Altered Ecology in the Deep Ocean: Bathymetric Responses to Climate Change

Exploitation of marine resources beyond continental shelf depths threatens deep-sea life. Major expansion of low oxygen zones and ocean acidification affect the depth distribution ranges of seafloor organisms. Both shallow-water and deep-sea invertebrates may be able to penetrate greater depths as conditions change. Although latitudinal shifts on ecosystem dynamics in response to global warming are known, effects of bathymetric ecosystem shifts of likely equal importance remain widely ignored.