Fish Fade Away, Crabs Take Over
Global warming has caused dramatic shifts in some aquatic communities in which fish populations die off and lobsters, crabs and squid move in.
The finding comes from a new analysis of 50 years worth of fish-trawling data collected in Narragansett Bay and adjacent Rhode Island Sound but may apply elsewhere, researchers said.
Resident fish communities have progressively shifted from vertebrate species (fish) to the invertebrates (lobsters and crabs); from bottom-feeders to species that find their food higher up in the water column; and from larger, cool-water species to smaller, warm-water dwellers.
"This is a pretty dramatic change, and it's a pattern that is being seen in other ecosystems ... but we're in the relatively unique position of being able to document it," said Jeremy Collie of the University of Rhode Island, leader of the new study...
