Marine Ecology Progress Series
MEPS is a leading hybrid research journal on all aspects of marine, coastal and estuarine ecology. Priority is given to outstanding research that advances our ecological understanding.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps10539
copiedFramework for understanding marine ecosystem health
- P. Tett
- R. J. Gowen
- S. J. Painting
- M. Elliott
- R. Forster
- D. K. Mills
- E. Bresnan
- E. Capuzzo
- T. F. Fernandes
- J. Foden
- R. J. Geider
- L. C. Gilpin
- M. Huxham
- A. L. McQuatters-Gollop
- S. J. Malcolm
- S. Saux-Picart
- T. Platt
- M.-F. Racault
- S. Sathyendranath
- J. van der Molen
- M. Wilkinson
ABSTRACT:
Although the terms ‘health’ and ‘healthy’ are often applied to marine ecosystems and communicate information about holistic condition (e.g. as required by the Ecosystem Approach), their meaning is unclear. Ecosystems have been understood in various ways, from non-interacting populations of species to complex integrated systems. Health has been seen as a metaphor, an indicator that aggregates over system components, or a non-localized emergent system property. After a review, we define good ecosystem health as: ‘the condition of a system that is self-maintaining, vigorous, resilient to externally imposed pressures, and able to sustain services to humans. It contains healthy organisms and populations, and adequate functional diversity and functional response diversity. All expected trophic levels are present and well interconnected, and there is good spatial connectivity amongst subsystems.’ We equate this condition with good ecological or environmental status, e.g. as referred to by recent EU Directives. Resilience is central to health, but difficult to measure directly. Ecosystems under anthropogenic pressure are at risk of losing resilience, and thus of suffering regime shifts and loss of services. For monitoring whole ecosystems, we propose an approach based on ‘trajectories in ecosystem state space’, illustrated with time-series from the northwestern North Sea. Change is visualized as Euclidian distance from an arbitrary reference state. Variability about a trend in distance is used as a proxy for inverse resilience. We identify the need for institutional support for long time-series to underpin this approach, and for research to establish state space co-ordinates for systems in good health.
KEYWORDS
Changes in the northern North Sea, 1958–2008, plotted in a state space defined by the breeding success of kittiwakes, abundance of copepods Calanus spp., and simulated annual primary production. Image: P. Tett, Photos: R. Gowen (kittiwakes), D. Altin, BioTrix (Calanus spp.)
Tett and co-authors review the disputed concept of ecosystem health and conclude that it can be a useful metaphor, a way to aggregate condition over species and communities, and a holistic assessment that allows investigation of emergent properties such as resilience. Employing the concept can aid the 'ecosystem approach' to the use of marine resources. However, there are no direct methods for measuring marine ecosystem health. The graphic illustrates a proposal to monitor changes in ecosystem state by tracking changes in state space relative to an arbitrary reference condition. Variability, about the long-term trend in the scalar distance travelled from this condition, might be used as a proxy for inverse resilience.
P. Tett (Co-author)
- Scottish Association for Marine Science, Scottish Marine Institute, Oban, Argyll PA37 1QA, UK
R. J. Gowen (Co-author)
- Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Newforge Lane, Belfast BT9 5PX, UK
S. J. Painting (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
M. Elliott (Co-author)
- Institute of Estuarine and Coastal Studies, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
R. Forster (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
D. K. Mills (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
E. Bresnan (Co-author)
- Marine Scotland Science, Marine Laboratory, PO Box 101, 375 Victoria Road, Aberdeen AB11 9DB, UK
E. Capuzzo (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
T. F. Fernandes (Co-author)
- School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK
J. Foden (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
R. J. Geider (Co-author)
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester CO4 3SQ, UK
L. C. Gilpin (Co-author)
- School of Life, Sport & Social Science, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
M. Huxham (Co-author)
- School of Life, Sport & Social Science, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK
A. L. McQuatters-Gollop (Co-author)
- Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Sciences, The Laboratory, Citadel Hill, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK
S. J. Malcolm (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
S. Saux-Picart (Co-author)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK
T. Platt (Co-author)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK
M.-F. Racault (Co-author)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK
S. Sathyendranath (Co-author)
- Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, The Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, UK
J. van der Molen (Co-author)
- Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk NR33 0HT, UK
M. Wilkinson (Co-author)
- School of Life Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK