Contrasting Management Regimes Indicative of Mesopredator Release in Temperate Coastal Fish Assemblages

Overview

Journal Ecol Evol

Date 2023 Dec 11

PMID 38077503

Authors

Ann-Elin Waroy Synnes

Esben Moland Olsen

Per Erik Jorde

Halvor Knutsen

Even Moland

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The absence of functional top predators has been proposed as a mechanism acting to shape fish assemblages in temperate marine ecosystems, with cascading effects on lower trophic levels. We explore this scenario by comparing the trophic and functional status of fish assemblages in Norwegian marine national parks, open to fishing, to a nearby coastal seascape that harbors a system of marine protected areas (MPAs) including a no-take zone. Demersal fish assemblages were sampled using fyke nets over three consecutive seasons. Atlantic cod () is potentially a dominant top predator in this ecosystem, and historically, this and other gadids have been targeted by the full range of former and present fisheries. In the present study, we find that average body size of the Atlantic cod was significantly larger in the zoned seascape compared to the unprotected areas (mean ± SD: 36.6 cm ± 14.38 vs. 23.4 ± 7.50; < .001) and that the unprotected seascape was characterized by a higher abundance of mesopredator fish species. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that the protection of top predators within MPAs aids to control the mesopredator populations and provides empirical support to the notion that the present state of many coastal fish assemblages is driven by mesopredator release linked to functional depletion of large top predators.

Citing Articles

Contrasting management regimes indicative of mesopredator release in temperate coastal fish assemblages.

Synnes A, Olsen E, Jorde P, Knutsen H, Moland E Ecol Evol. 2023; 13(12):e10745.

PMID: 38077503 PMC: 10710310. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.10745.

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