Mapping of ecological functions on the Flemish Cap (northwest Atlantic)

Abstract

Ecosystem Approaches to Fisheries (EAF) are seen as essential for sustaining fish stocks and fisheries over the long-term, and require the integration of ecosystem components, typically through multivariate and multifunction analyses. Large scale functional maps showing the distribution of organisms with particular biological traits (e.g., deposit feeders, filter feeders, biogenic engineers, carbon sequesters, etc.) can provide a detailed spatial framework for incorporating benthic ecosystem function into an ecosystem services framework. Building on this experience, here we propose that combining biological traits analyses (BTA) with seabed mapping can be used to identify areas according to dominant ecological function, which can provide a detailed spatial framework for considering ecosystem services within the overall EAF. Furthermore, identification of the environmental determinants for each function could allow evaluating responses of the function to fishing and future climate change. Based on the epibenthic invertebrate fauna from a bottom trawl research survey targeting groundfish in the Flemish Cap area (northwest Atlantic), functional maps with particular biological traits have been elaborated. The different ecological functions or ecosystem services represented on these maps can be used, for example, to identify areas where biogenic process could represent an important regulator and driver of overall benthic productivity versus areas where physical factors may be more relevant for driving overall benthic production or they can help to identify areas where ecosystem changes may have happened. These types of maps can be incorporated into the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) Roadmap as part of the assessment of ecosystem sustainability to achieve an EAF.

Marine epibenthic functional diversity on Flemish Cap (north‐west Atlantic)—Identifying trait responses to the environment and mapping ecosystem functions

“…Large gorgonian corals also play an important role as structure formers. However, trawl catches have shown that in the sampling area they do not form large habitats that have a significant influence on diversity (Murillo et al, ). However, they could also be more important on hard bottoms not sampled by trawl gears.…”

“…Seven fixed environmental variables and 45 summary statistics of 15 other environmental variables and fishing effort were used as predictors (Appendix , Table S5.2). These are the same predictors used previously by Murillo et al () to map the ecological diversity based on the number of species and will allow us to evaluate the relationship between functional and species diversity in the Flemish Cap area. Specific details on the methods used for the spatial interpolation of these variables are documented in Guijarro et al () and sources and spatial resolution provided in Appendix , Table S5.2.…”

“…Recently, the benthic diversity of the Flemish Cap ecosystem (NAFO Division 3M), based on the distributions of 288 taxa (Murillo, Serrano, Kenchington, & Mora, ), was mapped and the impacts of fishing evaluated (Murillo et al, ). However, there has been no comparable ecosystem‐level assessment of the functional trait diversity of those taxa, although some habitats have been studied in detail.…”