Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T06:24:13.742Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Temporal trends in biodiversity of the middle-slope assemblages in Sardinian seas (Central-Western Mediterranean)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

Andrea Sabatini*
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Ivan Locci
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Anna M. Deiana
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Maria C. Follesa
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Alice Gastoni
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Antonio A. Pendugiu
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Paola Pesci
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
Angelo Cau
Affiliation:
Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1,09126 Cagliari, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Sabatini, Department of Life Sciences and Environment, University of Cagliari, Via Tommaso Fiorelli, 1, 09126 Cagliari, Italy email: asabati@unica.it

Abstract

It has been amply demonstrated that trawl fishing affects overall biomass, size and species structure of demersal fish communities, and an increasing number of studies are proving that this could have even greater unexpected effects on biological diversity. The aims of this study are: (1) to examine the temporal trends of several ecological diversity indices for middle-slope communities in specific locations within the Sardinian seas, which have been recently subject to increasing fishing capacity; and (2) to simulate the Shannon's entropy (H′) temporal trend, using a multiple linear regression, in order to investigate about the relationships between fishing effort and species diversity. The data come from 11 MEDITS trawl surveys (1994 to 2004). Temporal trends in fishing effort were analysed and ecological diversity indices were measured. Analysis was conducted for four areas (NW, NE, SE, SSW). Significant variations over time in both fishing pressure and ecological diversity indices were found for the southern zones. More precisely, the SE zone showed an increase in fishing effort (+120% in 2004), and a decrease of Shannon–Weiner's diversity. The SSW zone exhibited a 22.6% increase of fishing effort and a decrease of species richness. The best model of H′ incorporates species richness and fishing effort expressed as number of boats per trawling area. Our results seem to indicate that fishing pressure affected the species richness and the abundance of middle-slope species and that variation in ecological diversity indices differed with different levels of fishing effort.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Althaus, F., Williams, A., Schlacher, T.A., Kloser, R.J., Green, M.A., Barker, B.A., Bax, N.J., Brodie, P. and Schlacher-Hoenlinger, M.A. (2009) Impacts of bottom trawling on deep-coral ecosystems of seamounts are long-lasting. Marine Ecology Progress Series 397, 279294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bertrand, J.A., De Sola, L.G., Papaconstantinou, C., Relini, G. and Souplet, A. (2002) The general specifications of the MEDITS surveys. Scientia Marina 66 (Supplement 2), 917.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bianchi, G., Gislason, H., Graham, K., Hill, L., Koranteng, K., Manickchand-Heileman, S., Paya, I., Sainsbury, K., Sanchez, F., Jin, X. and Zwanenburg, K. (2000) Impact of fishing on size composition and diversity of demersal fish communities. ICES Journal of Marine Science 210, 558571.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchard, F. (2001) Une approche de la dynamique des peuplements de poissons démersaux exploités: analyse comparée de la diversité spécifique dans le golfe de Gascogne (océan Atlantique) et dans le golfe du Lion (mer Méditerranée). Aquatic Living Resources 14, 2940.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cau, A., Sabatini, A., Murenu, M., Follesa, M.C. and Cuccu, D. (1994) Considerazioni sullo stato di sfruttamento delle risorse demersali (Mari di Sardegna). Atti seminario sulla regolazione dello sforzo di pesca. Biologia Marina Mediterranea 1, 6776.Google Scholar
Clark, M.R. and Rowden, A.A. (2009) Effect of deep water trawling on the macro-invertebrate assemblages of seamounts on the Chatham Rise, New Zealand. Deep-Sea Research Part I—Oceanographic Research Papers 56, 15401554.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M.R., Rowden, A.A., Schlacher, T., Williams, A., Consalvey, M., Stocks, K.I., Rogers, A.D., O'Hara, T.D., White, M., Shank, T.M. and Hall-Spencer, J.M. (2010) The ecology of seamounts: structure, function, and human impacts. Annual Review of Marine Science 2, 253278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
D'Onghia, G., Mastrototaro, F., Matarrese, A., Politou, C-Y. and Mytilineou, C. (2003) Biodiversity of the upper slope demersal community in the eastern Mediterranean: preliminary comparison between two areas with and without trawl fishing. Journal of Northwest Atlantic Fishery Science 31, 263273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dubois, S., Commito, J.A., Olivier, F. and Retière, C. (2006) Effects of epibionts on Sabellaria alveolata (L.) biogenic reefs and their associated fauna in the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 68, 635646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Durbin, J. and Watson, G.S. (1951a) Testing for serial correlation in least squares regression, I. Biometrika 37, 409428.Google Scholar
Durbin, J. and Watson, G.S. (1951b) Testing for serial correlation in least squares regression, II. Biometrika 38, 159178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dulvy, N.K., Sadovy, Y. and Reynolds, J.D. (2003) Extinction vulnerability in marine populations. Fish and Fisheries 4, 2564.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fiorentini, L., Dremière, P-Y., Leonori, I., Sala, A. and Palumbo, V. (1999) Efficiency of the bottom trawl used for the Mediterranean international trawl survey (MEDITS). Aquatic Living Resources 12 (3), 187205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fogarty, M.J. and Murawski, S.A. (1998) Large-scale disturbance and the structure of marine systems: fishery impacts on Georges Bank. Ecological Application 8 (Supplement 1), 622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ganis, P. (1991) La diversità specifica nelle comunità ecologiche: concetti, metodi e programmi di calcolo. Trieste: Dipartimento di Biologia Università di Trieste. Quaderni del Gruppo Elaborazione Automatica Dati Ecologia Quantitativa.Google Scholar
Greenstreet, S.P.R. and Hall, S.J. (1996) Fishing and the ground-fish assemblage structure in the North-western North Sea: an analysis of long-term and spatial trends. Journal of Animal Ecology 65, 577598.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, L.A. and Kruskal, W.H. (1963) Measures of association for cross classifications III: approximate sampling theory. Journal of the American Statistical Association 58, 310364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hector, A. and Bagchi, R. (2007) Biodiversity and ecosystem multifunctionality. Nature 448, 188190.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Haedrich, R.L. and Barnes, S.M. (1997) Changes over time of the size structure in an exploited shelf fish community. Fisheries Research 31, 229239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Helsel, D.R. and Hirsch, R.M. (2002) Statistical methods in water resources. In Helsel, D.R. and Hirsch, R.M. (eds) Techniques of water-resources investigations of the United States Geological Survey; Book 4, Hydrologic analysis and interpretation. Reston, VA: US Geological Survey, pp. 326328.Google Scholar
Hiddink, J.G., MacKenzie, B., Rijnsdorp, A., Dulvy, N.K., Nielsen, E.E., Bekkevold, D., Heino, M., Lorance, P. and Ojaveer, H. (2008) Importance of fish biodiversity for the management of fisheries and ecosystems. Fisheries Research 90, 68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huston, M.A. (1979) A general hypothesis of species diversity. American Naturalist 13, 81101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchings, J.A. and Baum, J.K. (2005) Measuring marine fish biodiversity: temporal changes in abundance, life history and demography. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 360, 315338.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Izsàk, J. and Papp, L. (2000) A link between ecological diversity indices and measures of biodiversity. Ecological Modelling 130, 151156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jennings, S., Polunin, N.V.C. (1996) Impacts of fishing on tropical reefs ecosystems. Ambio 25, 4449.Google Scholar
Koslow, J.A., Boehlert, G.W., Gordon, J.D.M., Haedrich, R.L., Lorance, P. and Parin, N. (2000) Continental slope and deep-sea fisheries: implications for a fragile ecosystem. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57, 548557.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labropoulou, M. and Papaconstantinou, C. (2004) Community structure and diversity of demersal fish assemblages: the role of fishery. Scientia Marina 68 (Supplement 1), 215226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambshead, P.J.D., Platt, H.M. and Shaw, K.M. (1983) The detection of difference among assemblages of marine benthic species based on assessment of dominance and diversity. Journal of Natural History 17, 859874.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lobry, J., Gascuel, D. and Domain, F. (2003) La biodiversité spécifique des ressources démersales du plateau continental guinéen: utilisation d'indices classiques pour un diagnostic sur l’évolution de l’écosystème. Aquatic Living Resources 16, 5368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loreau, M., Naeem, S., Inchausti, P., Bengtsson, J., Grime, J.P., Hector, A., Hooper, D.U., Huston, M.A., Raffaelli, D., Schmid, B., Tilman, D. and Wardle, D.A. (2001) Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: current knowledge and future challenges. Science 294, 804808.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Magurran, A.E. (2004) Measuring biological diversity. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
O'Hara, T.D., Rowden, A.A. and Williams, A. (2008) Cold-water coral habitats on seamounts: do they have a specialist fauna? Divers and Distribution 14, 925934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olsgard, F., Schaanning, M.T., Widdicombe, S., Kendall, M.A. and Austen, M.C. (2008) Effects of bottom trawling on ecosystem functioning. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 366, 123133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pauly, D. (1988) Fisheries research and the demersal fisheries of Southeast Asia. In Gulland, J.A. (ed.) Fish population dynamics. London, UK: John Wiley and Sons, pp. 329348.Google Scholar
Pielou, E.C. (1969) An introduction to mathematical ecology. New York John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Rochet, M.J. and Trenkel, V. (2003) Which community indicators can measure the impact of fishing? A review and proposals. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 60, 8699.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rochet, M.J., Trenkel, V., Bellail, R., Coppin, F., Le Pape, O., Mahé, J.C., Morin, J., Poulard, J.C., Schlaich, I., Souplet, A., Vérin, Y. and Bertrand, J. (2005) Combining indicator trends to assess ongoing changes in exploited fish communities: diagnostic of communities off the coasts of France. ICES Journal of Marine Science 62, 16471664.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabatini, A., Cabiddu, S., Cuccu, D., Murenu, M., Pendugiu, A.A., Pesci, P., Follesa, M.C. and Cau, A. (2006) Searching adequate BRP for Aristaeomorpha foliacea stocks off southern coasts of Sardinia. Biologia Marina Mediterranea 13, 8797.Google Scholar
Sabatini, A., Follesa, M.C., Locci, I., Pendugiu, A.A., Pesci, P. and Cau, A. (2007) Assemblages in a submarine canyon: influence of depth and time. Hydrobiologia 580, 265271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sabatini, A., Follesa, M.C., Locci, I., Matta, G., Palmas, F., Pendugiu, A.A., Pesci, P. and Cau, A. (2010) Demersal assemblages in two trawl fishing lanes located on the Baronie seamount (Central Western Mediterranean). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91, 6575.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shannon, C.E. (1948) A mathematical theory of communication. Reprinted with corrections from The Bell System Technical Journal 27, 379–423, 623656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sousa, S.I.V., Martins, F.G., Pereira, M.C. and Alvim-Ferraz, M.C.M. (2006) Prediction of ozone concentrations in Oporto city with statistical approaches. Chemosphere 64, 11411149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ungaro, N., Marano, G., Marsan, R. and Ostmani, K. (1998) Demersal fish assemblage biodiversity as an index of fishery resources exploitation. Italian Journal of Zoology 65 (Supplement), 511516.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, R. and Pauly, D. (2001) Systematic distortions in world fisheries catch trends. Nature 414, 534536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Worm, B., Barbier, E.B., Beaumont, N., Duffy, J.E., Folke, C., Halpen, B.S., Jackson, J.B.C., Lotze, H.K., Micheli, F., Palumbi, S.R., Sala, E., Selkoe, K.A., Stachowicz, J.J. and Watson, R. (2006) Impact of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314, 787790.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Worm, B., Hilborn, R., Baum, J.K., Branch, T.A., Collie, J.S., Costello, C., Fogarty, M.J., Fulton, E.A., Hutchings, J.A., Jennings, S., Jensen, O.P., Lotze, H.K., Mace, P.M., McClanahan, T.R., Minto, C., Palumbi, S.R., Parma, A.M., Ricard, D., Rosenberg, A.A., Watson, R. and Zeller, D. (2009). Rebuilding global fisheries. Science 325, 578585.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zar, J.H. (1999) Biostatistical analysis. 4th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Zhou, H., Zhang, Z.N., Liu, X.S., Tu, L.H. and Yu, Z.S. (2007) Changes in the shelf macrobenthic community over large temporal and spatial scales in the Bohai Sea, China. Journal of Marine Systems 67, 312321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, S., Smith, A.D.M., Punt, A.E., Richardson, A.J., Gibbs, M., Fulton, E.A., Pascoe, S., Bulman, C., Bayliss, P. and Sainsbury, K. (2010) Ecosystem-based fisheries management requires a change to the selective fishing philosophy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107, 94859489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar