TY - JOUR

T1 - Complementarity and sensitivity of benthic state indicators to bottom-trawl fishing disturbance

AU - van Denderen, P Daniël

AU - Plaza-Morlote, Maider

AU - Vaz, Sandrine

AU - Wijnhoven, Sander

AU - Borja, Angel

AU - Fernandez-Arcaya, Ulla

AU - González-Irusta, José M

AU - Hansen, Jørgen L S

AU - Katsiaras, Nikolaos

AU - Pierucci, Andrea

AU - Serrano, Alberto

AU - Reizopoulou, Sofia

AU - Papadopoulou, Nadia

AU - Sköld, Mattias

AU - Smith, Christopher J

AU - Nygård, Henrik

AU - Van Hoey, Gert

AU - Dinesen, Grete E

AU - Virtanen, Elina A

AU - Boyé, Aurélien

AU - García-Alegre, Ana

AU - Bellas, Juan

AU - Bolam, Stefan

AU - Muñoz, Pablo Durán

AU - Sacau, Mar

AU - Riva, Giada

AU - Kenchington, Ellen

AU - Raicevich, Saša

AU - Reid, David

AU - Roux, Marie Julie

AU - Hiddink, Jan Geert

AU - Valanko, Sebastian

N1 - © 2024 The Author(s). Ecological Applications published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Ecological Society of America.

PY - 2024/10/12

Y1 - 2024/10/12

N2 - Many indicators have been developed to assess the state of benthic communities and identify seabed habitats most at risk from bottom trawling disturbance. However, the large variety of indicators and their development and application under specific geographic areas and management contexts has made it difficult to evaluate their wider utility. We compared the complementarity/uniqueness, sensitivity, and selectivity of 18 benthic indicators to pressure of bottom trawling. Seventeen common datasets with broad regional representation covering a range of pressure gradients from bottom trawling disturbance (n = 14), eutrophication (n = 1), marine pollution (n = 1), and oxygen depletion (n = 1) were used for the comparison. The outcomes of most indicators were correlated to a certain extent with response to bottom trawling disturbance, and two complementary groups of indicators were identified: diversity-based and biological trait-based indicators. Trait-based indicators that quantify the changes in relative abundance of sensitive taxa were most effective in identifying benthic community change in response to bottom trawling disturbance. None of the indicators responded to the trawling pressure gradient in all datasets, and some showed a response that were opposed to the theoretical expectation for some gradients. Indicators that showed clear responses to bottom trawling disturbance also showed clear responses in at least one other pressure gradient, suggesting those indicators are not pressure specific. These results emphasize the importance of selecting several indicators, at least one from each group (diversity and trait-based), to capture the broader signals of change in benthic communities due to bottom trawling activities. Our systematic approach offers the basis from which scientific advisors and/or managers can select suitable combinations of indicators to arrive at a sensitive and comprehensive benthic status assessment.

AB - Many indicators have been developed to assess the state of benthic communities and identify seabed habitats most at risk from bottom trawling disturbance. However, the large variety of indicators and their development and application under specific geographic areas and management contexts has made it difficult to evaluate their wider utility. We compared the complementarity/uniqueness, sensitivity, and selectivity of 18 benthic indicators to pressure of bottom trawling. Seventeen common datasets with broad regional representation covering a range of pressure gradients from bottom trawling disturbance (n = 14), eutrophication (n = 1), marine pollution (n = 1), and oxygen depletion (n = 1) were used for the comparison. The outcomes of most indicators were correlated to a certain extent with response to bottom trawling disturbance, and two complementary groups of indicators were identified: diversity-based and biological trait-based indicators. Trait-based indicators that quantify the changes in relative abundance of sensitive taxa were most effective in identifying benthic community change in response to bottom trawling disturbance. None of the indicators responded to the trawling pressure gradient in all datasets, and some showed a response that were opposed to the theoretical expectation for some gradients. Indicators that showed clear responses to bottom trawling disturbance also showed clear responses in at least one other pressure gradient, suggesting those indicators are not pressure specific. These results emphasize the importance of selecting several indicators, at least one from each group (diversity and trait-based), to capture the broader signals of change in benthic communities due to bottom trawling activities. Our systematic approach offers the basis from which scientific advisors and/or managers can select suitable combinations of indicators to arrive at a sensitive and comprehensive benthic status assessment.

KW - benthos

KW - biological traits

KW - good environmental state

KW - infauna

KW - seabed integrity

KW - seafloor habitats

KW - soft sediments

U2 - 10.1002/eap.3050

DO - 10.1002/eap.3050

M3 - Article

C2 - 39394904

SP - e3050

JO - Ecological Applications

JF - Ecological Applications

SN - 1051-0761

ER -