Under current projections, climate change is expected to drastically alter the function and structure of ecosystems across the globe (Hoegh-Guldberg et al. We identify critical gaps in knowledge related to the extent and severity of these effects, and how such gaps influence the effectiveness of conservation, management, policy, and grassroots stewardship efforts. We then apply the available science on recreationally targeted fishes to reveal how these changes can cascade through layers of biological organization-from individuals, to populations, to communities-and ultimately impact the coastal systems that depend on them. In this paper, we consider how the combined effects of climate change, including extremes in temperature and precipitation regimes, sea level rise, and changes in nutrient dynamics, are causing rapid and potentially permanent changes to the structure and function of tropical and subtropical flats ecosystems. The cascading effects of climate change have the potential to negatively impact coastal flats around the globe and to reduce their ecological and economic value. These regions provide myriad ecological goods and services, including recreational fisheries focused on flats-inhabiting fishes such as bonefish, tarpon, and permit.

Tropical and subtropical coastal flats are shallow regions of the marine environment at the intersection of land and sea.

Cascading effects of climate change on recreational marine flats fishes and fisheries

Coastal flats salmon