Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration?
Widespread losses of production and conservation values make large-scale ecosystem restoration increasingly urgent. Ecological restoration by means of biomanipulation, i.e., by fishing out planktivores as to reduce the predation pressure on herbivorous zooplankton, has proven an effective tool in re...
Published in: | Ecological Applications |
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Online Access: | https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/cc576785-d073-408e-b9ca-18082a6c9507 https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 |
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ftdtupubl:oai:pure.atira.dk:publications/cc576785-d073-408e-b9ca-18082a6c9507 2023-05-15T16:19:21+02:00 Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? Lindegren, Martin Möllmann, Christian Hansson, Lars-Anders 2010 https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/cc576785-d073-408e-b9ca-18082a6c9507 https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Lindegren , M , Möllmann , C & Hansson , L-A 2010 , ' Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? ' , Ecological Applications , vol. 20 , no. 8 , pp. 2237-2248 . https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water SDG 14 - Life Below Water article 2010 ftdtupubl https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 2023-01-11T23:59:48Z Widespread losses of production and conservation values make large-scale ecosystem restoration increasingly urgent. Ecological restoration by means of biomanipulation, i.e., by fishing out planktivores as to reduce the predation pressure on herbivorous zooplankton, has proven an effective tool in restoring degraded lakes and coastal ecosystems. Whether biomanipulation may prove a useful restoration method in open and structurally complex marine ecosystems is however still unknown. To promote a recovery of the collapsed stock of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua), large-scale biomanipulation of sprat (Sprattus sprattus), the main planktivore in the Baltic Sea, has been suggested as a possible management approach. We study the effect of biomanipulation on sprat using a statistical food-web model which integrates internal interactions between the main fish species of the Central Baltic Sea with external forcing through commercial fishing, zooplankton and climate. By running multiple, stochastic simulations of reductions in sprat spawning stock biomass (SSB) only minor increases in cod SSB were detected, none of which brought the cod significantly above ecologically safe levels. On the contrary, reductions in cod fishing mortality and/or improved climatic conditions would promote a significant recovery of the stock. By this we demonstrate that an ecosystem-scale biomanipulation with the main focus of reinstating the dominance of cod in the Baltic Sea may likely be ecologically ineffective, operationally difficult and costly. We argue that reducing exploitation pressure on Eastern Baltic cod to ecologically sound levels is a far more appealing management strategy in promoting a long-term recovery and a sustainable fishery of the stock. Article in Journal/Newspaper Gadus morhua Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit Ecological Applications 20 8 2237 2248 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Technical University of Denmark: DTU Orbit |
op_collection_id |
ftdtupubl |
language |
English |
topic |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
spellingShingle |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water SDG 14 - Life Below Water Lindegren, Martin Möllmann, Christian Hansson, Lars-Anders Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
topic_facet |
/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/climate_action SDG 13 - Climate Action /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/life_below_water SDG 14 - Life Below Water |
description |
Widespread losses of production and conservation values make large-scale ecosystem restoration increasingly urgent. Ecological restoration by means of biomanipulation, i.e., by fishing out planktivores as to reduce the predation pressure on herbivorous zooplankton, has proven an effective tool in restoring degraded lakes and coastal ecosystems. Whether biomanipulation may prove a useful restoration method in open and structurally complex marine ecosystems is however still unknown. To promote a recovery of the collapsed stock of Eastern Baltic cod (Gadus morhua), large-scale biomanipulation of sprat (Sprattus sprattus), the main planktivore in the Baltic Sea, has been suggested as a possible management approach. We study the effect of biomanipulation on sprat using a statistical food-web model which integrates internal interactions between the main fish species of the Central Baltic Sea with external forcing through commercial fishing, zooplankton and climate. By running multiple, stochastic simulations of reductions in sprat spawning stock biomass (SSB) only minor increases in cod SSB were detected, none of which brought the cod significantly above ecologically safe levels. On the contrary, reductions in cod fishing mortality and/or improved climatic conditions would promote a significant recovery of the stock. By this we demonstrate that an ecosystem-scale biomanipulation with the main focus of reinstating the dominance of cod in the Baltic Sea may likely be ecologically ineffective, operationally difficult and costly. We argue that reducing exploitation pressure on Eastern Baltic cod to ecologically sound levels is a far more appealing management strategy in promoting a long-term recovery and a sustainable fishery of the stock. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Lindegren, Martin Möllmann, Christian Hansson, Lars-Anders |
author_facet |
Lindegren, Martin Möllmann, Christian Hansson, Lars-Anders |
author_sort |
Lindegren, Martin |
title |
Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
title_short |
Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
title_full |
Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
title_fullStr |
Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
title_sort |
biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/cc576785-d073-408e-b9ca-18082a6c9507 https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 |
genre |
Gadus morhua |
genre_facet |
Gadus morhua |
op_source |
Lindegren , M , Möllmann , C & Hansson , L-A 2010 , ' Biomanipulation - a tool in marine ecosystem management and restoration? ' , Ecological Applications , vol. 20 , no. 8 , pp. 2237-2248 . https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1890/09-0754.1 |
container_title |
Ecological Applications |
container_volume |
20 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
2237 |
op_container_end_page |
2248 |
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1766005729180778496 |