Trophic role of Atlantic cod in the ecosystem

Link, Jason S.; Bogstad, Bjarte; Sparholt, Henrik; Lilly, George R.

doi:10.1111/j.1467-2979.2008.00295.x

Cited by 116 publications

(110 citation statements)

References 130 publications

(265 reference statements)

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“…While the stocks of fish in the Barents Sea, cod in particular, are at record high levels now (ICES, 2014a), the situation is the opposite in the Northwest Atlantic. For example the cod has been almost completely absent, due to the fisheries, the past two decades (Link et al, 2009;Hutchings and Rangeley, 2010). Furthermore, in 1991 there was a major reduction in capelin biomass in the NewfoundlandLabrador shelf area, and to date this stock has not recovered (DFO, 2010).…”

Section: Discussion Possible Mechanisms In Predation and Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the battle for food in the Barents Sea: cod vs. marine mammals

et al. 2015

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Cod, harp seal and minke whale are the main top predators in the Barents Sea ecosystem. In the last decade, the abundance of cod has increased considerably, and is at a record high level. In spite of this, the growth and condition of cod has remained rather stable, although some decrease is seen in size at age of large, mature cod. During the same period, the abundance of harp seals has declined whereas the minke whale stock has been at a stable level. The body condition (blubber thickness) of these two mammal stocks has, however, decreased, with the strongest decrease observed for harp seals. A possible hypothesis for explaining this is that cod outperform the marine mammal stocks in the competition for food. The main advantages for cod are most likely larger availability of food (mainly capelin) during winter-spring than for marine mammals, as well as a wider range of prey species being available to cod than to marine mammals. Harp seals are more dependent on prey items found close to the ice edge than the other two predator stocks are, which could partly explain why the performance of harp seals is worse than that of the two other main top predators in the area.

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Section: Discussion Possible Mechanisms In Predation and Competitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of the battle for food in the Barents Sea: cod vs. marine mammals

et al. 2015

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“…The diets we derived for adult and young cod, which corresponded well with independent stomach content data (Orlova et al 2005, Link et al 2009), have implications for the ecological role of copepods. Copepods served as the main food item for young cod in both seasons.…”

Section: Feeding On Microbial Carbon By Copepodsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Carbon transfer in a herbivore- and microbial loop-dominated pelagic food webs in the southern Barents Sea during spring and summer

Laender¹,

Oevelen²,

Soetaert³

et al. 2010

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We compared carbon budgets between a herbivore-dominated and a microbial loopdominated food web and examined the implications of food web structure for fish production. We used the southern Barents Sea as a case study and inverse modelling as an analysis method. In spring, when the system was dominated by the herbivorous web, the diet of protozoa consisted of similar amounts of bacteria and phytoplankton. Copepods showed no clear preference for protozoa. Cod Gadus morhua, a predatory fish preying on copepods and on copepod-feeding capelin Mallotus villosus in spring, moderately depended on the microbial loop in spring, as only 20 to 60% of its food passed through the microbial loop. In summer, when the food web was dominated by the microbial loop, protozoa ingested 4 times more bacteria than phytoplankton and protozoa formed 80 to 90% of the copepod diet. Because of this strong link between the microbial loop and copepods (the young cod's main prey item) young cod (< 3 yr) depended more on the microbial loop than on any other food web compartment, as > 60% of its food passed through the microbial loop in summer. Adult cod (≤3 yr) relied far less on the microbial loop than young cod as it preyed on strictly herbivorous krill in summer. Food web efficiency for fish production was comparable between seasons (~5 × 10 -4 ) and 2 times higher in summer (5 × 10 -2 ) than in spring for copepod production. KEY WORDS: Food web · Microbial loop · Protozoa · Copepods · Gadus morhua Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisherMar Ecol Prog Ser 398: [93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107] 2010 (PAL-LTER) Program (Ross et al. 1996). Apart from abiotic quantities (e.g. nutrient levels), sampling campaigns typically include measurements of primary and bacterial (secondary) production and of standing stocks of the main phytoplankton species, bacteria and mesozooplankton. Because of the focus on the microbial components of the pelagic food web, mesozooplankton are often the highest trophic level considered. Relationships between (bacterial and/or primary) production and consumption (by [proto]zooplankton) tend to be estimated by grazing experiments (as in Vargas et al. 2007) or by numerical modelling (Fasham et al. 1999).Whereas the microbial components of the pelagic food web play a crucial role in biogeochemical cycles (Sabine et al. 2004), they also provide the necessary resources for higher trophic levels such as fish, marine mammals and humans. The differences between phytoplankton food webs and microbial food webs in terms of the efficiency of elemental cycling may thus lead to differences in terms of production rates of higher trophic levels. This concern is being included in emerging end-to-end approaches that amalgamate the food web's different trophic levels next to physical drivers to investigate the effect of environmental perturbations on marine ecosystems (e.g. Cury et al. 2008, Pedersen et al. 2008. Although relationships between lower and h...

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“…It typically represents one of the main food items for piscivorous top predators like cod Gadus morhua (Link et al 2008) and in turn feeds upon the lower trophic levels (Blaxter & Hunter 1982). The Baltic Sea hosts a number of different herring populations (ICES 2007), which are of considerable economic importance for the bordering countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of environmental variability and spawner characteristics on the recruitment of Baltic herring Clupea harengus populations

Cardinale¹,

Möllmann²,

Bartolino³

et al. 2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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We analyzed recruitment -environment relationships for 5 distinct Baltic Sea herring stocks inhabiting the areas of the Western Baltic (WBH), the Main Basin (MBH), the Gulf of Riga (GRH), the Bothnian Sea (BSH) and the Bothnian Bay (BBH). A number of hydro-climatic and biological predictors were tested for their effect on recruitment. Temperature was determined to be an important predictor for 3 of the stocks (MBH, GRH and BSH). However, spawning stock biomass was the major factor explaining recruitment for GRH and weight-at-age of the spawners was an important predictor of MBH recruitment. For 2 out of 4 stocks for which complete zooplankton data were available (BSH and MBH), food supply was also a significant predictor, suggesting that changes in climate and/or food web structure may indirectly affect herring recruitment via prey availability for the recruits or spawners. Our results emphasize both similarities and differences in the main regulators of recruitment dynamics for the 5 stocks that should be taken into consideration in the development of area-specific management strategies throughout the Baltic Sea basin.

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Trophic role of Atlantic cod in the ecosystem

Cited by 116 publications

References 130 publications

A review of the battle for food in the Barents Sea: cod vs. marine mammals

A review of the battle for food in the Barents Sea: cod vs. marine mammals

Carbon transfer in a herbivore- and microbial loop-dominated pelagic food webs in the southern Barents Sea during spring and summer

Effect of environmental variability and spawner characteristics on the recruitment of Baltic herring Clupea harengus populations

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