The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem
Exploitation of living marine resources has resulted in major changes to populations of targeted species and functional groups of large-bodied species in the ocean. However, the effects of overfishing and collapse of large top predators on the broad-scale biodiversity of oceanic ecosystems remain la...
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Language: | English |
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2015
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8212 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12396 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/8212 2023-05-15T15:27:46+02:00 The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem Ellingsen, Kari Elsa Anderson, Marti J. Shackell, Nancy L. Tveraa, Torkild Yoccoz, Nigel Gilles Frank, Kenneth T. 2015-06-24 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8212 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12396 eng eng Blackwell Publishers Journal of Animal Ecology Volume 84, Issue 5, pages 1242–1252, September 2015 FRIDAID 1251896 doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12396 0021-8790 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8212 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7793 openAccess beta diversity causal model collapse of cod human impact marine fish path analysis relative abundance species composition top predator trophic cascade VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2015 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12396 2021-06-25T17:54:20Z Exploitation of living marine resources has resulted in major changes to populations of targeted species and functional groups of large-bodied species in the ocean. However, the effects of overfishing and collapse of large top predators on the broad-scale biodiversity of oceanic ecosystems remain largely unexplored. Populations of the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were overfished and several collapsed in the early 1990s across Atlantic Canada, providing a unique opportunity to study potential ecosystem-level effects of the reduction of a dominant predator on fish biodiversity, and to identify how such effects might interact with other environmental factors, such as changes in climate, over time. We combined causal modelling with model selection and multimodel inference to analyse 41 years of fishery-independent survey data (1970–2010) and quantify ecosystem-level effects of overfishing and climate variation on the biodiversity of fishes across a broad area (172 000 km2) of the Scotian Shelf. We found that alpha and beta diversity increased with decreases in cod occurrence; fish communities were less homogeneous and more variable in systems where cod no longer dominated. These effects were most pronounced in the colder north-eastern parts of the Scotian Shelf. Our results provide strong evidence that intensive harvesting (and collapse) of marine apex predators can have large impacts on biodiversity, with far-reaching consequences for ecological stability across an entire ecosystem. Article in Journal/Newspaper atlantic cod Gadus morhua University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Canada Journal of Animal Ecology 84 5 1242 1252 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
beta diversity causal model collapse of cod human impact marine fish path analysis relative abundance species composition top predator trophic cascade VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 |
spellingShingle |
beta diversity causal model collapse of cod human impact marine fish path analysis relative abundance species composition top predator trophic cascade VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 Ellingsen, Kari Elsa Anderson, Marti J. Shackell, Nancy L. Tveraa, Torkild Yoccoz, Nigel Gilles Frank, Kenneth T. The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
topic_facet |
beta diversity causal model collapse of cod human impact marine fish path analysis relative abundance species composition top predator trophic cascade VDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Zoology and botany: 480::Ecology: 488 VDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Zoologiske og botaniske fag: 480::Økologi: 488 |
description |
Exploitation of living marine resources has resulted in major changes to populations of targeted species and functional groups of large-bodied species in the ocean. However, the effects of overfishing and collapse of large top predators on the broad-scale biodiversity of oceanic ecosystems remain largely unexplored. Populations of the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) were overfished and several collapsed in the early 1990s across Atlantic Canada, providing a unique opportunity to study potential ecosystem-level effects of the reduction of a dominant predator on fish biodiversity, and to identify how such effects might interact with other environmental factors, such as changes in climate, over time. We combined causal modelling with model selection and multimodel inference to analyse 41 years of fishery-independent survey data (1970–2010) and quantify ecosystem-level effects of overfishing and climate variation on the biodiversity of fishes across a broad area (172 000 km2) of the Scotian Shelf. We found that alpha and beta diversity increased with decreases in cod occurrence; fish communities were less homogeneous and more variable in systems where cod no longer dominated. These effects were most pronounced in the colder north-eastern parts of the Scotian Shelf. Our results provide strong evidence that intensive harvesting (and collapse) of marine apex predators can have large impacts on biodiversity, with far-reaching consequences for ecological stability across an entire ecosystem. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ellingsen, Kari Elsa Anderson, Marti J. Shackell, Nancy L. Tveraa, Torkild Yoccoz, Nigel Gilles Frank, Kenneth T. |
author_facet |
Ellingsen, Kari Elsa Anderson, Marti J. Shackell, Nancy L. Tveraa, Torkild Yoccoz, Nigel Gilles Frank, Kenneth T. |
author_sort |
Ellingsen, Kari Elsa |
title |
The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
title_short |
The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
title_full |
The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
The role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
title_sort |
role of a dominant predator in shaping biodiversity over space and time in a marine ecosystem |
publisher |
Blackwell Publishers |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8212 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12396 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
atlantic cod Gadus morhua |
genre_facet |
atlantic cod Gadus morhua |
op_relation |
Journal of Animal Ecology Volume 84, Issue 5, pages 1242–1252, September 2015 FRIDAID 1251896 doi:10.1111/1365-2656.12396 0021-8790 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/8212 URN:NBN:no-uit_munin_7793 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12396 |
container_title |
Journal of Animal Ecology |
container_volume |
84 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1242 |
op_container_end_page |
1252 |
_version_ |
1766358174901731328 |