Assessing the state of marine biodiversity in the Northeast Atlantic
2022
Mcquatters-Gollop, Abigail | Guérin, Laurent | Arroyo, Nina Larissa | Aubert, Anaïs | Artigas, Luis Felipe | Bedford, Jacob | Corcoran, Emily | Dierschke, Volker | Elliott, Sophie, | Geelhoed, Steve, | Gilles, Anita | González-Irusta, José Manuel | Haelters, Jan | Johansen, Marie | Le Loc'h, François | Lynam, Christopher, | Niquil, Nathalie | Meakins, Bryony | Mitchell, Ian | Padegimas, Bernardas | Pesch, Roland | Preciado, Izaskun | Rombouts, Isabelle | Safi, Georges | Schmitt, Petra | Schückel, Ulrike | Serrano, Alberto | Stebbing, Paul | de la Torriente, Ana | Vina-Herbon, Cristina | Marine Conservation Research (MCR) [UK] ; Marine Conservation Research (MCR) [UK] | University of Plymouth | Station marine Dinard ; Centre De Recherche et d'Enseignement sur les Systèmes Côtiers (CRESCO) ; Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER) | Patrimoine naturel (PatriNat) ; Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Office français de la biodiversité (OFB) | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Spain] (CSIC) | Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences (LOG) - UMR 8187 (LOG) ; Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale (ULCO)-Université de Lille-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD [France-Nord]) | United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Center (WCMC) (UNEP WCMC) | OSPAR | Dynamique et durabilité des écosystèmes : de la source à l’océan (DECOD) ; Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Wageningen Marine Research [The Netherlands] | University of Veterinary Medicine [Hannover] | Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) | Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) | Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR) ; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM) ; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) | Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science [Lowestoft] (CEFAS) | Biologie des Organismes et Ecosystèmes Aquatiques (BOREA) ; Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN) ; Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université des Antilles (UA) | Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) | Jade University of Applied Sciences | The Schleswig-Holstein Agency for Coastal Defence [Tönning, Allemagne]
International audience
Show more [+] Less [-]English. The Northeast Atlantic, a highly productive maritime area, has been exposed to a wide range of direct human pressures, such as fishing, shipping, coastal development, pollution, and non-indigenous species (NIS) introductions, in addition to anthropogenically-driven global climate change. Nonetheless, this regional sea supports a high diversity of species and habitats, whose functioning provides a variety of ecosystem services, essential for human welfare. In 2017, OSPAR, the Northeast Atlantic Regional Seas Commission, delivered an assessment of marine biodiversity for the Northeast Atlantic. This assessment examined biodiversity indicators separately to identify changes in Northeast Atlantic biodiversity, but stopped short of determining the status of biodiversity for many species and habitats. Here, we expand on this work and for the first time, a semi-quantitative approach is applied to evaluate holistically the state of Northeast Atlantic marine biodiversity across marine food webs, from plankton to top predators, via fish, pelagic and benthic habitats, including xeno-biodiversity (i.e. NIS). Our analysis reveals widespread degradation in marine ecosystems and biodiversity, particularly for marine birds and coastal bottlenose dolphins, as well as for benthic habitats and fish in some regions. The poor biodiversity status of these ecosystem components is likely the result of cumulative effects of human activities, such as habitat destruction or disturbance, overexploitation, eutrophication, the introduction of NIS, and climate change. Bright spots are also revealed, such as recent signs of recovery in some fish and marine bird communities and recovery in harbour and grey seal populations and the condition of coastal benthic communities in some regions. The status of many indicators across all ecosystem components, but particularly for the novel pelagic habitats, food webs and NIS indicators, however, remains uncertain due to gaps in data, unclear pressure-state relationships, and the non-linear influence of some pressures on biodiversity indicators. Improving monitoring and data access and increasing understanding of pressure-state relationships, including those that are non-linear, is therefore a priority for enabling future assessments, as is consistent and stable resourcing for expert involvement.
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