Global ocean conveyor lowers extinction risk in the deep sea

Henry LA, Frank N, Hebbeln D, Wienberg C, Robinson L, van de Flierdt T, Dahl M, Douarin M, Morrison CL, López Correa M, Rogers AD, Ruckelshausen M, Roberts JM (2014)


Publication Language: English

Publication Type: Journal article, Original article

Publication year: 2014

Journal

Publisher: Pergamon Press Ltd.

Book Volume: 88

Pages Range: 8-16

DOI: 10.1016/j.dsr.2014.03.004

Abstract

General paradigms of species extinction risk are urgently needed as global habitat loss and rapid climate change threaten Earth with what could be its sixth mass extinction. Using the stony coral Lophelia pertusa as a model organism with the potential for wide larval dispersal, we investigated how the global ocean conveyor drove an unprecedented post-glacial range expansion in Earth's largest biome, the deep sea. We compiled a unique ocean-scale dataset of published radiocarbon and uranium-series dates of fossil corals, the sedimentary protactinium-thorium record of Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) strength, authigenic neodymium and lead isotopic ratios of circulation pathways, and coral biogeography, and integrated new Bayesian estimates of historic gene flow. Our compilation shows how the export of Southern Ocean and Mediterranean waters after the Younger Dryas 11.6. kyr ago simultaneously triggered two dispersal events in the western and eastern Atlantic respectively. Each pathway injected larvae from refugia into ocean currents powered by a re-invigorated AMOC that led to the fastest postglacial range expansion ever recorded, covering 7500. km in under 400 years. In addition to its role in modulating global climate, our study illuminates how the ocean conveyor creates broad geographic ranges that lower extinction risk in the deep sea. © 2014 The Authors.

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How to cite

APA:

Henry, L.-A., Frank, N., Hebbeln, D., Wienberg, C., Robinson, L., van de Flierdt, T.,... Roberts, J.M. (2014). Global ocean conveyor lowers extinction risk in the deep sea. Deep-Sea Research, 88, 8-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2014.03.004

MLA:

Henry, Lea-Anne, et al. "Global ocean conveyor lowers extinction risk in the deep sea." Deep-Sea Research 88 (2014): 8-16.

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