Abstract
Introduction: The importance of the response-effect trait dichotomy in marine
benthic ecology has garnered recent attention. Response traits, characterising
species responses to environmental variations, have been a dominant focus in
the development of ecological indicators for ecosystem health assessment. In
contrast, effect traits, expressing effects of organism activities on the ecosystem, still do not benefit from an equal interest in spite of the complementary facet that they provide to complete our understanding of functional diversity and ecosystem vulnerability. In this study, we explore the consequences of disturbance by bottom trawl fisheries on benthic effect trait composition.
Methods: To this end, we used different contexts of environmental and
trawling conditions from thirteen case studies in European waters and apply
the same analytical procedure to derive a gradient that solely account for
trawling-induced disturbance (Partial RLQ analysis).
Results: Bottom trawling was found to be a selective force of benthic effect trait
composition in a majority of case studies. In general, tube-dwelling species were
more typical of low trawling frequencies, whereas deep burrowing species were
more resistant at high trawling frequencies. Although we report significantly
deleterious effects of trawling on benthic ecosystem functions, the effect trait
pattern along the gradient was never related to life span, a key response trait
generally assumed to express recoverability following disturbance. Furthermore,
we show that trends in species multi-functionality and community functional
diversity can be negative or positive along the trawling intensity gradient.
Discussion: We discuss the relevance of these results in light of recent
developments in the framework of response and effect trait dichotomy,
and provide guidelines of trait data analysis in the context of trawl fisheries impact on the sea floor. Our findings emphasize the importance of
fundamental concepts from functional ecology in this context and
represent a first step toward an assessment of trawling effect more
oriented on benthos-mediated biogeochemical processes.
benthic ecology has garnered recent attention. Response traits, characterising
species responses to environmental variations, have been a dominant focus in
the development of ecological indicators for ecosystem health assessment. In
contrast, effect traits, expressing effects of organism activities on the ecosystem, still do not benefit from an equal interest in spite of the complementary facet that they provide to complete our understanding of functional diversity and ecosystem vulnerability. In this study, we explore the consequences of disturbance by bottom trawl fisheries on benthic effect trait composition.
Methods: To this end, we used different contexts of environmental and
trawling conditions from thirteen case studies in European waters and apply
the same analytical procedure to derive a gradient that solely account for
trawling-induced disturbance (Partial RLQ analysis).
Results: Bottom trawling was found to be a selective force of benthic effect trait
composition in a majority of case studies. In general, tube-dwelling species were
more typical of low trawling frequencies, whereas deep burrowing species were
more resistant at high trawling frequencies. Although we report significantly
deleterious effects of trawling on benthic ecosystem functions, the effect trait
pattern along the gradient was never related to life span, a key response trait
generally assumed to express recoverability following disturbance. Furthermore,
we show that trends in species multi-functionality and community functional
diversity can be negative or positive along the trawling intensity gradient.
Discussion: We discuss the relevance of these results in light of recent
developments in the framework of response and effect trait dichotomy,
and provide guidelines of trait data analysis in the context of trawl fisheries impact on the sea floor. Our findings emphasize the importance of
fundamental concepts from functional ecology in this context and
represent a first step toward an assessment of trawling effect more
oriented on benthos-mediated biogeochemical processes.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1303909 |
| Journal | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| Volume | 10 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Dec 2023 |
Keywords
- benthic invertebrate
- bottom trawling
- ecosystem function
- effect trait
- functional diversity
- functional niche breadth
- vulnerability
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Water Science and Technology
- Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
- Ocean Engineering
- Aquatic Science
- Oceanography
- Global and Planetary Change
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© 2023 Beauchard, Bradshaw, Bolam, Tiano, Garcia, De Borger, Laffargue, Blomqvist, Tsikopoulou, Papadopoulou, Smith, Claes, Soetaert and Sciberras.