Agiadi Konstantina, Nawrot Rafał, Albano Paolo G, Koskeridou Efterpi, Zuschin Martin
Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, UZA II, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
Department of Animal Conservation and Public Engagement, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Naples, Italy.
Environ Biol Fishes. 2022;105(10):1269-1286. doi: 10.1007/s10641-022-01252-6. Epub 2022 Apr 12.
Evaluation of the impact of climatic changes on the composition of fish assemblages requires quantitative measures that can be compared across space and time. In this respect, the mean temperature of the catch (MTC) approach has been proven to be a very useful tool for monitoring the effect of climate change on fisheries catch. Lack of baseline data and deep-time analogues, however, prevent a more comprehensive evaluation. In this study, we explore the applicability of the mean temperature approach to fossil fish faunas by using otolith assemblage data from the eastern Mediterranean and the northern Adriatic coastal environments corresponding to the last 8000 years (Holocene) and the interval 2.58-1.80 Ma B. P. (Early Pleistocene). The calculated mean temperatures of the otolith assemblage (MTO) range from 13.5 to 17.3 °C. This case study shows that the MTO can successfully capture compositional shifts in marine fish faunas based on variations in their climatic affinity driven by regional climate differences. However, the index is sensitive to methodological choices and thus requires standardized sampling. Even though theoretical and methodological issues prevent direct comparisons between MTO and MTC values, the MTO offers a useful quantitative proxy for reconstructing spatial and temporal trends in the biogeographic affinity of fossil otolith assemblages.
评估气候变化对鱼类群落组成的影响需要能够在空间和时间上进行比较的定量方法。在这方面，渔获物平均温度（MTC）方法已被证明是监测气候变化对渔业捕捞影响的非常有用的工具。然而，缺乏基线数据和深度时间类比物阻碍了更全面的评估。在本研究中，我们通过使用来自东地中海和亚得里亚海北部沿海环境的耳石组合数据，探讨平均温度方法对化石鱼类群的适用性，这些数据对应于过去8000年（全新世）以及距今258万至180万年（早更新世）的时间段。计算出的耳石组合平均温度（MTO）范围为13.5至17.3°C。该案例研究表明，MTO能够基于区域气候差异驱动的气候亲和力变化，成功捕捉海洋鱼类群的组成变化。然而，该指数对方法选择敏感，因此需要标准化采样。尽管理论和方法问题阻碍了MTO和MTC值之间的直接比较，但MTO为重建化石耳石组合生物地理亲和力的时空趋势提供了一个有用的定量指标。
