Concurrent changes in spatial distribution of the demersal community in response to climate variations in the southern Iberian coastal Large Marine Ecosystem.

Species inhabiting transitional areas in large marine ecosystems are highly sensitive to climate variations and thus of paramount importance as indicators of ecosystem changes. The spatiotemporal distribution of representative species of the demersal community in the southern Iberian coastal Large Marine Ecosystem was investigated using time series data from trawl surveys conducted in the Gulf of Cádiz. The geographic and bathymetric variability in the population distribution was analyzed. We investigated the influence of hydroclimatic (chlorophyll a concentration, sea surface temperature, precipitation, runoff, oceanic wind and meso- and large-scale climate indices) and population drivers (density) on species depth and location. Distribution shifts were more evident over the longitudinal gradient with species approaching and moving away from the Strait of Gibraltar. This contrasting behavior was segregated by depth and the hydrographical boundary of the Guadalquivir River runoff plume. On the shallow shelf (