Sustainable fishing can lead to improvements in marine ecosystem status: an ensemble-model forecast of the North Sea ecosystem

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
MA Spence ◽  
CA Griffiths ◽  
JJ Waggitt ◽  
HJ Bannister ◽  
RB Thorpe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Ensemble Model ◽  
Model Forecast ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Evidence for the effects of decommissioning man-made structures on marine ecosystems globally: a systematic map protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anaëlle J. Lemasson ◽  
Antony M. Knights ◽  
Murray Thompson ◽  
Gennadi Lessin ◽  
Nicola Beaumont ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Evidence Synthesis ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Systematic Map ◽  
Management Options ◽  
The North ◽  
Ecosystem Effects ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract Background Numerous man-made structures (MMS) have been installed in various parts of the ocean (e.g. oil and gas structures, offshore wind installations). Many are now at, or nearing, the end of their intended life. Currently, we only have a limited understanding of decommissioning effects. In many locations, such as the North Sea, regulations restrict decommissioning options to complete removal, with little consideration of alternative management options might offer. To generate a reliable evidence-base to inform the decision-making processes pertaining to marine MMS management, we propose a wide-encompassing systematic map of published research on the ecosystem effects (including ecosystem services) of marine MMS while in place and following cessation of operations (i.e. including effects of alternative decommissioning options). This map is undertaken as part of the UKRI DREAMS project which aims to develop a system to show the relative effects of implementing different decommissioning strategies in the North Sea. Method For the purpose of this map, we will keep our focus global, in order to subsequently draw comparisons between marine regions. The proposed map will aim to answer the following two primary questions: 1. What published evidence exists for the effects of marine man-made structures while in place on the marine ecosystem? 2. What published evidence exists for the effects of the decommissioning of marine man-made structures on the marine ecosystem? The map will follow the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Guidelines and Standards for Evidence Synthesis in Environmental Management. Searches will be run primarily in English in at least 13 databases and 4 websites. Returns will be screened at title/abstract level and at full-text against pre-defined criteria. Relevant meta-data will be extracted for each study included. Results will be used to build a database of evidence, which will be made freely available. This map, expected to be large, will improve our knowledge of the available evidence for the ecosystem effects of MMS in the global marine environment. It will subsequently inform the production of multiple systematic-reviews and meta-analyses.

scholarly journals Do microplastics affect marine ecosystem productivity?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tineke Troost ◽  
Térence Desclaux ◽  
Heather a. Leslie ◽  
Myra van der Meulen ◽  
A. Dick Vethaak
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Secondary Production ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Biogeochemical Model ◽  
Laboratory Findings ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Secondary Productivity

Marine and coastal ecosystems are among the largest contributors to the Earth’s productivity. Experimental studies have shown negative impacts of microplastics on individual algae or zooplankton organisms. Consequently, primary and secondary productivity may be negatively affected as well. In this study we attempted to estimate the impacts on productivity at ecosystem level based on reported laboratory findings with a modelling approach, using our biogeochemical model for the North Sea (Delft3D-GEM). Although the model predicted that microplastics do not affect the total primary or secondary production of the North Sea as a whole, the spatial patterns of secondary production were altered, showing local changes of ±10%. However, relevant field data on microplastics are scarce, and strong assumptions were required to include the plastic concentrations and their impacts under field conditions into the model. These assumptions reveal the main knowledge gaps that have to be resolved to improve the first estimate above.

scholarly journals Diversity and biological trait analysis of soft-bottom macrobenthic communities in the Belgian part of the North Sea.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Breine ◽  
Annelies De Backer ◽  
Kris Hostens ◽  
Carl Van Colen ◽  
Tom Moens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Benthic Fauna ◽  
Soft Bottom ◽  
Macrobenthic Communities ◽  
Mobile Species ◽  
The North ◽  
Biological Trait ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
The North Sea

Soft-bottom macrobenthic communities are an essential part of the marine ecosystem for which a healthy status is aimed at. Therefore, insights in the structural and functional (trait based) characteristics of the soft-bottom benthic communities in the Southern part of the North Sea are obtained based on 18 years of data, with a large spatial coverage. The communities show clear differences in their structural properties. The fine sand Abra alba community and coarse sand Hesionura elongata community have the highest species richness and diversity values. The muddy Limecola balthica community and medium sand Nephtys cirrosa community the lowest. However, looking at biological trait characteristics, the communities show some functional redundancy. In the relative coarser, permeable sands, more free living, mobile species, were found causing diffusive mixing, whilst the finer sand and mud communities have more sessile, tube building and burrow dwelling species. With their contribution to bioturbation and bio-irrigation processes, the benthic fauna prove to be essential for the biogeochemical status of these finer sand sediments. Based on this integrated evaluation of biodiversity and functional related characteristics, we will demonstrate how this improve status assessments and an appropriate determination of the habitat sensitivity to different human induced pressures.

Change in the North Sea ecosystem from the 1970s to the 2010s: great skua diets reflect changing forage fish, seabirds, and fisheries

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 925-937 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriella E Church ◽  
Robert W Furness ◽  
Glen Tyler ◽  
Lucy Gilbert ◽  
Stephen C Votier
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Impacts ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Commercial Fishing ◽  
Seabird Species ◽  
Rissa Tridactyla ◽  
Fulmarus Glacialis ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract Understanding anthropogenic impacts are crucial to maintain marine ecosystem health. The North Sea has changed in recent decades, largely due to commercial fishing and climate change. Seabirds can act as useful indicators of these changes. By analyzing n = 20 013 pellets and n = 24 993 otoliths regurgitated by great skuas Stercorarius skua in northern Scotland over five decades from the 1970s to the 2010s (in 36 years 1973–2017), we reveal how the diet of this top predator has changed alongside the changing North Sea ecosystem. Sandeels Ammodytes spp. were the most common dietary item during the 1970s, but became virtually absent from the 1980s onward. Discarded whitefish dominated skua diets from the 1980s to the present day, despite long-term declines in North Sea discard production. However, the discarded fish eaten by great skuas has become smaller and the species composition changed. Skua pellets only rarely contained avian prey in the 1970s but this increased during the 1980s, and fluctuated between 10% and 20% from the 1990s to 2010s. There have also been changes in the avian prey in the diet—black-legged kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla generally being replaced by auks Alcid spp. and northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis. The Shetland marine ecosystem has experienced steep declines in sandeel stocks and in seabirds that feed on them. Great skuas have been able to prey switch to respond to this change, supported by abundant discards, enabling them to maintain a favourable population status while other seabird species have declined.

scholarly journals Spatial and temporal analysis of cumulative environmental effects of offshore wind farms in the North Sea basin

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Florentina Gușatu ◽  
Stefano Menegon ◽  
Daniel Depellegrin ◽  
Christian Zuidema ◽  
André Faaij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Wind Farm ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
The North ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
The North Sea

AbstractThe North Sea basin is one of the busiest maritime areas globally with a considerable number of anthropogenic pressures impacting the functioning of the marine ecosystem. Due to growing EU ambitions for the deployment of large offshore wind farm projects (OWF), as part of the 2050 renewable energy roadmap, there is a key need for a holistic understanding of OWF potential impacts on the marine ecosystem. We propose a holistic Cumulative Effect Assessment methodology, applied using a geo-spatial open-source software, to assess impacts of OWF related pressures on selected seabed habitats, fish, seabird and mammal species. We take into account pressures specific to the three OWF development phases, spanning 1999–2050, for the entire North Sea basin. Our results underline 2022 as the peak year of cumulative impacts for the approved OWFs, followed by a considerable increase in potential impacts of the planned 212GWs, by 2050. The spatio-temporal analysis of the OWF environmental impacts presents the shift between highly impacted areas over the studied timeline and distinguishes between concentrated areas of high impacts (S–E of UK) and dispersed areas of high impacts (Germany). Our results can inform decision-makers and the OWF industry in a joint effort to mitigate the environmental impacts of future large OWF developments.

scholarly journals Identifying and addressing the anthropogenic drivers of global change in the North Sea: a systematic map protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Moullec ◽  
Rémy Asselot ◽  
Dominik Auch ◽  
Alexandra M. Blöcker ◽  
Gregor Börner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Systematic Map ◽  
Marine Research ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Anthropogenic Drivers

Abstract Background Anthropogenic pressures on marine ecosystems have increased over the last 75 years and are expected to intensify in the future with potentially dramatic cascading consequences for human societies. It is therefore crucial to rebuild marine life-support systems and aim for future healthy ecosystems. Nowadays, there is a reasonable understanding of the impacts of human pressure on marine ecosystems; but no studies have drawn an integrative retrospective analysis of the marine research on the topic. A systematic consolidation of the literature is therefore needed to clearly describe the scientific knowledge clusters and gaps as well as to promote a new era of integrative marine science and management. We focus on the five direct anthropogenic drivers of biodiversity loss defined by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES): (1) climate change; (2) direct exploitation; (3) pollution; (4) biological invasions; and (5) sea-use change. Our systematic map’s regional focus lies on the North Sea, which is among the most impacted marine ecosystems around the globe. The goal of the present study is to produce the first comprehensive overview of how marine research on anthropogenic drivers in the North Sea has grown and changed over the past 75 years. Ultimately, this systematic map will highlight the most urgent challenges facing the North Sea research domain. Methods The search will be restricted to peer-reviewed articles, reviews, meta-analyses, book chapters, book reviews, proceeding papers and grey literature using the most relevant search engines for literature published between 1945 and 2020. All authors will participate in the adjustment of the search in order to consider all relevant studies analyzing the effect of the direct anthropogenic drivers on the North Sea marine ecosystem. The references will be screened for relevance according to a predefined set of eligibility/ineligibility criteria by a pool of six trained reviewers. At stage one, each abstract and title will be independently screened by two reviewers. At stage two, potentially relevant references will be screened in full text by two independent reviewers. Subsequently, we will extract a suite of descriptive meta-data and basic information of the relevant references using the SysRev platform. The systematic map database composed will provide the foundation for an interactive geographical evidence map. Moreover, we will summarize our findings with cross-validation plots, heat maps, descriptive statistics, and a publicly available narrative synthesis. The aim of our visualization tools is to ensure that our findings are easily understandable by a broad audience.

scholarly journals Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Cumulative Environmental Effects of Offshore Wind Farms in the North Sea Basin

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Gusatu ◽  
Stefano Menegon ◽  
Daniel Depellegrin ◽  
Christian Zuidema ◽  
André Faaij ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Wind Farms ◽  
Temporal Analysis ◽  
Offshore Wind ◽  
Offshore Wind Farms ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract The North Sea basin is one of the busiest maritime areas globally with a considerable number of anthropogenic pressures impacting the functioning of the marine ecosystem. Due to growing EU ambitions for the deployment of large-scale offshore wind farms (OWF), as part of the 2050 renewable energy roadmap, there is a key need for a holistic understanding of OWF potential impacts on the marine ecosystem. We propose a holistic Cumulative Effect Assessment methodology, applied using a geo-spatial open-source software, to assess impacts of OWF related pressures on selected seabed habitats, fish, seabird and mammal species. We take into account pressures specific to the three OWF development phases, spanning 1999–2050, for the entire North Sea basin. Our results underline 2022 as the peak year of cumulative impacts for the approved OWFs, followed by a considerable increase in potential impacts of the planned 212GWs, by 2050. The spatio-temporal analysis of the OWF environmental impacts presents the shift between highly impacted areas over the studied timeline and distinguishes between concentrated areas of high impacts (S-E of UK) and dispersed areas of high impacts (Germany). Our results can inform decision-makers and the OWF industry in a joint effort to mitigate the environmental impacts of future large-scale OWF developments.

Modelling marine ecosystem response to climate change and trawling in the North Sea

2012 ◽  
Vol 113 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 213-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan van der Molen ◽  
John N. Aldridge ◽  
Clare Coughlan ◽  
Eleanor Ruth Parker ◽  
David Stephens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Ecosystem Response ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea
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