The 2010
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10315386
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Volume:
- 119
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 0027-8424
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Abstract Deepwater Horizon (DwH ) disaster challenged the integrity of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) large‐marine ecosystem at unprecedented scales, prompting concerns of devastating injury for GOM fisheries in the post‐spill decade. Following the catastrophe, projected economic losses for regional commercial, recreational, and mariculture sectors for the decade after oiling were US$3.7–8.7 billion overall, owing to the vulnerability of economically prized, primarily nearshore taxa that support fishing communities. State and federal fisheries data during 2000–2017 indicated that GOM fishery sectors appeared to serve as remarkable anchors of resilience following the largest accidental marine oil spill in human history. Evidence of post‐disaster impacts on fisheries economies was negligible. Rather, GOM commercial sales during 2010–2017 were US$0.8–1.5 billion above forecasts derived using pre‐spill (2000–2009) trajectories, while pre‐ and post‐spill recreational fishery trends did not differ appreciably. No post‐spill shifts in target species or effort distribution across states were apparent to explain these findings. Unraveling the mechanisms for this unforeseen stability represents an important avenue for understanding the vulnerability or resilience of human–natural systems to future disturbances. FollowingDwH , the causes for fishery responses are likely multifaceted and complex (including exogenous economic forces that typically affect fisheries‐dependent data), but appear partially explained by the relative ecological stability of coastal fishery assemblages despite widespread oiling, which has been corroborated by multiple fishery‐independent surveys across the northern GOM. Additionally, we hypothesize that damage payments to fishermen led to acquisition or retooling of commercial fisheries infrastructure, and subsequent rises in harvest effort. Combined, these social–ecological dynamics likely aided recovery of stressed coastal GOM communities in the years afterDwH , although increased fishing pressure in the post‐spill era may have consequences for future GOM ecosystem structure, function, and resilience. -
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Abstract Improving models of community change is a fundamental goal in ecology and has renewed importance during global change and increasing human disturbance of the biosphere. Using the Mojave Desert (southwestern United States) as a model system, invaded by nonnative plants and subject to wildfire disturbances, we examined models of resilience, alternative stable states, and convergent‐divergent trajectories for 36 yr of plant community change after 31 wildfires in communities dominated by the native shrubs
Larrea tridentata orColeogyne ramosissima . Perennial species richness on average was fully resilient within 23 yr after disturbance in both community types. Perennial cover was fully resilient within 25 yr in theLarrea community, but recovery was projected to require 52 yr in theColeogyne community. Species composition shifts were persistent, and in theColeogyne community, the projected compositional recovery time of 550 yr and increasing resembled a deflected trajectory toward potential alternative states. Disturbed sites contained a perennial species composition of predominately short‐statured forbs, subshrubs, and grasses, contrasting with the larger‐statured shrub and tree structure of undisturbed sites. Auxiliary data sets characterizing species recruitment, annual plants including nonnative grasses, biocrust communities, and soils showed persistent differences between disturbed and undisturbed sites consistent with positive feedbacks potentially contributing to alternative stable states. Resprouting produced limited resilience for the large shrubsL. tridentata andYucca spp. important to population persistence but did not forestall long‐term reduced abundance of the species. The nonnative annual grassBromus rubens increased on disturbed sites over time, suggesting persistently abundant nonnative plant fuels and reburn potential. Biocrust cover on disturbed sites was half and species richness a third of amounts on undisturbed sites. Soil nitrogen was 30% greater on disturbed sites and no significant trend was evident for it to decline on even the oldest burns. Disturbed desert plant communities simultaneously supported all three models of resilience, alternative stable states, and convergent‐divergent trajectories among community measures (e.g., species richness, composition), timeframes since disturbance, and spatial resolutions. Accommodating expression within ecosystems of multiple models, including those opposing each other, may help broaden theoretical models of ecosystem change. -
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Abstract Trends and ecological consequences of phosphorus (P) decline and increasing nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (N:P) ratios in rivers and estuaries are reviewed and discussed. Results suggest that re‐oligotrophication is a dominant trend in rivers and estuaries of high‐income countries in the last two–three decades, while in low‐income countries widespread eutrophication occurs. The decline in P is well documented in hundreds of rivers of United States and the European Union, but the biotic response of rivers and estuaries besides phytoplankton decline such as trends in phytoplankton composition, changes in primary production, ecosystem shifts, cascading effects, changes in ecosystem metabolism, etc., have not been sufficiently monitored and investigated, neither the effects of N:P imbalance. N:P imbalance has significant ecological effects that need to be further investigated. There is a growing number of cases in which phytoplankton biomass have been shown to decrease due to re‐oligotrophication, but the potential regime shift from phytoplankton to macrophyte dominance described in shallow lakes has been documented only in a few rivers and estuaries yet. The main reasons why regime shifts are rarely described in rivers and estuaries are, from one hand the scarcity of data on macrophyte cover trends, and from the other hand physical factors such as peak flows or high turbidity that could prevent a general spread of submerged macrophytes as observed in shallow lakes. Moreover, re‐oligotrophication effects on rivers may be different compared to lakes (e.g., lower dominance of macrophytes) or estuaries (e.g., limitation of primary production by N instead of P) or may be dependent on river/estuary type. We conclude that river and estuary re‐oligotrophication effects are complex, diverse and still little known, and in some cases are equivalent to those described in shallow lakes, but the regime shift is more likely to occur in mid to high‐order rivers and shallow estuaries.
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The global decline of corals has created an urgent need for effective, science‐based methods to augment coral populations and restore important ecosystem functions. To meet this challenge, the field of coral restoration has rapidly evolved over the past decade. However, despite widespread efforts to outplant corals and monitor survivorship, there is a shortage of information on the effects of coral restoration on reef communities or important ecosystem functions. To fill this knowledge gap, we examined the effects of restoration on three major criteria: diversity, community structure, and ecological processes. We conducted surveys of four restored sites in the Florida Keys ranging in restoration effort (500–2,300 corals outplanted) paired with surveys of nearby, unmanipulated control sites. Coral restoration successfully enhanced coral populations, increasing coral cover 4‐fold, but manifested in limited differences in coral and fish communities. Some restored sites had higher abundance of herbivorous fish, rates of herbivory, or more juvenile‐sized corals, but these effects were limited to individual reefs. Damselfish were consistently more abundant at restored compared to control sites. Despite augmenting target coral populations, 3 years of coral restoration has not facilitated many of the positive feedbacks that help reinforce coral success. In a time of increasingly frequent disturbances, it is urgent we hasten the speed at which reefs recover important ecological processes, such as herbivory and nutrient cycling, that make reefs more resistant and resilient if we are to achieve long‐term restoration success.
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Abstract Aim Anthropogenic warming of marine systems has caused biological and physiological responses that are fundamentally altering ecosystem structure. Because estuaries exist at the land‐ocean interface, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of ocean warming as they can undergo rapid biogeochemical and hydrological shifts due to climate and land‐use change. We explored how multiple components of estuarine fish diversity—turnover, richness, and abundance—have changed in the North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries across space and time and the drivers of change.
Location North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.
Taxa Fish.
Method We compiled long‐term (>30 years), continent‐wide fisheries independent trawl surveys conducted in estuaries—from the Gulf of Maine to the Gulf of Mexico (U.S. waters)—and combined these with climate and land‐use‐land‐cover data to examine trends and ecological drivers of fish richness, abundance and turnover using mixed‐effect models.
Results Species richness, abundance and turnover have increased in North Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico estuaries in the last 30 years. These changes were mediated largely by sea‐surface temperature anomalies, especially in more northern estuaries where warming has been relatively pronounced.
Main Conclusion The increasing trajectory of turnover in many estuaries suggests that fish communities have changed fundamentally from the baselines. A fundamental change in community composition can lead to an irreversible trophic imbalance or alternative stable states among other outcomes. Thus, predicting how shifting community structures might influence food webs, ecosystem stability, and human resource use remain a pertinent task.
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2114257119
