Interannual Changes in Biomass Affect the Spatial Aggregations of Anchovy and Sardine as Evidenced by Geostatistical and Spatial Indicators

Type Article
Date 2015-08
Language English
Author(s) Barra Marco1, 2, Petitgas PierreORCID3, Bonanno Angelo1, 2, Somarakis Stylianos4, Woillez MathieuORCID3, Machias Athanasios4, Mazzola Salvatore1, 2, Basilone Gualtiero1, 2, Giannoulaki Marianna4
Affiliation(s) 1 : Inst Coastal & Marine Environm, Detached Units Capo Granitola, Mazara Del Vallo, Italy.
2 : Inst Coastal & Marine Environm, Detached Units Capo Granitola, Naples, Italy.
3 : IFREMER, Lab Ecol Halieut, Nantes, France.
4 : Hellen Ctr Marine Res, Inst Marine Biol Resources & Inland Waters, Iraklion, Greece.
Source Plos One (1932-6203) (Public Library Science), 2015-08 , Vol. 10 , N. 8 , P. -
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0135808
WOS© Times Cited 35
Abstract Geostatistical techniques were applied and a series of spatial indicators were calculated (occupation, aggregation, location, dispersion, spatial autocorrelation and overlap) to characterize the spatial distributions of European anchovy and sardine during summer. Two ecosystems were compared for this purpose, both located in the Mediterranean Sea: the Strait of Sicily (upwelling area) and the North Aegean Sea (continental shelf area, influenced by freshwater). Although the biomass of anchovy and sardine presented high interannual variability in both areas, the location of the centres of gravity and the main spatial patches of their populations were very similar between years. The size of the patches representing the dominant part of the abundance (80%) was mostly ecosystem- and species-specific. Occupation (area of presence) appears to be shaped by the extent of suitable habitats in each ecosystem whereas aggregation patterns (how the populations are distributed within the area of presence) were species-specific and related to levels of population biomass. In the upwelling area, both species showed consistently higher occupation values compared to the continental shelf area. Certain characteristics of the spatial distribution of sardine (e.g. spreading area, overlapping with anchovy) differed substantially between the two ecosystems. Principal component analysis of geostatistical and spatial indicators revealed that biomass was significantly related to a suite of, rather than single, spatial indicators. At the spatial scale of our study, strong correlations emerged between biomass and the first principal component axis with highly positive loadings for occupation, aggregation and patchiness, independently of species and ecosystem. Overlapping between anchovy and sardine increased with the increase of sardine biomass but decreased with the increase of anchovy. This contrasting pattern was attributed to the location of the respective major patches combined with the specific occupation patterns of the two species. The potential use of spatial indices as auxiliary stock monitoring indicators is discussed.
Full Text
File Pages Size Access
Publisher's official version 22 4 MB Open access
Top of the page

How to cite 

Barra Marco, Petitgas Pierre, Bonanno Angelo, Somarakis Stylianos, Woillez Mathieu, Machias Athanasios, Mazzola Salvatore, Basilone Gualtiero, Giannoulaki Marianna (2015). Interannual Changes in Biomass Affect the Spatial Aggregations of Anchovy and Sardine as Evidenced by Geostatistical and Spatial Indicators. Plos One, 10(8), -. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0135808 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00276/38758/