Do changes in environmental and fishing pressures impact marine communities? An empirical assessment
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2010-08 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Rochet Marie-Joelle1, Trenkel Verena 1, Carpentier Andre2, Coppin Franck2, Gil De Sola Luis3, Leaute Jean-Pierre4, Mahe Jean-Claude5, Maiorano Porzia6, Mannini Alessandro7, Murenu Matteo8, Piet Gerjan9, Politou Chrissi-Yianna10, Reale Bruno11, Spedicato Maria-Teresa12, Tserpes George13, Bertrand Jacques1 |
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| Affiliation(s) | 1 : IFREMER, F-44311 Nantes 03, France. 2 : IFREMER, F-62321 Boulogne, France. 3 : Inst Espanol Oceanog, Fuengirola 29640, Spain. 4 : IFREMER, F-17137 Lhoumeau, France. 5 : IFREMER, F-56100 Lorient, France. 6 : Univ Bari, Dept Anim & Environm Biol, I-70125 Bari, Italy. 7 : Univ Genoa, DIP TE RIS, I-16132 Genoa, Italy. 8 : Univ Cagliari, Dipartimento Biol Anim & Ecol, I-09126 Cagliari, Italy. 9 : Wageningen IMARES, NL-1970 AB Ijmuiden, Netherlands. 10 : Inst Marine Biol Resources, Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Agios Kosmas 16777, Helliniko, Greece. 11 : CIBM, I-57128 Livorno, Italy. 12 : COISPA TECNOL & RIC, I-70126 Bari, Torre A Mare, Italy. 13 : Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Iraklion, Greece. |
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| Source | Journal Of Applied Ecology (0021-8901) (Wiley-blackwell Publishing, Inc), 2010-08 , Vol. 47 , N. 4 , P. 741-750 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1365-2664.2010.01841.x | ||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 43 | ||||||||||||
| Note | EU project IMAGE (contract FP6 – 044227) | ||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | bottom-up control, community metrics, compensation, ecosystem approach to fisheries, ecosystem assessment, functional groups, groundfish community, Mediterranean, North Atlantic, top-down control | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | P>1. The development of ecosystem approaches to environmental management implies the need to account for multiple pressures on ecosystems. Trends in multiple metrics that respond differently to changes in major environmental pressures need to be combined to evaluate the impacts of fishing and environmental changes on fish communities. 2. An exploited fish community is viewed as a three-level food chain in which the two upper levels, or functional groups, are targeted by fishing fleets, while the lowest level is subject to environmental variation. Qualitative modelling is used to predict changes at the two upper levels, that is, top-down vs. bottom-up perturbations. Abundance and length metrics are calculated from survey data for 14 Mediterranean and East-Atlantic groundfish shelf communities at both population and functional group levels. The joint likelihood of time trends in metrics is used to evaluate the evidence for different causes of changes. 3. A wide diversity of impacts is found to have equal evidence at the population level within each community. Consistency between the impacts identified and changes in pressures known from independent information is found at the functional group and community level. The results suggest that there is some compensation between species within functional groups. 4. Synthesis and applications. The method can be used to conduct an integrated assessment of community dynamics subject to multiple pressures. Joint trends in metrics provide evidence of which known pressures are having an impact on the community, and thus, which management actions should be taken to mitigate these changes. | ||||||||||||
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