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The Mediterranean Sea ranks among the most overexploited and fastest-warming ocean regions. This situation calls for urgent development of global change scenarios and models of marine biodiversity to anticipate changes and support ecosystem-based management strategies across the entire Mediterranean Sea. Using a new end-to-end modelling chain for the whole Mediterranean Sea, we explored the potential effects of changes in fishing pressure on marine resources and ecosystem structure and functioning under a worst-case climate change scenario (RCP8.5). We found that a decrease in fishing mortality or an improvement in fishing selectivity could increase the total biomass and total catch of high trophic level species by the middle and end of the 21st century, especially the biomass of demersal, large pelagic and benthic species, thereby reversing the projected climate-induced decrease in their biomass and catch by the end of the century in the western Mediterranean basin. In contrast, climate change could offer opportunities for some eastern Mediterranean fisheries to increase catches of thermophilic and/or exotic species benefiting from new favourable environmental conditions. Based on a suite of ecological indicators, our results indicated clear positive effects of a more sustainable fisheries management on ecosystem structure and functioning. However, a decrease in fishing pressure may not fully compensate for climate-induced changes on marine resources and ecosystems, but rather buffer some projected negative impacts. Our study highlights the need for a more sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources to restore marine ecosystems and increase their resilience in a global change context.

In situ oxygen microprofiles, sediment organic carbon content, and pore-water concentrations of nitrate, ammonium, iron, manganese, and sulfides obtained in sediments from the Rhone River prodelta and its adjacent continental shelf were used to constrain a numerical diagenetic model. Results showed that (1) the organic matter from the Rhone River is composed of a fraction of fresh material associated to high first-order degradation rate constants (11-33 yr(-1)); (2) the burial efficiency (burial/input ratio) in the Rh boolean AND one prodelta (within 3 km of the river outlet) can be up to 80 %, and decreases to similar to 20% on the adjacent continental shelf 10-15 km further offshore; (3) there is a large contribution of anoxic processes to total mineralization in sediments near the river mouth, certainly due to large inputs of fresh organic material combined with high sedimentation rates; (4) diagenetic by-products originally produced during anoxic organic matter mineralization are almost entirely precipitated (> 97 %) and buried in the sediment, which leads to (5) a low contribution of the re-oxidation of reduced products to total oxygen consumption. Consequently, total carbon mineralization rates as based on oxygen consumption rates and using Redfield stoichiometry can be largely underestimated in such River-dominated Ocean Margins (RiOMar) environments.

A coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical modelling is developed to address main mechanisms that drive the particulate organic carbon (POC) deposition in the Gulf of Lions (NW-Mediterranean). Low-salinity water (LSW, salinity < 37.5) lenses detached from the Rhone River plume under specific wind conditions tend to favour the biological productivity and provide a good opportunity for validating a planktonic ecosystem modelling. A specific calibration dedicated to river plume ecosystems is then proposed and validated using in situ measurements within such LSW lens (BIOPRHOFI cruise - May 2006) and on the Gulf of Lions. During spring 2006, the POC deposition is maximal on the prodelta area and within the coastal area in the Gulf of Lions. Organic detritus mostly contribute to the total POC deposition (82-92 %) whereas the contribution of living organisms (microphytoplankton) appears lower than 17 %. Exploring both influences of terrestrial inputs from the Rhone River and planktonic ecosystems on the POC deposition on the shelf, we estimated that the contribution of terrestrial POM inputs to the total POC deposition is lower than 17% at the shelf scale during the study period, with maxima during peak discharges of the Rhone River. The main deposition area of terrestrial POC is found in the vicinity of the river mouth in agreement with sediment data. On the other hand, a remarkable influence of marine biological processes on the POC deposition is highlighted further on the shelf (from 60 to 80m depth). A tight feedback between zooplankton and POM contents in the water column is proposed to explain the control of POC deposition by zooplankton: terrestrial POM inputs would favour the development of living organisms through photosynthesis and grazing processes increasing the retention of organic matter within the food web. By favouring the development of large-sized zooplankton, LSW lenses may have paradoxically a negative impact on the carbon deposition on the shelf. In the sa

Modern sediment deposits on continental margins form a vast reservoir of particulate matter that is regularly affected by resuspension processes. Resuspension by bottom trawling on shelves with strong fishing activity can modify the scale of natural disturbance by waves and currents. Recent field data show that the impact of bottom trawls on fine sediment resuspension per unit surface is comparable with that of the largest storms. We assessed the impact of both natural and anthropogenic processes on the dispersal of riverborne particles and shelf sediments on the Gulf of Lion shelf. We performed realistic numerical simulations of resuspension and transport forced by currents and waves or by a fleet of bottom trawlers. Simulations were conducted for a 16-month period (January 1998-April 1999) to characterise the seasonal variability. The sediment dynamics takes into account bed armoring, ripple geometry and the cohesive and non-cohesive characteristics of the sediments. Essential but uncertain parameters (clay content, erosion fluxes and critical shear stress for cohesive sediment) were set with existing data. Resuspension by waves and currents was controlled by shear stress, whereas resuspension by trawls was controlled by density and distribution of the bottom trawler fleet. Natural resuspension by waves and currents mostly occurred during short seasonal episodes, and was concentrated on the inner shelf. Trawling-induced resuspension, in contrast, occurred regularly throughout the year and was concentrated on the outer shelf. The total annual erosion by trawls (5.6 x 10(6) t y(-1), t for metric tonnes) was four orders of magnitude lower than the erosion induced by waves and currents (35.3 x 10(9) t y(-1)). However the net resuspension (erosion/deposition budget) for trawling (0.4 x 10(6) t y(-1)) was only one order of magnitude lower than that for waves and currents (9.2 x 10(6) t y(-1)). Off-shelf export concerned the finest fraction of the sediment (clays and fin

In situ observations were combined with 3D modeling to gain understanding of and to quantify the suspended sediment transport in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea). The outputs of a hydrodynamic–sediment transport coupled model were compared to near-bottom current and suspended sediment concentration measurements collected at the head of seven submarine canyons and at a shallow shelf site, over a 6-month period (November 2003–May 2004). The comparisons provide a reasonable validation of the model that reproduces the observed spatial and time variations. The study period was marked by an unusual occurrence of marine storms and high river inputs. The major water and sediment discharges were supplied by the Rhone, the largest Mediterranean river, during an exceptional flood accompanying a severe marine storm in early December 2003. A second major storm, with moderate flooding, occurred in February 2004. The estimate of river input during the studied period was 5.9 Mt. Our study reveals (i) that most of the particulate matter delivered by the Rhone was entrapped on the prodelta, and (ii) that marine storms played a crucial role on the sediment dispersal on the shelf and the off-shelf export. The marine storms occurring in early December 2003 and late February 2004 resuspended a very large amount of shelf sediment (>8 Mt). Erosion was controlled by waves on the inner shelf and by energetic currents on the outer shelf. Sediment deposition took place in the middle part of the shelf, between 50 and 100 m depth. Resuspended sediments and river-borne particles were transported to the southwestern end of the shelf by a cyclonic circulation induced by these onshore winds and exported towards the Catalan shelf and into the Cap de Creus Canyon which incises the slope close to the shore. Export taking place mostly during marine storms was estimated to reach 9.1 Mt during the study period., In situ observations were combined with 3D modeling to gain understanding of and to quantify the suspended sediment transport in the Gulf of Lions (NW Mediterranean Sea). The outputs of a hydrodynamic–sediment transport coupled model were compared to near-bottom current and suspended sediment concentration measurements collected at the head of seven submarine canyons and at a shallow shelf site, over a 6-month period (November 2003–May 2004). The comparisons provide a reasonable validation of the model that reproduces the observed spatial and time variations. The study period was marked by an unusual occurrence of marine storms and high river inputs. The major water and sediment discharges were supplied by the Rhone, the largest Mediterranean river, during an exceptional flood accompanying a severe marine storm in early December 2003. A second major storm, with moderate flooding, occurred in February 2004. The estimate of river input during the studied period was 5.9 Mt. Our study reveals (i) that most of the particulate matter delivered by the Rhone was entrapped on the prodelta, and (ii) that marine storms played a crucial role on the sediment dispersal on the shelf and the off-shelf export. The marine storms occurring in early December 2003 and late February 2004 resuspended a very large amount of shelf sediment (>8 Mt). Erosion was controlled by waves on the inner shelf and by energetic currents on the outer shelf. Sediment deposition took place in the middle part of the shelf, between 50 and 100 m depth. Resuspended sediments and river-borne particles were transported to the southwestern end of the shelf by a cyclonic circulation induced by these onshore winds and exported towards the Catalan shelf and into the Cap de Creus Canyon which incises the slope close to the shore. Export taking place mostly during marine storms was estimated to reach 9.1 Mt during the study period.