Warming waters are leading to the ‘tropicalisation’ of temperate reefs: gone are the kelp forests, and local fish populations are responding unexpectedly.
Seaweed-eating fish are becoming increasingly voracious as the ocean warms due to climate change and are responsible for the recent destruction of kelp forests off the NSW north coast.
Tropical rabbitfish devastating algal forests in the eastern Mediterranean Sea pose a major threat to the entire sea basin if their distribution continues to expand as the climate warms, a UNSW-led study warns.
The migration of tropical fish as a result of ocean warming poses a serious threat to the temperate areas they invade, because they overgraze on kelp forests and seagrass, a UNSW-led study concludes.
