Spatial and temporal dynamics in macrobenthos during recovery from salmon farm induced organic enrichment: When is recovery complete?

Benthic recovery and re-impact responses from salmon farm enrichment: Implications for farm management

“…10) are clearly dominated by Figs. 4 & 7) and from the long-term recovery patterns described in Keeley et al (2014). S = No.…”

“…For this reason, formal criteria for the assessment of the recovery end-point described in Keeley et al (2014), were not applied in this study. Brooks et al (2004) define biological recovery as occurring when the dominant taxa (i.e.…”

“…Understanding the ability of the benthos to recover from effects of this magnitude is critical to determining the wider sustainability of marine farming activities. Estimates of recovery rates vary considerably, from 6 months Ritz et al, 1989) to five years or more (Brooks et al, 2004;Keeley et al, 2014), and are highly environment and situation specific (Borja et al, 2010). Although complete recovery may take many years, a significant degree of biological and chemical remediation can occur in the first 6 to 24 months.…”

Effects of aquaculture fallowing on the recovery of macrofauna communities

“…The majority of studies showed that full recovery of benthic communities may take up to several years (e.g. Karakassis et al, 1999;Pereira et al, 2004;Macleod et al, 2006;Aguado-Giménez et al, 2012;Keeley et al, 2014;Brooks et al, 2004), whereas comparatively short recovery times of macrofauna were reported by Ritz et al (1989) (7 weeks) and Brooks et al (2003) (6 months). In order to use fallowing practice as an effective management measure, not only to allow recovery of the physicochemical parameters of the environment, but also to reduce the impact on the benthic fauna, the effects of fallowing on the macrofaunal communities need to be better understood.…”

“…However, the usual fallowing periods may not be sufficient for a complete recovery of the benthic system. Recovery is here defined as the return to conditions similar to that in adjacent undisturbed sediments or the return to the stage as it was before farming operation (Aguado-Giménez et al, 2012;Keeley et al, 2014). The rate and degree of recovery depend on the extent of the impact (the amount of organic matter released and the time-scale over which the release took place), hydrological characteristics of the area, the sediment type and, in case of fallowing, on the duration of fallowing (Macleod et al, 2006;Brooks et al, 2004;Norkko et al, 2006).…”