Ecological Integrity
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CCIEA PHASE III REPORT 2013: ECOSYSTEM COMPONENTS - ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY Indicators: Gregory D. Williams1, Kelly S. Andrews1, Jameal F. Samhouri1, Nick Tolimieri1 Status: Nick Tolimieri1, Caren Barcelo2, Richard D. Brodeur1, John Field3, Bill Peterson1, Andrew Thompson3, Gregory D. Williams1 1. NOAA Fisheries, Northwest Fisheries Science Center 2. Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, 104 CEOAS Administration Building, Corvallis, Oregon 97331 3. NOAA Fisheries, Southwest Fisheries Science Center TABLE OF CONTENTS Tables............................................................................................................................................................................ 3 Figures .......................................................................................................................................................................... 3 OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................. 9 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................................ 9 Trophic Structure ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Biodiversity ............................................................................................................................................................. 11 DETAILED REPORT .............................................................................................................................. 13 BACKGROUND - ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY .......................................................................................................... 13 Indicator Selection Process ............................................................................................................................. 13 Evaluation of Potential Indicators .............................................................................................................................................. 13 Final Suite of Indicators ................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Biodiversity ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Simpson’s Index ..................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Species Richness .................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Trophic Structure ......................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Zooplankton Species Biomass Anomaly (Northern Copepod Biomass) ..................................................... 16 Mean Trophic Level .............................................................................................................................................................. 18 Ratio of Scavenger Biomass to Total Biomass ......................................................................................................... 19 GelatInous Zooplankton Biomass (Jellies) ................................................................................................................ 20 Indicator Data Sources ..................................................................................................................................................................... 21 STATUS AND TRENDS: ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY .............................................................................................. 24 Data analysis and presentation ..................................................................................................................... 24 Major Findings ...................................................................................................................................................... 24 Trophic Structure ............................................................................................................................................................................... 25 Biodiversity ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 26 Looking to the Future ....................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Status and Trends: Time Series data .......................................................................................................... 28 Northern Copepod Biomass Anomaly ...................................................................................................................................... 28 Abundance of Gelatinous Zooplankton (Jellies)................................................................................................................... 30 Mean Trophic Level (Groundfishes) .......................................................................................................................................... 32 Ratio of Scavenger Biomass: Total Biomass (Groundfishes & Crabs) ....................................................................... 35 Simpson Diversity (Copepods, Coastal Pelagic Fishes & Groundfishes) .................................................................. 38 Simpson Diversity - Copepods ............................................................................................................................................... 39 Simpson Diversity - Coastal Pelagic Fishes...................................................................................................................... 39 Simpson Diversity - Groundfishes........................................................................................................................................ 40 Simpson Diversity – Ichthyoplankton ................................................................................................................................ 41 Species Richness & Density (Copepods, Coastal Pelagic Fishes & Groundfishes) ............................................... 43 Species Number - Coastal Pelagic Fishes .......................................................................................................................... 44 Species Richness - Copepods .................................................................................................................................................. 44 Species Richness & Density - Groundfishes ..................................................................................................................... 46 Species Number—Ichthyoplankton .................................................................................................................................... 50 Data Sources and Methodology.................................................................................................................................................... 52 Coastal Pelagic Fishes ................................................................................................................................................................ 52 Copepods .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 52 Gelatinous Zooplankton (Jellies) .......................................................................................................................................... 53 Groundfishes .................................................................................................................................................................................. 54 EI - 1 Area-weighted means (Groundfishes) ........................................................................................................................ 54 Groundfish Indicators ......................................................................................................................................................... 55 Ichthyoplankton............................................................................................................................................................................ 69 REFERENCES CITED .............................................................................................................................................. 71 EI - 2 TABLES Table EI 1 Top-ranked indicators for Ecosystem Integrity and corresponding data time series. ............................................................................................................................................................ 23 Table EI 2. Depth and latitude bins uses in the area-weighted analyses showing total area of the bins, corresponding weights and total number of trawls from 2003 – 2012. See text for depth and latitude borders. ...........................................................................................................