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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Global Change and the Future Ocean
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2024.1476542

Coastal marine heatwaves in the Santa Barbara Channel: decadal trends and ecological implications

Provisionally accepted
Kit Yu Karen Chan Kit Yu Karen Chan 1,2*Li Kui Li Kui 3Adriane M McDonald Adriane M McDonald 3Amelia Ritger Amelia Ritger 3Gretchen E Hofmann Gretchen E Hofmann 3
  • 1 Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, United States
  • 2 University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States
  • 3 University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are of increasing concern due to the emerging ecological and socioeconomic impacts on coastal ecosystems. Leveraging the data of the Santa Barbara Coastal Long-Term Ecological Research project, we analyzed the MHW event metrics observed in the kelp forest ecosystem and across Santa Barbara Channel, CA, USA. Not only was there a significant positive trend in the number of MHWs recorded, their duration and intensity were also increasing over time. MHWs were detected year-round, suggesting that marine organisms have exposure risks regardless of their phenology. Exposure at one life history stage could have a legacy effect on the subsequent, implying little temporal refuge. In contrast, the coastal moorings data revealed that nearsurface and bottom events were not necessarily coupled even at less than 15 m. Such spatial variation in MHWs might provide temporary refuge for mobile species. These observations also highlight the importance of depth-stratified, long-term coastal monitoring to understand spatial-temporal variation in MHW stress on coastal communities.

    Keywords: extreme events, Climate Change, LTER, climate variability, Marine heatwave, Kelp forest, ocean warming

    Received: 06 Aug 2024; Accepted: 11 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chan, Kui, McDonald, Ritger and Hofmann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kit Yu Karen Chan, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, United States

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