Lower trophic levels and detrital biomass control the Bay of Biscay continental shelf food web: Implications for ecosystem management

Type Article
Date 2011-12
Language English
Author(s) Lassalle G.1, Lobry J.2, Le Loc'h F.3, Bustamante Paco1, Certain Gregoire1, 4, Delmas Daniel5, Dupuy C.1, Hily Christian6, Labry ClaireORCID5, Le Pape O.7, Marquis Elise1, 8, Petitgas Pierre9, Pusineri Claire1, 10, Ridoux Vincent1, 11, Spitz J.1, Niquil Nathalie1
Affiliation(s) 1 : CNRS Univ Rochelle, UMR 6250, F-17042 La Rochelle, France.
2 : Cemagref, UR EPBX, Agr & Environm Engn Res Inst, F-33612 Cestas, France.
3 : Univ Montpellier 2, IRD, IFREMER, CNRS,UMR Ecosyst Marins Exploites 212, F-34203 Sete, France.
4 : Inst Marine Res, N-9294 Tromso, Norway.
5 : IFREMER, Dept Dynam Environm Cotier, Lab Pelagos, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
6 : Univ Bretagne Occidentale, Lab Sci Environm MARin, CNRS, Inst Univ Europeen Mer,UMR 6539, F-29280 Plouzane, France.
7 : Univ Europeenne Bretagne, Agrocampus Ouest, UMR Agrocampts Ouest 985, F-35042 Rennes, France.
8 : Natl Taiwan Univ, Inst Oceanog, Taipei 10617, Taiwan.
9 : IFREMER, Dept Ecol & Modeles Halieut, F-44311 Nantes, France.
10 : Off Natl Chasse & Faune Sauvage, F-97670 Coconi, Mayotte, France.
11 : CNRS Univ La Rochelle, Ctr Rech Mammiferes Matins, UMR 3419, F-17071 La Rochelle, France.
Source Progress In Oceanography (0079-6611) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2011-12 , Vol. 91 , N. 4 , P. 561-575
DOI 10.1016/j.pocean.2011.09.002
WOS© Times Cited 67
Abstract The Bay of Biscay (North-East Atlantic) has long been subjected to intense direct and indirect human activities that lead to the excessive degradation and sometimes overexploitation of natural resources. Fisheries management is gradually moving away from single-species assessments to more holistic, multi-species approaches that better respond to the reality of ecosystem processes. Quantitative modelling methods such as Ecopath with Ecosim can be useful tools for planning, implementing and evaluating ecosystem-based fisheries management strategies. The aim of this study was therefore to model the energy fluxes within the food web of this highly pressured ecosystem and to extract practical information required in the diagnosis of ecosystem state/health. A well-described model comprising 30 living and two non-living compartments was successfully constructed with data of local origin, for the Bay of Biscay continental shelf. The same level of aggregation was applied to primary producers, mid-trophic-levels and top-predators boxes. The model was even more general as it encompassed the entire continuum of marine habitats, from benthic to pelagic domains. Output values for most ecosystem attributes indicated a relatively mature and stable ecosystem, with a large proportion of its energy flow originating from detritus. Ecological network analysis also provided evidence that bottom-up processes play a significant role in the population dynamics of upper-trophic-levels and in the global structuring of this marine ecosystem. Finally, a novel metric based on ecosystem production depicted an ecosystem not far from being overexploited. This finding being not entirely consistent over indicators, further analyses based on dynamic simulations are required. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Lassalle G., Lobry J., Le Loc'h F., Bustamante Paco, Certain Gregoire, Delmas Daniel, Dupuy C., Hily Christian, Labry Claire, Le Pape O., Marquis Elise, Petitgas Pierre, Pusineri Claire, Ridoux Vincent, Spitz J., Niquil Nathalie (2011). Lower trophic levels and detrital biomass control the Bay of Biscay continental shelf food web: Implications for ecosystem management. Progress In Oceanography, 91(4), 561-575. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pocean.2011.09.002 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00057/16851/