Marine ecosystems associated with mid-oceanic elevations harbour unique pelagic and benthic biodiversity and sustain food webs critical for Nature’s contributions to people (NCP). The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the Convention on the Law of the Sea recognize the need to implement ecosystem-based management approaches to conserve the structure and functioning of oceanic and deep-sea ecosystems within sustainable reference points. However, uncertainties regarding the interactions between multiple drivers of change, and their impacts on the state of these ecosystems and the NCP, present significant challenges to effective management. Trophic models offer a holistic approach to identify the main drivers affecting the dynamics of marine ecosystems. Here, we used a food web model of the open-ocean and deep-sea environments of the Azores for identifying the drivers that best explain historical biomass trends of demersal fish of high commercial value. Our hindcast simulations suggested that historical trends can be explained by the combined effects of deep-sea fisheries exploitation and variability in environmental conditions, likely dominated by primary productivity anomalies. In particular, deficits in primary production and high levels of fishing exploitation might have contributed to the pronounced decline in biomass observed between 2008 and 2012. These findings reinforce that failure to consider environmental factors in ecosystem-based management may result in shortfalls at achieving biodiversity conservation and sustainability objectives, particularly in the context of climate change.

中文翻译：

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大西洋东北部亚速尔群岛公海和深海环境滋养动力学的驱动因素


与大洋中部海拔相关的海洋生态系统拥有独特的中上层和底栖生物多样性，并维持对大自然对人类的贡献 （NCP） 至关重要的食物网。联合国可持续发展目标和《海洋法公约》认识到需要实施基于生态系统的管理方法，以在可持续参考点内保护海洋和深海生态系统的结构和功能。然而，关于多个变化驱动因素之间相互作用的不确定性，以及它们对这些生态系统和 NCP 状态的影响，对有效管理提出了重大挑战。营养模型提供了一种整体方法来确定影响海洋生态系统动态的主要驱动因素。在这里，我们使用了亚速尔群岛公海和深海环境的食物网模型来确定最能解释具有高商业价值的底层鱼类历史生物量趋势的驱动因素。我们的后报模拟表明，历史趋势可以用深海渔业开采和环境条件变化的综合影响来解释，这可能以初级生产力异常为主。特别是，初级生产的赤字和高水平的捕捞开发可能是导致 2008 年至 2012 年期间观察到的生物量显着下降的原因。这些发现强化了在基于生态系统的管理中不考虑环境因素可能会导致无法实现生物多样性保护和可持续性目标，尤其是在气候变化的背景下。