting that long-term warming may support more productive food webs in subtropical pelagic ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

  • Gregory L. Britten & Elizabeth C. Sibert, 2020. "Enhanced fish production during a period of extreme global warmth," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-6, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-19462-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19462-w
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