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Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems Author(S): Jeremy B Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems Author(s): Jeremy B. C. Jackson, Michael X. Kirby, Wolfgang H. Berger, Karen A. Bjorndal, Louis W. Botsford, Bruce J. Bourque, Roger H. Bradbury, Richard Cooke, Jon Erlandson, James A. Estes, Terence P. Hughes, Susan Kidwell, Carina B. Lange, Hunter S. Lenihan, John M. Pandolfi, Charles H. Peterson, Robert S. Steneck, Mia J. Tegner and Robert R. Warner Reviewed work(s): Source: Science, New Series, Vol. 293, No. 5530 (Jul. 27, 2001), pp. 629-638 Published by: American Association for the Advancement of Science Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3084305 . Accessed: 04/10/2012 16:53 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. American Association for the Advancement of Science is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Science. http://www.jstor.org ECOLOGY THROUGH TIME - w Historical Overfishing and the Recent Collapse of Coastal Ecosystems Jeremy B. C. Jackson,'-2* Michael X. Kirby,3 Wolfgang H. Berger,1 Karen A. Bjorndal,4 Louis W. Botsford,5 Bruce J. Bourque,6 Roger H. Bradbury,7 Richard Cooke,2 Jon Erlandson,8 James A. Estes,9 Terence P. Hughes,10 Susan Kidwell,"1 Carina B. Lange,' Hunter S. Lenihan,12 John M. PandoLfi,3 Charles H. Peterson,12 Robert S. Steneck,14 Mia J. Tegner,lt Robert R. Warner'5 Ecologicalextinction caused by overfishing precedes all other pervasive longer term cycles or shifts in oceanographic human disturbanceto coastal ecosystems, includingpollution, degrada- regimes and productivity(15-17). To help ad- tion of water quality, and anthropogenicclimate change. Historicalabun- dress this problem, we describe ecosystem dances of large consumer species were fantastically large in comparison structurepredating modem ecological studies with recent observations. Paleoecological,archaeological, and historical using well-datedtime seriesbased on biological data show that time lags of decades to centuries occurredbetween the (18, 19), biogeochemical (20, 21), physical onset of overfishingand consequent changes in ecological communities, (22), and historical(23) proxies that are infor- because unfished species of similartrophic level assumed the ecological mative over a varietyof spatialscales and bio- roles of overfished species until they too were overfished or died of geographicrealms (24). Althoughproxies vary epidemic diseases related to overcrowding.Retrospective data not only in precisionand clarityof the signalsthey mea- help to clarify underlyingcauses and rates of ecological change, but they sure, the use of multipleproxies that give the also demonstrate achievable goals for restoration and management of same ecological signal greatlyincreases confi- coastal ecosystems that could not even be contemplated based on the dence in results.Precision in age datingvaries limited perspective of recent observationsalone. fromcenturies to a single year, season,or event in the exceptionalcase of varvedsediments, ice Few modem ecological studies take into ac- manatees,dugongs, sea cows, monkseals, croc- cores, and writtenhistorical records (25). Pre- count the former naturalabundances of large odiles, codfish,jewfish, swordfish,sharks, and cision decreaseswith the amountof biological marinevertebrates. There are dozens of places rays are other large marinevertebrates that are or physical disturbanceto the sediment ana- in the Caribbeannamed after large sea turtles now functionallyor entirely extinct in most lyzed (26). whose adult populationsnow number in the coastal ecosystems (3-10). Place names for We exploited data from many disciplines tens of thousandsrather than the tens of mil- oysters, pearls, and conches conjureup other that span the period over which anthropogen- lions of a few centuries ago (1, 2). Whales, ecological ghosts of marine invertebratesthat ic changes may have occurred. Because our were once so abundantas to pose hazardsto hypothesis is that humans have been disturb- 'Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of navigation(11), but are witnessednow only by ing marine ecosystems since they first California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, USA. massive garbageheaps of empty shells. learnedhow to fish, our time periods need to 2Center for Tropical Paleoecology and Archeology, Such ghosts representa far more profound begin well before the human occupation or Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Box 2072, problem for ecological understanding and European colonization of a coastal region. Balboa, Republic of Panama. 3National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, management than currently realized. Evi- Broadly, our data fall into four categories and Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, USA. 4Archie dence from retrospective records strongly time periods: Carr Center for Sea Turtle Research and Department suggests that major structuraland functional 1) Paleoecological records from marine of Zoology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL changes due to overfishing (12) occurred sediments from about 125,000 years ago to 32611, USA. 5Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Con- worldwide in coastal marineecosystems over the present, coinciding with the rise of mod- servation Biology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA. 6Department of Anthropology, 155 Pet- many centuries. Severe overfishing drives ern Homo sapiens. tengill Hall, Bates College, Lewiston, ME 04240, USA. species to ecological extinctionbecause over- 2) Archaeological records from human 7Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies, Aus- fished populationsno longer interact signifi- coastal seftlements occupied after about tralian National University, Canberra, ACT0200, Aus- cantly with other species in the community 10,000 years before the present (yr B.P.) tralia. 8Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. 9U.S. Geological (5). Overfishing and ecological extinction when worldwide sea level approached Survey, A-316 Earth and Marine Sciences Building, predate and precondition modem ecological present levels. These document human ex- University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA. investigationsand the collapse of marineeco- ploitation of coastal resources for food and 1'Center for Coral Reef Biodiversity, Department of systems in recent times, raising the possibil- materialsby past populationsthat range from Marine Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia. "Department of Geophysical ity that many more marine ecosystems may small-scale aboriginalsocieties to towns, cit- Sciences, University of Chicago, 5734 South Ellis Av- be vulnerableto collapse in the near future. ies, and empires. enue, Chicago, IL 60637, USA. "2Institute of Marine 3) Historical records from documents, Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Importance of Historical Data journals, and charts from the 15th century to 3431 Arendell Street, Morehead City, NC 28557, USA. 13Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Most ecologicalresearch is based on local field the presentthat documentthe period from the Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, studies lastingonly a few years and conducted first Europeantrade-based colonial expansion DC 20560-0121, USA. 14School of Marine Sciences, sometime after the 1950s without longer term and exploitation in the Americas and the University of Maine, Darling Marine Center, Orono, historicalperspective (1, 8, 13). Such observa- South Pacific (23). ME 04573, USA. "5Department of Ecology, Evolution, tions fail to encompassthe life-spansof many and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa 4) Ecological records from the scientific Barbara, CA 93106, USA. ecologicallyimportant species (13, 14) andcrit- literatureover the past centuryto the present *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E- ically important environmental disturbances covering the period of globalized exploitation mail: [email protected] such as extremecyclones or ENSO (El Nifo- of marine resources. These also help to cali- tDeceased. Southern Oscillation) events (8), as well as brate the older records. www.sciencemag.org SCIENCE VOL 293 27 JULY 2001 629 ECOLOGY THROUGH TIME - Time Periods, Geography, and Analysis mercantile powers incorporatingdistant re- the Americas, New Zealand, and Australia We recognize three differentbut overlapping sources into a developing market economy. the differentstages are well separatedin time, periods of human impact on marine ecosys- Global use involves more intense and geo- and the aboriginaland colonial periods began tems: aboriginal, colonial, and global. Ab- graphicallypervasive exploitation of coastal, at different times in the different regions. original use refers to subsistence exploitation shelf, and oceanic fisheries integrated into Thus, we can distinguish between cultural of near-shore, coastal ecosystems by human global patternsof resourceconsumption, with stages, as well as between humanimpacts and cultureswith relatively simple watercraftand more frequentexhaustion and substitutionof naturalchanges due to changing climate. extractive
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