Complementarity and sensitivity of benthic state indicators to bottom-trawl fishing disturbance.

ABSTRACT: Many indicators have been developed to assess the state of benthic communities and identify seabed habitats most at risk from bottom trawling disturbance. However, the large variety of indicators and their development and application under specific geographic areas and management contexts has made it difficult to evaluate their wider utility. We compared the complementarity/uniqueness, sensitivity, and selectivity of 18 benthic indicators to pressure of bottom trawling. Seventeen common datasets with broad regional representation covering a range of pressure gradients from bottom trawling disturbance (n = 14), eutrophication (n = 1), marine pollution (n = 1), and oxygen depletion (n = 1) were used for the comparison. The outcomes of most indicators were correlated to a certain extent with

SUBMITTER: van Denderen PD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11610696 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature