A study which shows warming oceans are having an impact on the behaviour of marine life has been labelled as having a "very simple, but important message" by one of its Plymouth-based authors.
The three-year research project, funded by the National Centre for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in California, has shown that warming oceans are causing marine species to change breeding times and shift homes.
The study, Global imprint of climate change on marine life, will form part of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change report due for publication next year.
Contributed to by 17 institutions across the world, including Plymouth University, the report anticipates that the shifting patterns of behaviour will have substantial consequences for the broader marine landscape.
It has shown widespread systemic shifts in measures such as distribution of species and phenology – the timing of nature's calendar – are taking place on a scale comparable to or greater than those observed on land.
One of the lead authors of the report, Professor Camille Parmesan, National Marine Aquarium chair in public understanding of oceans and human health within Plymouth University's Marine Institute, said it offered a "very simple, but important message".
She said: "This is the first comprehensive documentation of what is happening in our marine systems in relation to climate change.
"What it reveals is that the changes that are occurring on land are being matched by the oceans. And far from being a buffer and displaying more minor changes, what we're seeing is a far stronger response from the oceans."
The research team assembled a large database of 1,735 changes in marine life, which helped them investigate the impact of climate change, finding 81% of changes were in a direction consistent with climate change.
The evidence showed the leading edge or 'front line' of some marine species, such as phytoplankton, zooplankton and bony fish, was moving towards the poles at the average rate of 72km per decade, considerably faster than the terrestrial average of 6km per decade – and despite the fact sea surface temperatures are warming three times slower than land temperatures
They also found that spring phenology in the oceans had advanced by more than four days, nearly twice the figure for phenological advancement on land.
Dr Pippa Moore, lecturer in Aquatic Biology at Aberystwyth University, which also took part in the study, said: "These results highlight the urgent need for governments around the globe to develop adaptive management plans to ensure the continued sustainability of the world's oceans and the goods and services they provide to human society."