Coastal4cast - Linking habitat heterogeneity with physiology and metapopulation structure to forecast effects of climate change on continental scales

The aim of this project is to develop robust methods for forecasting the effects of climate change across multiple key species and at continental scales.

We are using a macro-biogeographic approach to understand how the distribution of macrohabitats determines metapopulation and metacommunity structure and change on continental scales. We will gather environmental data from our network of biomimetic sensors already deployed along the study area (from Algarve to Scotland) in combination with rapid geomorphological surveys to identify thermal refugia. Then, we will validate multi-species models with historical biogeography, using historical oceanography to hindcast patterns of biodiversity in the coastal zone over 20 degrees of latitude during the past 50-150 years.