Jackson J B, Kirby M X, Berger W H, Bjorndal K A, Botsford L W, Bourque B J, Bradbury R H, Cooke R, Erlandson J, Estes J A, Hughes T P, Kidwell S, Lange C B, Lenihan H S, Pandolfi J M, Peterson C H, Steneck R S, Tegner M J, Warner R R
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, USA.
Science. 2001 Jul 27;293(5530):629-37. doi: 10.1126/science.1059199.
Ecological extinction caused by overfishing precedes all other pervasive human disturbance to coastal ecosystems, including pollution, degradation of water quality, and anthropogenic climate change. Historical abundances of large consumer species were fantastically large in comparison with recent observations. Paleoecological, archaeological, and historical data show that time lags of decades to centuries occurred between the onset of overfishing and consequent changes in ecological communities, because unfished species of similar trophic level assumed the ecological roles of overfished species until they too were overfished or died of epidemic diseases related to overcrowding. Retrospective data not only help to clarify underlying causes and rates of ecological change, but they also demonstrate achievable goals for restoration and management of coastal ecosystems that could not even be contemplated based on the limited perspective of recent observations alone.
过度捕捞导致的生态灭绝先于对沿海生态系统的所有其他普遍的人类干扰，包括污染、水质退化和人为气候变化。与近期观察结果相比，大型消费性物种的历史丰度极大。古生态学、考古学和历史数据表明，过度捕捞开始与生态群落随后发生变化之间存在数十年至数百年的时间滞后，因为营养级相似的未捕捞物种承担了过度捕捞物种的生态角色，直到它们也被过度捕捞或死于与过度拥挤相关的流行病。回顾性数据不仅有助于阐明生态变化的根本原因和速度，还展示了沿海生态系统恢复和管理可实现的目标，而仅基于近期观察的有限视角甚至无法设想这些目标。
