Ecological impact of marine plant harvesting in the northwest Atlantic: a review

Sharp, G. J.; Pringle, John

doi:10.1007/978-94-009-2049-1_4

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In the absence of the canopy, successional events will be initiated and it may take several years for recovery to occur. If the plant is trimmed back and still has the capability of vegetative proliferation, as in Ascophyllum, regrowth will be rapid within a year or two (Sharp, 1987;Sharp and Pringle, 1990). If the plant is trimmed back and still has the capability of vegetative proliferation, as in Ascophyllum, regrowth will be rapid within a year or two (Sharp, 1987;Sharp and Pringle, 1990).…”

Section: Community Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intertidal Ecology

Raffaelli¹,

Hawkins²

1996

338

253

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Section: Community Consequencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intertidal Ecology

Raffaelli¹,

Hawkins²

1996

338

253

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“…It is not uncommon for press disturbances to affect one or a few species in the community disproportionately, for example, the harvesting of marine species (Sharp and Pringle , Daskalov , Benoît and Swain , Estes et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…). This can lead to significant restructuring or even collapse of communities, as has occurred in a number of marine ecosystems due to overfishing of large consumer species (Sharp and Pringle , Jackson et al. , Daskalov , Benoît and Swain ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species' traits and food‐web complexity interactively affect a food web's response to press disturbance

Wootton

Stouffer

2016

Ecosphere

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Citation: Wootton, K. L., and D. B. Stouffer. 2016. Species' traits and food-web complexity interactively affect a food web's response to press disturbance. Ecosphere 7(11):e01518. 10. 1002/ecs2.1518 Abstract. Given current levels of biodiversity loss and environmental change, studies of how food webs respond to disturbance should broaden their focus beyond short-term disturbances to explore the effects of long-term, "press" disturbances. Press disturbances often disproportionately impact one or a few species, but these impacts invariably propagate to the remaining species in the food web. Additionally, the way species interact with each other within the food web influences the impact they have on the rest of the food web if it is disturbed. Here, we investigate the effect of species-level press disturbances in a large set of model food webs. We simulated disturbances as a reduction in growth rate of a single species within the food web, which is analogous to a targeted disturbance such as selective fishing. In these simulations, we were particularly interested in the resistance of the food web-the magnitude of disturbance it could tolerate before any species went extinct. We found that more highly connected and biodiverse food webs had lower resistance and were more likely to lose species at a low level of disturbance than sparsely connected food webs with few species. Food-web complexity also influenced which species were likely to go extinct due to the disturbance. At low species richness and/or low connectance, food webs could tolerate a large disturbance, and it was usually the focal species which went extinct. In contrast, webs were less stable at higher levels of complexity and a small disturbance rapidly propagated and caused the extinction of a non-focal species. Lastly, the disturbed species' traits were also important: Disturbance of a species with few interactions usually resulted in its own extinction, while disturbance of a species with many interactions more often caused the extinction of the disturbed species' predator(s). Likewise, the trophic level of the disturbed species influenced which species went extinct, although this was modulated by the complexity of the food web. Overall, our study indicates that both the traits of disturbed species and the complexity of the food web need to be considered in attempts to predict or manage the ecological impact of press disturbances.

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“…While seaweed trawling or dredging is most prone to involve significant bycatch, even hand-raking and cutting will remove a certain amount of epiphytes and slow-moving animals attached to the target fronds as well as the occasional holdfast with its own species community (Seeley and Schlesinger 2012). Monospecific stands of Irish moss in Atlantic Canada harbor up to 36 animal and 19 major algal species that are vulnerable to removal as bycatch (Sharp and Pringle 1990). Rockweed beds can harbor >100 species of invertebrate taxa and numerous algal species (Seeley andSchlesinger 2012, Kay et al 2016), yet only the bycatch of the periwinkle, Littorina littorea L. has received some attention due to its commercial interest (Sharp et al 2006).…”

Section: Ecosystem Rolesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem-based management of seaweed harvesting

et al. 2019

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Harvesting wild seaweeds has a long history and is still relevant today, even though aquaculture now supplies >96% of global seaweed production. Current wild harvests mostly target canopy-forming kelp, rockweed and red macroalgae that provide important ecosystem roles, including primary production, carbon storage, nutrient cycling, habitat provision, biodiversity and fisheries support. Harvest methods range from selective hand-cutting to bottom trawling. Resulting ecosystem impacts depend on extraction method and scale, ranging from changes in primary production to habitat disruption, fragmentation, food-web alterations and bycatch of non-target species. Current management often aims for sustainable harvesting in a single-species context, although some agencies acknowledge the wider ecosystem structure, functions and services seaweeds provide. We outline potential ecosystem-based management approaches that would help sustain productive and diverse seaweed-based ecosystems. These include maintaining high canopy biomass, recovery potential, habitat structure and connectivity, limiting bycatch and discards, while incorporating seasonal closures and harvest-exclusion zones into spatial management plans. Other sustainability considerations concern monitoring, enforcement and certification standards, a shift to aquaculture, and addressing cumulative human impacts, invasive species and climate change. Our review provides a concise overview on how to define and operationalize ecosystem-based management of seaweed harvesting that can inform ongoing management and conservation efforts.

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Ecological impact of marine plant harvesting in the northwest Atlantic: a review

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

Intertidal Ecology

Intertidal Ecology

Species' traits and food‐web complexity interactively affect a food web's response to press disturbance

Ecosystem-based management of seaweed harvesting

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