Transient dynamics of an altered large marine ecosystem

摘要

Overflshing of large-bodied benthic fishes and their subsequent population collapses on the Scotian Shelf of Canada's east coast1'2 and elsewhere3-4 resulted in restructuring of entire food webs now dominated by planktivorous, forage fish species and macroinver-tebrates. Despite the imposition of strict management measures in force since the early 1990s, the Scotian Shelf ecosystem has not reverted back to its former structure. Here we provide evidence of the transient nature of this ecosystem and its current return path towards benthic fish species domination.