Spatial and temporal dynamics of predator-prey species interactions off western Canada
Authored by Yunne-Jai Shin, Caihong Fu, Huizhu Liu, Philippe Verley, Arnaud Gruss, Norm Olsen, Nathan Taylor, Sonia Batten
Date Published: 2017
DOI: 10.1093/icesjms/fsx056
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Abstract
Ecosystem models are valuable tools for informing fisheries management
due to their ability to simulate the spatial dynamics of modelled
species, their trophic interactions, and their responses to fishing in
an ecosystem context. In this study, we developed an OSMOSE
(Objectoriented Simulator of Marine Ecosystems Exploitation) model for
the Pacific North Coast Integrated Management Area (PNCIMA) ecosystem
off western Canada, which simulated the entire life cycle of six key
species and for the first time integrated spatial population structure
and ``background{''} taxa. Background taxa are of secondary importance
for the study at hand but have the potential to be important prey or
predators of the key species. The primary aim of the study was to
explore how the population dynamics of the key species differed over
time and different management areas, with results focusing on Pacific
Herring (Clupea pallasii) and Pacific Cod (Gadus macrocephalus) that
have been assessed on a single-species basis in the last 5 years.
Results found that the population dynamics of a specific species varied
in different management areas due to differences in species interactions
particularly in the form of predation mortality, which supports the
current areaspecific assessment and management framework. The study also
indicated that increasing predation mortality may have caused the
decline of the Pacific Cod populations. By contrast, increasing
starvation mortality was found to be a limiting factor for the Pacific
Herring populations. The discoveries from these OSMOSE simulations
provide important information for fisheries management within the PNCIMA
ecosystem.
Tags
Individual-based model
Recovery
Fisheries management
Ecosystem modelling
Osmose
Predation mortality
Spatial population structure
Species interaction