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Trend analysis of indicators: a comparison of recent changes in the status of marine ecosystems around the world
Citation
Blanchard, JL and Coll, M and Trenkel, VM and Vergnon, R and Yemane, D and Jouffre, D and Link, JS and Shin, Y-J, Trend analysis of indicators: a comparison of recent changes in the status of marine ecosystems around the world, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 67 pp. 732-744. ISSN 1054-3139 (2010) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
© 2010 The Author(s) Licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/uk/) (The above website no longer exists see_ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/)
DOI: doi:10.1093/icesjms/fsp282
Abstract
Time-series of ecological and exploitation indicators collected from 19 ecosystems were analysed to investigate whether there have been
temporal trends in the status of fish communities. Using linear and non-linear statistical methods, trends are reported for six indicators
(mean length of fish in the community, mean lifespan, proportion of predatory fish, total biomass of surveyed species, mean trophic level
of landings, and inverse fishing pressure), and the redundancy of these indicators across ecosystems is evaluated. The expected direction
of change for an ecosystem that is increasingly impacted by fishing is a decline in all indicators. A mixture of negative and positive
directions of change is recorded, both within and among all ecosystems considered. No consistent patterns in the redundancy of the
ecological indicators across ecosystems emerged from the analyses, confirming that each indicator provided complementary information
on ecosystem status. The different trends in indicators may reflect differing historical exploitation patterns, management, and environmental
regimes in these systems. Commitment to monitoring programmes and development of system-specific baseline, target, and
threshold reference levels are required. Improved understanding of the responsiveness and performance of ecological indicators to
management actions are needed to address adequately whether ecosystems are recovering from, or being further impacted by,
fishing, and whether management targets are being met. The relative effects of multiple environmental and ecological processes as
well as multiple human-induced stressors that characterize exploited ecosystems also need to be quantified.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | ecosystem indicators, IndiSEAs, global |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Other biological sciences |
| Research Field: | Global change biology |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of Antarctic and Southern Ocean ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Blanchard, JL (Professor Julia Blanchard) |
| ID Code: | 100499 |
| Year Published: | 2010 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 93 |
| Deposited By: | Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration |
| Deposited On: | 2015-05-18 |
| Last Modified: | 2015-09-07 |
| Downloads: | 375 View Download Statistics |
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