Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning
EU Network of Excellence

 
Main Menu

· Home
· Contacts
· Data Systems
· Documents
· FAQ
· Links
· MarBEF Open Archive
· Network Description
· Outreach
· Photo Gallery
· Quality Assurance
· Register of Resources
· Research Projects
· Rules and Guidelines
· Training
· Wiki
· Worldconference

 

Register of Resources (RoR)

 People  |  Datasets  |  Literature  |  Institutes  |  Projects 

[ report an error in this record ]basket (1): add | show Print this page

one publication added to basket [123097]
North Sea Elasmobranchs: distribution, abundance and biodiversity
Daan, N.; Heessen, H.; ter Hofstede, R. (2005). North Sea Elasmobranchs: distribution, abundance and biodiversity. CM Documents - ICES, CM 2005(N:06). ICES: Copenhagen. 15 pp.
Part of: ICES CM Documents - ICES. ICES: Copenhagen. ISSN 1015-4744

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Abundance
    Biodiversity
    Distribution
    Elasmobranchii [WoRMS]
    ANE, North Sea [Marine Regions]
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 

Abstract
    Based on data from various international and national surveys, an overview is given of the fine-scale distribution (resolution of 20’longitude * 10’ latitude; ~ 10*10 nm) and trends in abundance of elasmobranch species reported from the North Sea. Presence-absence maps are produced based on 4 surveys, which help to delineate distribution limits of the less common species, while maps in terms of catch rates (International Bottom Trawl Survey data only) are given for the seven most common shark and ray species. While the results largely confirm published information, the higher resolution helps to delineate actual concentrations, which should prove useful when trying to relate abundance to habitat requirements. Trends in abundance do not reveal a consistent pattern across species. Some have markedly increased over the last 30 years, some have markedly decreased and some have remained remarkably stable. In a separate analysis, the information on number of species is integrated in a spatial biodiversity index for the elasmobranch community, by applying a novel method of correcting for differences in sampling effort. Although there are conceptual scientific problems in applying such biodiversity indices because of arbitrary choices of the level of effort for which the index is calculated, a highly consistent pattern emerges: a strong east-west gradient, with the species-richest elasmobranch community being largely restricted to the area off the British coast from the Channel to the Shetlands and virtually no elasmobranch species along the continental coast. This has clear implications for management, because any measure aimed at their conservation should take these spatial effects into account.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors 


If any information here appears to be incorrect, please contact us
Back to Register of Resources
 
Quick links

MarBEF WIKI

Erasmus Mundus Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (EMBC)
Outreach

Science
Responsive Mode Programme (RMP) - Marie Nordstrom, copyright Aspden Rebecca

WoRMS
part of WoRMS logo

ERMS 2.0
Epinephelus marginatus Picture: JG Harmelin

EurOBIS

Geographic System

Datasets

 


Web site hosted and maintained by Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) - Contact data-at-marbef.org