Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8845520 | Ecological Indicators | 2018 | 13 Pages |
Abstract
For testing the effects of bottom fishing pressure, normalized index values (NIV; index value divided by reference value) were used. The rationale for using NIVs is the assumption that, although a certain level of bottom fishing pressure will have a larger absolute effect on more biodiverse benthic communities in deeper waters than on more robust and less biodiverse coastal benthic communities, the relative effects (tested using NIVs) are comparable. A clear exponentially decreasing relationship (R2â¯=â¯0.26-0.27, pâ¯<â¯0.00001) was found between both bottom surface and subsurface fishing activity (penetration depth <2â¯cm and >2â¯cm, respectively) and normalized Margalef diversity values, with an asymptotic normalized Margalef value of 0.45 at a subsurface fishing activity >2.3 sweeps/year. This asymptotic value is predominantly found in coastal waters, and probably shows that the naturally more robust coastal benthic communities have been transformed into resilient benthic communities, which rapidly recover from increasing fishing pressure.
Keywords
Related Topics
Life Sciences
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Authors
Willem M.G.M. van Loon, Dennis J.J. Walvoort, Gert van Hoey, Christina Vina-Herbon, Abigayil Blandon, Roland Pesch, Petra Schmitt, Jörg Scholle, Karin Heyer, Marc Lavaleye, Graham Phillips, Gerard C.A. Duineveld, Mats Blomqvist,