Native-exotic diversity relationships for Eastern Mediterranean fishes reveal a weak pattern of interactions

Buba, Yehezkel; Belmaker, Jonathan

doi:10.3354/meps12871

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…At the same time, indigenous fish CPUE was similar in 1996 and 2013 and that of indigenous invertebrates increased over time . This latter observation confirms the results of several recent studies demonstrating that competition strength with alien species is not correlated to decreases in indigenous species abundance or richness (Givan et al 2018;Buba and Belmaker 2019). Furthermore, Buba et al (2017) demonstrated that over the same period of increase in alien abundance, indigenous fish size spectra in the eastern Mediterranean did not change.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Alien species stabilize local fisheries catch in a highly invaded ecosystem

Rijn

Kiflawi

Belmaker

2020

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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Alien species may be a valuable resource for marine fisheries, yet their contribution to the catch might be balanced by negative effects on indigenous species. In this study, we explored a unique high-resolution time series of catch data from a highly invaded ecosystem in the eastern Mediterranean. We analyzed over 5000 fishing hauls digitalizing from fishers’ logbooks. We found that the catch per unit effort (CPUE) of alien species increased over time, while for indigenous species, CPUE remained relatively stable between 1996 and 2013. This suggests a lack of competitive exclusion of indigenous target species due to the proliferation of alien species. From the perspective of the fishers’ revenues, alien species gradually became a more important part of the catch, while overall fishers’ revenues showed temporal stability. This was the combined result of alien species increasing CPUE and fishers shifting their effort toward shallower water where alien species were dominant. Our findings demonstrate that alien species can become a valuable resource for a local fishing industry with little effect on indigenous species, which is highly relevant to worldwide fisheries experiencing range redistribution of commercial species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Alien species stabilize local fisheries catch in a highly invaded ecosystem

Rijn

Kiflawi

Belmaker

2020

Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci.

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“…Our findings for molluscs corroborate studies on modern fish assemblages that found a low potential for direct competition between native and non-indigenous species in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Arndt et al, 2018;Buba & Belmaker, 2019;Givan et al, 2018). We here extend observations to another ecologically important phylum, a diverse range of shallow subtidal soft and hard substrates and, most importantly, across a long temporal perspective.…”

Section: The Role Of Nis In the Collapse Of Native Speciessupporting

confidence: 89%

“…This suggests that other drivers, particularly regionally rapid seawater warming, might play a more significant role in native species' demise than previously thought (Albano et al, 2021;Givan et al, 2018;Rilov, 2016). Recent studies on Lessepsian fishes further support the secondary role of competitive displacement (Buba & Belmaker, 2019;Buba et al, 2017;Givan et al, 2018) and suggested that NIS indeed tend to occupy 'empty niches' (Azzurro et al, 2014;Givan et al, 2017), but none involved pre-invasion assemblage data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Non‐indigenous molluscs in the Eastern Mediterranean have distinct traits and cannot replace historic ecosystem functioning

Steger

Bošnjak

Belmaker

et al. 2021

Global Ecol. Biogeogr.

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“…[50,51]). However, recent studies showed that successful non-indigenous fishes preferentially occupy different functional niches than native ones, providing so far little support for active competitive exclusion of functionally similar species [52][53][54][55]. Additionally, the preliminary results of an ongoing functional trait study by our team of the same mollusc assemblages analysed here suggest little potential for active resource competition between native and non-indigenous assemblage components in the shallow subtidal [56].…”

Section: Discussion (A) Biodiversity Collapse and Its Causesmentioning

confidence: 61%

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean

et al. 2021

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Global warming causes the poleward shift of the trailing edges of marine ectotherm species distributions. In the semi-enclosed Mediterranean Sea, continental masses and oceanographic barriers do not allow natural connectivity with thermophilic species pools: as trailing edges retreat, a net diversity loss occurs. We quantify this loss on the Israeli shelf, among the warmest areas in the Mediterranean, by comparing current native molluscan richness with the historical one obtained from surficial death assemblages. We recorded only 12% and 5% of historically present native species on shallow subtidal soft and hard substrates, respectively. This is the largest climate-driven regional-scale diversity loss in the oceans documented to date. By contrast, assemblages in the intertidal, more tolerant to climatic extremes, and in the cooler mesophotic zone show approximately 50% of the historical native richness. Importantly, approximately 60% of the recorded shallow subtidal native species do not reach reproductive size, making the shallow shelf a demographic sink. We predict that, as climate warms, this native biodiversity collapse will intensify and expand geographically, counteracted only by Indo-Pacific species entering from the Suez Canal. These assemblages, shaped by climate warming and biological invasions, give rise to a ‘novel ecosystem’ whose restoration to historical baselines is not achievable.

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Native-exotic diversity relationships for Eastern Mediterranean fishes reveal a weak pattern of interactions

Cited by 8 publications

References 22 publications

Alien species stabilize local fisheries catch in a highly invaded ecosystem

Alien species stabilize local fisheries catch in a highly invaded ecosystem

Non‐indigenous molluscs in the Eastern Mediterranean have distinct traits and cannot replace historic ecosystem functioning

Native biodiversity collapse in the eastern Mediterranean

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