Critical assessment and ramifications of a purported marine trophic cascade

When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a t...

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Vydáno v:	Scientific reports Ročník 6; číslo 1; s. 20970
Hlavní autoři:	Grubbs, R. Dean, Carlson, John K., Romine, Jason G., Curtis, Tobey H., McElroy, W. David, McCandless, Camilla T., Cotton, Charles F., Musick, John A.
Médium:	Journal Article
Jazyk:	angličtina
Vydáno:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 15.02.2016 Nature Publishing Group
Témata:	704/158 704/158/853/2006 Abundance Animals Atlantic Ocean Bivalvia - physiology Demography Ecosystem Feeding Behavior Fisheries Food Chain Humanities and Social Sciences Life history Mollusks multidisciplinary Population Dynamics Predation Predators Predatory Behavior Prey Reproduction Science Sharks Sharks - physiology Shellfish Skates (Fish) - physiology Sustainable fisheries
ISSN:	2045-2322, 2045-2322
On-line přístup:	Získat plný text
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Popis
Shrnutí:	When identifying potential trophic cascades, it is important to clearly establish the trophic linkages between predators and prey with respect to temporal abundance, demographics, distribution and diet. In the northwest Atlantic Ocean, the depletion of large coastal sharks was thought to trigger a trophic cascade whereby predation release resulted in increased cownose ray abundance, which then caused increased predation on and subsequent collapse of commercial bivalve stocks. These claims were used to justify the development of a predator-control fishery for cownose rays, the “Save the Bay, Eat a Ray” fishery, to reduce predation on commercial bivalves. A reexamination of data suggests declines in large coastal sharks did not coincide with purported rapid increases in cownose ray abundance. Likewise, the increase in cownose ray abundance did not coincide with declines in commercial bivalves. The lack of temporal correlations coupled with published diet data suggest the purported trophic cascade is lacking the empirical linkages required of a trophic cascade. Furthermore, the life history parameters of cownose rays suggest they have low reproductive potential and their populations are incapable of rapid increases. Hypothesized trophic cascades should be closely scrutinized as spurious conclusions may negatively influence conservation and management decisions.
Bibliografie:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23
ISSN:	2045-2322 2045-2322
DOI:	10.1038/srep20970