Shifting Ecosystems: A Snapshot of Marine Biodiversity

In the 1960s and 1970s, Art MacKay and his colleagues surveyed subtidal marine ecosystems in the Bay of Fundy, establishing a baseline biodiversity assessment of the species present. These baselines are essential for continued monitoring of invasive species and native species at risk. Since 2021, dive teams at the Huntsman Marine Science Centre and UNB have been returning to the sites surveyed by Art MacKay, comparing present day species lists and relative abundances to the data collected forty years prior. We use underwater images such as this to catalogue records of the flora and fauna present at various sites and my research focuses particularly on documenting marine macroalgae. In the foreground, a brown alga, Chorda filum, stands at nearly a meter tall, with many smaller red algal species growing on rock in the background as well as an invasive green alga, Codium fragile. These images will serve as a permanent reference for future scientists, providing a snapshot into our current ecosystem conditions. Rising sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Fundy are already reflected in changes to the flora as cold-water species face local extirpation shifting northwards to colder waters and invasive species outcompete native taxa.