Use of food web knowledge in environmental conservation and management of living resources in the Baltic Sea

Abstract

Food webs are central entities mediating processes and external pressures in marine ecosystems. They are essential to understand and predict ecosystem dynamics and provision of ecosystem services. Paradoxically, utilization of food web knowledge in marine environmental conservation and resource management is limited. To better understand the use of knowledge and barriers to incorporation in management, we assess its application related to the management of eutrophication, chemical contamination, fish stocks, and non-indigenous species. We focus on the Baltic, a severely impacted, but also intensely studied and actively managed semi-enclosed sea. Our assessment shows food web processes playing a central role in all four areas, but application varies strongly, from formalized integration in management decisions, to support in selecting indicators and setting threshold values, to informal knowledge explaining ecosystem dynamics and management performance. Barriers for integration are complexity of involved ecological processes and that management frameworks are not designed to handle such information. We provide a categorization of the multi-faceted uses of food web knowledge and benefits of future incorporation in management, especially moving towards ecosystem-based approaches as guiding principle in present marine policies and directives. We close with perspectives on research needs to support this move considering global and regional change.

Fish condition as an indicator of stock status: Insights from condition index in a food‐limiting environment

“…habitat, prey, exposure to pathogens) or human impact (illegal and unreported fishing) (Link et al, 2020). One could also, for example, extend analysis of the species physiology by analysing bio-markers (Brosset et al, 2021), use food web knowledge to identify changes in the ecosystem dynamics (Eero et al, 2021), and/or perform an overall in-depth analysis of major mechanisms impacting living marine resource of interest (Link et al, 2020).…”

Graph embedding and transfer learning can help predict potential species interaction networks despite data limitations

“…As information on networks is increasingly leveraged for conservation actions (see e.g. Eero et al, 2021;Naman et al, 2022;Stier et al, 2017), the need to appraise and correct biases that are unwittingly propagated to algorithms when embedded from the original data is immense. These considerations are even more urgent in the specific context of biodiversity data.…”

Stable isotope analysis in food web research: Systematic review and a vision for the future for the Baltic Sea macro-region

“…Food webs mediate major processes as well as pressures in marine ecosystems and provide a functional link from individuals and populations to ecosystem functioning, and ultimately, ecosystem services (Eero et al 2021 ). Food web research is therefore essential for our understanding of the performance of individuals, species, and the functioning and trajectories of entire ecosystems and provides a foundation for ecosystem-based management (Thrush and Dayton 2010 ).…”

“…It is also a key component of assessments of environmental status, such as good environmental status (GES), under the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) Descriptor 4 (EU 2008 ; Korpinen et al 2022 ) or Holistic Assessments of the Baltic Sea (HOLAS) by the Baltic Marine Environmental Protection Commission (HELCOM 2018 ). At the same time, recent analyses have highlighted substantial barriers hampering the systematic application of food web knowledge in practice, one of the main issues being the current lack of synthesis of the large but often scattered knowledge base (Eero et al 2021 ). This reflects a global “synthesis gap” and an increased realization of the value of knowledge synthesis as scientific output continues to rapidly increase (Pauli et al 2017 ; Wyborn et al 2018 ).…”

“…Over the last century, ecosystem disturbances have included warming, eutrophication, deoxygenation, overfishing, chemical contamination and the decline and subsequent recovery of top-predators (Reusch et al 2018 ), as well as the establishment of non-indigenous species (NIS) (Ojaveer et al 2017 ). Due to the fact that many of these problems are directly or indirectly transmitted or modulated via food web processes, recent perspectives have emphasized the importance of food web knowledge for the management of challenges and ecosystem-based management in this system (Blenckner et al 2015 ; Eero et al 2021 ). In this context, the heterogeneous knowledge base about Baltic food webs, with existing information and data frequently scattered and difficult to access, poses a serious challenge.…”