Abstract

Evidence for long-term change of marine ecosystems is increasing worldwide. Coastal areas harbour the socio-economically and ecologically most vital aquatic ecosystems, but are under increasing anthropogenic pressure. Little is known, however, about how environmental perturbations affect the development of coastal systems. In this paper, datasets of coastal fish communities covering almost four decades (early/mid 1970s to 2008) in three different basins of the Baltic Sea were analysed. There were clear changes in species composition over time in all but one dataset and coherence among basins in the timing of change. Changes were mainly associated with variables related to climate (water temperature, salinity, and North Atlantic Oscillation index), but less so with those reflecting nutrient status (nutrient concentrations and loading). Despite the importance of local water temperature, regional climatic variables were more important for the temporal development of communities. The results indicate that Baltic coastal fish communities have undergone large structural changes governed by processes acting on both local and regional scales. The findings suggest that ecological targets should be set accounting for long-term changes in community structure and that a common management of coastal and offshore ecosystems would be beneficial.

Keywords

climate change; community structure; eutrophication; geographical scale; species composition; Kattegat; Baltic Proper; Bothnian Sea

Published in

ICES Journal of Marine Science
2012, Volume: 69, number: 6, pages: 961-970
Publisher: OXFORD UNIV PRESS

SLU Authors

• Olsson, Jens

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Bergström, Lena

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gårdmark, Anna

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
SDG14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Ecology


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fss072

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/42716