Selection of indicators for assessing and managing the impacts of bottom trawling on seabed habitats

作者：Jan Geert Hiddink, Michel J. Kaiser, Marija Sciberras, Robert A. McConnaughey, Tessa Mazor, Ray Hilborn, Jeremy S. Collie, C. Roland Pitcher, Ana M. Parma, Petri Suuronen, A.D. Rijnsdorp, Simon Jennings · 发表于：Journal of Applied Ecology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2664.13617 · 被引用次数：63 · 研究领域：Marine and fisheries research、Marine Biology and Ecology Research、Coral and Marine Ecosystems Studies

Abstract Bottom trawl fisheries are the most widespread source of anthropogenic physical disturbance to seabed habitats. Development of fisheries‐, conservation‐ and ecosystem‐based management strategies requires the selection of indicators of the impact of bottom trawling on the state of benthic biota. Many indicators have been proposed, but no rigorous test of a range of candidate indicators against nine commonly agreed criteria (concreteness, theoretical basis, public awareness, cost, measurement, historical data, sensitivity, responsiveness, specificity) has been performed. Here, we collated data from 41 studies that compared the benthic biota in trawled areas with those in control locations (that were either not trawled or trawled infrequently), examining seven potential indicators (numbers and biomass for individual taxa and whole communities, evenness, Shannon–Wiener diversity and species richness) to assess their performance against the set of nine criteria. The effects of trawling were stronger on whole‐community numbers and biomass than for individual taxa. Species richness was also negatively affected by trawling but other measures of diversity were not. Community numbers and biomass met all criteria, taxa numbers and biomass and species richness satisfied most criteria, but evenness and Shannon–Wiener diversity did not respond to trawling and only met few criteria, and hence are not suitable state indicators of the effect of bottom trawling. Synthesis and applicat...