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Change in the dominance structure of two marine-fish assemblages over three decades
- Source :
- Journal of Fish Biology. 94:96-102
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Wiley, 2018.
-
Abstract
- Funding: FM and AEM are grateful to the European Research Council (ERCAdG BioTIME 250189 and ERCPoC BioCHANGE 727440). Marine fish are an irreplaceable resource but are currently under threat due to overfishing and climate change. To date, most of the emphasis has been on single stocks or populations of economic importance. However, commercially valuable species are embedded in assemblages of many species and there is only limited understanding of the extent to which the structure of whole communities has altered in recent years. Most assemblages are dominated by one or a few species, with these highly abundant species underpinning ecosystem services and harvesting decisions. This paper shows that there have been marked temporal changes in the dominance structure of Scottish marine assemblages over the last three decades, where dominance is measured as the proportional numerical abundance of the most dominant species. We report contrasting patterns in both the identity of the dominant species, and shifts in the relative abundance of the dominant in assemblages to the east and west of Scotland. This result highlights the importance of multi-species analyses of harvested stocks and has implications not only for fisheries management but also for consumer choices. Postprint
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Climate Change
QH301 Biology
Fisheries
Biodiversity
Climate change
Hierarchy, Social
Aquatic Science
Biology
010603 evolutionary biology
01 natural sciences
Ecosystem services
QH301
SDG 13 - Climate Action
Animals
Dominance (ecology)
SDG 14 - Life Below Water
14. Life underwater
SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
SH
Relative species abundance
Ecosystem
Dominance
Fish diversity
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Overfishing
Ecology
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Fishes
Marine fish
3rd-DAS
climate change
Scotland
Scottish fisheries
Fisheries management
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 00221112
- Volume :
- 94
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Fish Biology
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....d0f061c50f69a17f13571a1d6edfa616