Temperature and oxygen supply shape the demersal community in a tropical Oxygen Minimum Zone

Abstract

Paper summary generated by OpenAI: This study investigates how temperature and oxygen levels influence the structure of demersal communities in a tropical Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) off the coast of Costa Rica. Utilizing the natural gradients of temperature and oxygen as a “natural experiment,” we identified two distinct marine fauna communities based on their oxygen demands, with one community thriving in cooler, low-oxygen environments and the other in warmer, oxygen-rich waters. Our findings reveal that species composition shifts in response to varying El Niño Southern Oscillation phases, highlighting the vulnerability of these ecosystems to climate change. This research underscores the importance of understanding species’ oxygen demands to predict the impacts of deoxygenation and warming on demersal community structures.