Spatial patterns of the temporal dynamics of three gadoid species along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast

Journal home page: http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/ Time series from an extensive research survey of juveniles of cod Gadus morhua, pollack Pollachius pollachius and whiting Merlangius merlangus sampled from 1919 to 1994 at 38 stations along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast were investigated. Spat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine Ecology Progress Series
Main Authors: Fromentin, Jean-Marc, Stenseth, Nils Christian, Gjøsæter, Jakob, Bjørnstad, Ottar N., Falck, Wilhelm, Johannessen, Tore
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 1997
Subjects:
cod
torsk
pollock
lyr
whiting
hvitting
stock fluctuations
bestandssvingninger
Skagerrak coast
Skagerrakkysten
VDP::Agriculture and fishery disciplines: 900::Fisheries science: 920::Resource biology: 921
Gadus morhua
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11250/108480
https://doi.org/10.3354/meps155209
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Summary:Journal home page: http://www.int-res.com/journals/meps/ Time series from an extensive research survey of juveniles of cod Gadus morhua, pollack Pollachius pollachius and whiting Merlangius merlangus sampled from 1919 to 1994 at 38 stations along the Norwegian Skagerrak coast were investigated. Spatial and temporal analyses were performed to study the spatial pattern of the temporal dynamics of the 3 fish species. Spatially consistent variations were detected in abundance, year-to-year fluctuation as well as in periodicity. The spatial heterogeneity occurred at a mesoscale (differences between fjords) and at a local scale (differences between stations within a fjord) for the 3 gadoids. However, the magnitude of the spatial heterogeneity differed between species. Cod and whiting, which were more abundant in sheltered areas, showed higher spatial variability than pollack, which was more abundant in exposed locations. In this way, the spatial pattern of abundance appeared to be linked to the scale of variability of the species. All 3 species exhibit periodic fluctuations of 2 to 2.5 yr in their optimal habitats, which probably resulted from intrinsic interactions in age-structured populations, such as density-dependent competition and cannibalism. In addition, all the species exhibited long-term trends possibly due to extrinsic forces, such as environmental changes or anthropogenic influences.

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