Assessing the state of marine biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic
| Type | Article | ||||||||
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| Date | 2022-08 | ||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||
| Author(s) | McQuatters-Gollop A.1, Guérin L.2, 3, Arroyo N.L.4, Aubert A.3, 5, Artigas L.F.5, Bedford J.1, 6, Corcoran E.7, 8, Dierschke V.9, Elliott S.A.M.2, 10, Geelhoed S.C.V.11, Gilles A.12, González-Irusta J.M.4, Haelters J.13, Johansen M.14, Le Loc'h F.15, Lynam C.P.16, Niquil N.17, Meakins B.18, Mitchell I.18, Padegimas B.7, 19, 20, Pesch R.19, 20, Preciado I.4, Rombouts I.3, 5, Safi G.17, Schmitt P.19, Schückel U.21, Serrano A.4, Stebbing P.22, de La Torriente A.4, Vina-Herbon C.18 | ||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Marine Conservation Research Group, School of Biological and Marine Science, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth PL4 8AA, United Kingdom 2 : Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Service des Stations Marines. Station Marine de Dinard. 38 rue du Port Blanc, Dinard, Brittany 35800, France 3 : Patrimoine Naturel Joint Unit (OFB, MNHN, CNRS), Station Marine de Dinard, 38 Rue du Port Blanc, Dinard, Brittany 35800, France 4 : Instituto Español de Oceanografía (CNIEO-CSIC), Centro Oceanográfico de Santander, Promontorio San Martín, s/n, 39080 Santander, Spain 5 : Laboratoire d'Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG), UMR 8187 CNRS, Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale, Université de Lille, 62930 Wimereux, France 6 : UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge CB3 0DL, United Kingdom 7 : OSPAR Secretariat, 63 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4DA, United Kingdom 8 : Independent Consultant, Sövdevägen 220-5, Blentarp 275 64, Sweden 9 : Gavia EcoResearch, Tönnhäuser Dorfstr. 20, 21423 Winsen (Luhe), Germany 10 : DECOD (Ecosystem Dynamics and Sustainability), Institut Agro, Ifremer, INRAE, Rennes, France 11 : Wageningen Marine Research, NL-1781 AG Den Helder, The Netherlands 12 : Institute for Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife Research, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, 25761 Büsum, Germany 13 : Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS), Operational Directorate Nature, B-8400 Ostend, Belgium 14 : Swedish Meteorological and hydrological institute, Sven Källfelts gata 31, 42671 Gothenburg, Sweden 15 : Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), University of Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, LEMAR, Plouzané, France 16 : Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Lowestoft Laboratory, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, United Kingdom 17 : University of Caen Normandie, UMR 8067 BOREA MNHN, Sorbonne University, UCN, CNRS, IRD, UA. Esplanade de la Paix, CS 14032, 14032 Caen, France 18 : Joint Nature Conservation Committee, Monkstone House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JY, United Kingdom 19 : BioConsult GmbH & Co. KG, Auf der Muggenburg 30, 28217 Bremen, Germany 20 : Institute for Applied Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics, Jade University of Applied Sciences, Ofener Str. 16, 26121 Oldenburg, Germany 21 : Schleswig-Holstein Agency for Coastal Defence, National Park and Marine Conservation, National Park Authority, 25832 Tönning, Germany 22 : APEM Limited, International House, International Business Park, Southampton SO18 2RZ, United Kingdom |
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| Source | Ecological Indicators (1470-160X) (Elsevier BV), 2022-08 , Vol. 141 , P. 109148 (22p.) | ||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109148 | ||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 16 | ||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Food webs, Indicators, Holistic assessment, Ecosystem approach, Marine Strategy Framework Directive, Anthropogenic pressures | ||||||||
| Abstract | The Northeast Atlantic, a highly productive maritime area, has been exposed to a wide range of direct human pressures, such as fishing, shipping, coastal development, pollution, and non-indigenous species (NIS) introductions, in addition to anthropogenically-driven global climate change. Nonetheless, this regional sea supports a high diversity of species and habitats, whose functioning provides a variety of ecosystem services, essential for human welfare. In 2017, OSPAR, the Northeast Atlantic Regional Seas Commission, delivered an assessment of marine biodiversity for the Northeast Atlantic. This assessment examined biodiversity indicators separately to identify changes in Northeast Atlantic biodiversity, but stopped short of determining the status of biodiversity for many species and habitats. Here, we expand on this work and for the first time, a semi-quantitative approach is applied to evaluate holistically the state of Northeast Atlantic marine biodiversity across marine food webs, from plankton to top predators, via fish, pelagic and benthic habitats, including xeno-biodiversity (i.e. NIS). Our analysis reveals widespread degradation in marine ecosystems and biodiversity, particularly for marine birds and coastal bottlenose dolphins, as well as for benthic habitats and fish in some regions. The poor biodiversity status of these ecosystem components is likely the result of cumulative effects of human activities, such as habitat destruction or disturbance, overexploitation, eutrophication, the introduction of NIS, and climate change. Bright spots are also revealed, such as recent signs of recovery in some fish and marine bird communities and recovery in harbour and grey seal populations and the condition of coastal benthic communities in some regions. The status of many indicators across all ecosystem components, but particularly for the novel pelagic habitats, food webs and NIS indicators, however, remains uncertain due to gaps in data, unclear pressure-state relationships, and the non-linear influence of some pressures on biodiversity indicators. Improving monitoring and data access and increasing understanding of pressure-state relationships, including those that are non-linear, is therefore a priority for enabling future assessments, as is consistent and stable resourcing for expert involvement. |
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