An increasing body of evidence is demonstrating that global change is already affecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems. Coastal marine habitats are a main subject of attention because they harbour a high biological diversity, are among the most productive systems of the world and present high anthropogenic interaction levels. Most studies on the effects of global change on marine ecosystems have focused on tropical habitats but effects on marine habitats at higher latitudes have been increasingly reported during the last decades. We examined the case of the NW Mediterranean sublittoral habitats for which a warming trend in water temperature has already been detected.