One of the most pervasive effects of climate change is a global redistribution of the planet's species with plants and animals, on land and in the ocean, shifting latitude, elevation and depth to keep pace with preferred environmental conditions. As the global climate changes, human well-being, ecosystem function, and even climate itself are increasingly affected by this shifting geography of life – with changes in species distributions occurring much more rapidly in the ocean. Climate-driven species redistribution therefore presents intriguing ecological challenges to unravel, as well as fundamental philosophical questions and urgent issues related to ecology, fisheries, food security, Indigenous and local livelihoods, and many other aspects of human well-being. This presentation will highlight some of the key questions, challenges and possible responses to species on the move in our oceans, focussing on current and potential adaption planning and adaptation actions at international, national and local scales.
Gretta Pecl is a Professor
of marine ecology at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), and
the Director of the Centre for Marine Socioecology (CMS), which leads the Future Seas collaboration project, both located in Tasmania, Australia.
She is a marine 'generalist' with broad interdisciplinary research interests, building on a background in population dynamics, fisheries biology, and movement and migration of commercial species. She currently focusses on species and ecosystem responses to climate change, and the development of adaptation options for natural resource management. She has a specific interest in exploring the mechanisms and processes underpinning climate-driven species redistribution, and the ecosystem implications of these, including co-convening the 2016 & 2019 'Species on the Move' conferences.
One of the approaches she uses to examine climate-driven changes in species distribution includes citizen science; she developed and leads the National citizen science project Redmap Australia, the Range Extension Database and mapping project, which invites fishers and divers around our coastline to help monitor changes in Australian seas.
Gretta has a strong passion for science communication and engagement with the public. She is also a Lead Author for the IPCC AR6 report, an Australian Research Council 'Future Fellow' and an associate editor for Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, Ecography and Citizen Science Theory & Practice.
