CESAB - FRB, Montpellier, France.
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, UK.
Science. 2024 Mar;383(6686):976-982. doi: 10.1126/science.adi7562. Epub 2024 Feb 29.
Animal body-size variation influences multiple processes in marine ecosystems, but habitat heterogeneity has prevented a comprehensive assessment of size across pelagic (midwater) and benthic (seabed) systems along anthropic gradients. In this work, we derive fish size indicators from 17,411 stereo baited-video deployments to test for differences between pelagic and benthic responses to remoteness from human pressures and effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs). From records of 823,849 individual fish, we report divergent responses between systems, with pelagic size structure more profoundly eroded near human markets than benthic size structure, signifying greater vulnerability of pelagic systems to human pressure. Effective protection of benthic size structure can be achieved through MPAs placed near markets, thereby contributing to benthic habitat restoration and the recovery of associated fishes. By contrast, recovery of the world's largest and most endangered fishes in pelagic systems requires the creation of highly protected areas in remote locations, including on the High Seas, where protection efforts lag.
动物体型变化会影响海洋生态系统中的多个过程，但由于栖息地的异质性，人们一直无法全面评估沿人为梯度的海洋中上层（中层水）和海底（海底）系统的体型差异。在这项工作中，我们从 17411 次带有诱饵的立体视频部署中得出鱼类体型指标，以测试远离人类压力的中上层和底层对鱼类体型的反应差异，以及海洋保护区（MPA）的有效性。从 823849 条鱼的记录中，我们报告了系统之间的不同反应，与底层的体型结构相比，人类市场附近的中上层体型结构受到更严重的侵蚀，这表明中上层系统对人类压力更加脆弱。通过在靠近市场的地方设立海洋保护区，可以有效地保护底层的体型结构，从而有助于恢复底层栖息地和相关鱼类。相比之下，要恢复中上层系统中世界上最大和最濒危的鱼类，需要在偏远地区，包括公海上，创建高度保护区，而这些地区的保护工作相对滞后。
