Assessment of fish vulnerability to climate change in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea

Abstract

Vulnerability assessments provide a feasible yet infrequently used approach to expanding our understanding and evaluating the effects of climate change on fish assemblages. Here, we first used a fuzzy-logic expert system to quantitatively estimate the vulnerability and potential impact risks of climate change for fish species in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea (BSYS). The mean (±s.d.) vulnerability and the impact-risk indices for 25 dominant fish species were 51±22 and 62±12 respectively (with the highest possible value being 100 under the Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 scenario). Miiuy croaker (Miichthys miiuy) was found to have the highest impact risk, whereas the glowbelly (Acropom..