Historical changes of the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem: modelling the role and impact of primary productivity and fisheries changes over time

Type Article
Date 2017-03
Language English
Author(s) Piroddi Chiara1, 2, Coll MartaORCID1, 3, 4, Liquete Camino2, Macias DiegoORCID2, Greer Krista5, Buszowski Joe3, Steenbeek JeroenORCID1, 3, Danovaro Roberto6, 7, Christensen VillyORCID3, 5
Affiliation(s) 1 : Inst Marine Sci ICM CSIC, Passeig Maritim Barceloneta, No 39-45, E-08003 Barcelona, Spain.
2 : Joint Res Ctr JRC, European Commiss, Directorate D Sustainable Resources, Via Enrico Fermi 2749, I-21027 Ispra, Italy.
3 : Ecopath Int Initiat Res Assoc, Barcelona, Spain.
4 : Inst Rech Dev UMR MARBEC MARine Biodiver Exploita, Ave Jean Monnet BP 171, F-34203 Sete, France.
5 : Univ British Columbia, Inst Oceans & Fisheries, Main Mall 2202, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada.
6 : Univ Politecn Marche, Dept Life & Environm Sci, I-60131 Ancona, Italy.
7 : Staz Zoolog Anton Dohrn, I-80121 Naples, Italy.
Source Scientific Reports (2045-2322) (Nature Publishing Group), 2017-03 , Vol. 7 , P. 44491 (18p.)
DOI 10.1038/srep44491
WOS© Times Cited 130
Abstract

The Mediterranean Sea has been defined "under siege" because of intense pressures from multiple human activities; yet there is still insufficient information on the cumulative impact of these stressors on the ecosystem and its resources. We evaluate how the historical (1950-2011) trends of various ecosystems groups/species have been impacted by changes in primary productivity (PP) combined with fishing pressure. We investigate the whole Mediterranean Sea using a food web modelling approach. Results indicate that both changes in PP and fishing pressure played an important role in driving species dynamics. Yet, PP was the strongest driver upon the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. This highlights the importance of bottom-up processes in controlling the biological characteristics of the region. We observe a reduction in abundance of important fish species (similar to 34%, including commercial and noncommercial) and top predators (similar to 41%), and increases of the organisms at the bottom of the food web (similar to 23%). Ecological indicators, such as community biomass, trophic levels, catch and diversity indicators, reflect such changes and show overall ecosystem degradation over time. Since climate change and fishing pressure are expected to intensify in the Mediterranean Sea, this study constitutes a baseline reference for stepping forward in assessing the future management of the basin.

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How to cite 

Piroddi Chiara, Coll Marta, Liquete Camino, Macias Diego, Greer Krista, Buszowski Joe, Steenbeek Jeroen, Danovaro Roberto, Christensen Villy (2017). Historical changes of the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem: modelling the role and impact of primary productivity and fisheries changes over time. Scientific Reports, 7, 44491 (18p.). Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.1038/srep44491 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00625/73723/