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Biodiversity loss may result in the decline in important ecosystem processes. The effect of biodiversity loss on ecosystem functioning is determined by the functional contribution of the species lost and the compensatory responses of the remaining species. It is unknown to what extent the strength of the compensatory response of the remaining species depends on resources availability.Here we evaluate how the primary production of an assemblage of salt marsh plants responds to a realistic sequence of species loss in an 7‐year experiment, with and without the addition of fertiliser.We found near‐full compensation of progressive species loss in gross community primary production by the extinction‐resistant species with fertiliser as long as one species (Triglochin maritima) remained. Without fertiliser, at least four species, including the particularly abundant species Plantago maritima, were needed to maintain gross community primary production.These results suggest that the magnitude of the compensation by extirpation‐resistant species for the decline in ecosystem processes associated with progressive biodiversity loss depends on the resource context, and that compensation after the loss of plant species can be accelerated by increasing resource availability. Ultimately, full compensation appears to be limited by the presence and abundance of species in the remaining community that possess traits that allow them to compensate for the species lost.Synthesis and applications: These findings suggests that the conclusions of a large body of biodiversity‐ecosystem experiments cannot be used for informing the management of natural systems because they do not simulate realistic extinction sequences and therefore cannot quantify the potential for compensation of ecosystem services in the real world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bottom trawling disturbance and hypoxia are affecting marine benthic habitats worldwide. We present an approach to predict their effects on benthic communities, and use the approach to estimate the state, the biomass relative to carrying capacity, of the Baltic Sea at the local, habitat, and regional scale. Responses to both pressures are expected to depend on the longevity of fauna, which is predicted from benthic data from 1558 locations. We find that communities in low-salinity regions mostly consist of short-lived species, which are, in our model, more resilient than those of the saline areas. The model predicts that in 14% of the Baltic Sea region benthic biomass is reduced by at least 50%, whereas an additional 8% of the region has reductions of 10–50%. The effects of hypoxia occur over larger spatial scales and lead to a low state of especially deep habitats. The approach is based on a simple characterization of the benthic community, which comes with high uncertainty, but allows for the identification of benthic habitats that are at greatest risk and prioritization of management actions at the regional scale. This information supports the development of sustainable approaches to manage impact of human activities on benthic ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the effects of fishing fleets on both target and non-target species and managing these effects are essential to achieve Good Environmental Status ( GES) for marine ecosystems. The use of high resolution fishing effort data in environmental studies has allowed significant scientific progress with respect to the environmental impacts of real fishing fleets and provided a more realistic perspective on the wider ecological consequences of fishing disturbance. A new EU council regulation and its interpretation, aimed at protecting the confidentiality rights of individual fishers, are currently hampering scientific access to this high-resolution effort data and thus are endangering the provision of management advice based on best available knowledge. This study argues that the withholding of this information will seriously undermine the quality and accuracy of scientific output and ultimately damage fishers' livelihoods through poorly advised management. Furthermore, the council regulation runs contrary to the EU's initiative for greater transparency and its commitment to implement an ecosystem approach to fisheries management and the preservation of ecosystem services. The interpretation of the new EU council regulation by local administrations can thus only be viewed as a significant step back from these aims. Ultimately, while trying to protect fishers' rights it may work to their disadvantage and that of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change has been predicted to lead to changes in local and regional species richness through species extinctions and latitudinal ranges shifts. Here, we show that species richness of fish in the North Sea, a group of ecological and socio-economical importance, has increased over a 22-year period and that this rise is related to higher water temperatures. Over eight times more fish species displayed increased distribution ranges in the North Sea (mainly small-sized species of southerly origin) compared with those whose range decreased (primarily large and northerly species). This increase in species richness can be explained from the fact that fish species richness in general decreases with latitude. This observation confirms that the interaction between large-scale biogeographical patterns and climate change may lead to increasing species richness at temperate latitudes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an implicit requirement under contemporary policy drivers to understand the characteristics of benthic communities under anthropogenically-unimpacted scenarios. We used a trait-based approach on a large dataset from across the European shelf to determine how functional characteristics of unimpacted benthic assemblages vary between different sedimentary habitats. Assemblages in deep, muddy environments unaffected by anthropogenic disturbance show increased proportions of downward conveyors and surface deposit-feeders, while burrowing, diffusive mixing, scavenging and predation traits assume greater numerical proportions in shallower habitats. Deep, coarser sediments are numerically more dominated by sessile, upward conveyors and suspension feeders. In contrast, unimpacted assemblages of coarse sediments in shallower regions are proportionally dominated by the diffusive mixers, burrowers, scavengers and predators. Finally, assemblages of gravelly sediments exhibit a relatively greater numerical dominance of non-bioturbators and asexual reproducers. These findings may be used to form the basis of ranking habitats along a functional sensitivity gradient., (Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)