Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer International Publishing
Résumé : International audience
Understanding the formation processes of maritime archaeological sites and the maritime landscape in the French West Indies is a new challenge in underwater archaeology. This chapter presents an analysis of formation and conservation processes of maritime archaeological sites in Guadeloupe using evidence from both historical and archaeological research. Formation parameters include contemporary events associated with maritime loss and the in situ geophysical regime. Questions considered include: what natural and/or anthropogenic parameters best classify maritime sites in the context of the French West Indies landscape? And: how do these parameters vary by site location? Field-tested case studies are used to assess the archaeological potential for submerged shipwreck sites for three locational typologies within the landscape: submerged, coastal, and micro-island. Geomorphic parameters, including erosion, sea level evolution, and tectonic activity, are evaluated with regard to the formation of coastal Amerindian and colonial sites. The location of shipwrecks are primarily determined by historic patterns in commercial trade and by topographical constraints associated with accessibility, risk, and the presence of natural harbors, parameters important in the Caribbean. A unique feature of Guadeloupe is the high variability of the structure of the coastline through time. The recent discovery of numerous underwater prehistoric artifacts confirms that several islands, coastal areas, and their archaeological sites have been completely submerged or eroded since their formation. The characterization of these formation processes provides both academically interesting and practical information valuable in assessing the impact of development and urbanization in Guadeloupe’s maritime landscape.
Formation Processes of Maritime Archaeological Landscapes

hal-01448703
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01448703

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Coastal Education and Research Foundation
Résumé : International audience
The ichthyofauna of the Manche-à-Eau mangrove lagoon was regularly sampled in 2002 with a fixed net at seven stations during 4 months corresponding to two hydrological seasons. Physicochemical variables (depth, temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH) and population descriptors (species and family richness, density and biomass) were measured. The Whitefield and the well-being indexes were calculated to appreciate species equilibrium. Canonical correspondence analysis and generalized linear models were used to link species assemblages to physicochemical variables and to search for a special link with salinity. A total of 30,733 individuals belonging to 34 species and 23 families were collected. The Gerreidae, Clupeidae, Engraulidae, Scianidae, and Sparidae represented almost 98% of the total number of individuals. Our results show that organization of the fish assemblages in the lagoon is poorly dependent on salinity, whereas dissolved oxygen, temperature, and pH could have a stronger role. Looking at response curves to salinity change, most fishes species appeared to be visitors, either temporarily present or regular migrators. Only a few species compose the year-round resident population. They have a high patrimonial value and could be considered bioindicator species for long-term studies (e.g., of global change and natural or anthropogenic disturbances). The Euclidean distance and biomass variables were not useful descriptors of confinement and biological zonation in the lagoon, whereas the negative gradient of specific richness, number of individuals, Whitefield index, and index of well-being better described confinement. On the basis of these last parameters, biological zonation in the Manche-à- Eau lagoon was established and is provided.
ISSN: 0749-0208

hal-00755285
https://hal.univ-antilles.fr/hal-00755285
DOI : 10.2112/06-0804.1

Éditeur(s) : Academic Press Ltd- Elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : Ensuring the sustainability of fish resources necessitates understanding their interaction with coastal habitats, which is becoming ever more challenging in the context of ever increasing anthropogenic pressures. The ability of coastal lagoons, exposed to major sources of disturbance, to provide resources and suitable habitats for growth and survival of juvenile fish is especially important. We analysed three lagoons with different ecological statuses and habitat quality on the basis of their eutrophication and ecotoxicity (Trix test) levels. Fish abundances were sampled using fishing and horizontal beaming acoustic surveys with the same protocols in the same year. The relative abundance of Anguilla anguilla, Dicentrarchus labrax or the Mugilidae group was not an indicator of habitat quality, whereas Atherina boyeri and Sparus aurata appeared to be more sensitive to habitat quality. Fish abundance was higher in the two lagoons with high eutrophication and ecotoxicity levels than in the less impacted lagoon, while fish sizes were significantly higher in the two most severely impacted lagoons. This leads us to suggest low habitat quality may increase fish growth rate (by the mean of a cascading effect), but may reduce lagoon juvenile abundance by increasing larval mortality. Such a hypothesis needs to be further validated using greater investigations which take into account more influences on fish growth and recruitment in such variable environments under complex multi-stressor conditions.
Estuarine Coastal And Shelf Science (0272-7714) (Academic Press Ltd- Elsevier Science Ltd), 2013-07 , Vol. 126 , P. 1-6

Droits : 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00148/25963/24083.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.ecss.2013.03.011
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00148/25963/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Marine organisms are under threat globally from a suite of anthropogenic sources, but the current emphasis on global climate change has deflected the focus from local impacts. While the effect of increased sedimentation on the settlement of coral species is well studied, little is known about the impact on larval fish. Here, the effect of a laterite “red soil” sediment pollutant on settlement behaviour and post-settlement performance of reef fish was tested. In aquarium tests that isolated sensory cues, we found significant olfaction-based avoidance behaviour and disruption of visual cue use in settlement-stage larval fish at 50 mg L−1, a concentration regularly exceeded in situ during rain events. In situ light trap catches showed lower abundance and species richness in the presence of red soil, but were not significantly different due to high variance in the data. Prolonged exposure to red soil produced altered olfactory cue responses, whereby fish in red soil made a likely maladaptive choice for dead coral compared to controls where fish chose live coral. Other significant effects of prolonged exposure included decreased feeding rates and body condition. These effects on fish larvae reared over 5 days occurred in the presence of a minor drop in pH and may be due to the chemical influence of the sediment. Our results show that sediment pollution of coral reefs may have more complex effects on the ability of larval fish to successfully locate suitable habitat than previously thought, as well as impacting on their post-settlement performance and, ultimately, recruitment success.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01270670
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01270670
DOI : 10.1007/s00442-015-3367-6

Éditeur(s) : Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd
Résumé : The environment is impacted by natural and anthropogenic disturbances that occur at different spatial and temporal scales, and that lead to major changes and even disequilibria when exceeding the resiliency capacities of the ecosystem. With an annual mean flow of 1700 m(3) s(-1), the Rhone River is the largest of the western Mediterranean basin. Its annual solid discharges vary between 2 and 20 Mt, with flood events responsible for more than 70% of these amounts. In the marine coastal area, close to the mouth, both flocculation and aggregation lead to the formation of fine-grained deposits, i.e. the prodelta. This area is characterized by sediment accumulation rates up to 20-50 cm yr(-1) and high accumulations of particle reactive contaminants such as various man-made radionuclides released into the river by nuclear facilities or arising form prior atmospheric nuclear tests (1954-1980) and the Chernobyl accident (April 1986). This prodelta, however, cannot be considered as a permanent repository for particle reactive pollutants since it is subjected to reworking processes. Sediment dynamics had to be linked to the influences of hydrodynamic and atmospheric events such as high flow rates or storms close to the Rhone River mouth. An experiment was carried out during the winter 2006 based on the deployment of two ADCPs and six altimeters at the Grand Rhone mouth for several months. This type of installation has never been used before in this area because of the hard meteorological conditions and the strong fishing activities. However, results showed pluricentimetric rises of the sedimentary level just after river flood events and decreases during storms, generated by southeast winds. Radiotracers and grain size depth profiles helped to characterise the studied events and to establish inventories of sediments and radionuclides. A cruise (CARMEX) was carried out during this same period to collect water samples, suspended particles and sediment cores. The results enabled us to link both river flow and wind characteristics to events recorded on the sea floor, i.e. resuspension, accumulation, consolidation, etc. Deposits of 11 cm of sediments were estimated during flood periods and bottom shear stresses up to 5 N m(-2) were calculated during sediment erosion phases. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Continental Shelf Research (0278-4343) (Pergamon-elsevier Science Ltd), 2010-05 , Vol. 30 , N. 9 , P. 1095-1107

Droits : 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00006/11695/8479.pdf
DOI:10.1016/j.csr.2010.02.015
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00006/11695/

Résumé : La distribution actuelle des espèces d’arbres des forêts tropicales humides amazoniennes est le résultat de processus dynamiques sur lesquels les perturbations passées, d’origine climatique ou anthropique, peuvent avoir jouées un rôle majeur. Des outils génétiques actuels associés à des méthodes d’analyses puissantes permettent d’inférer et de dater l’empreinte génomique des évènements démographiques subits par les populations naturelles. Le but de cette thèse est de contribuer à une vision d’ensemble de l’évolution démographique de la forêt tropicale humide du plateau des Guyanes pendant le Quaternaire. J’ai d’abord étudié les propriétés des microsatellites (répétitions simple de séquences, SSR) et les limites de leurs applications en tant que marqueurs moléculaires en phylogéographie. Plusieurs allèles SSR contenu dans diverses populations de trois genres d’arbres différents ont été séquencés et le polymorphisme, porté par chaque partie des fragments ADN contenant des SSR, a été étudié. J’ai observé que la quantité de variation génétique était aussi importante dans les régions encadrant le microsatellite que dans le SSR lui-même. Ces régions ont contribué significativement à l’information phylogénétique et ont parfois été la principale source de différenciation entre les individus et les populations. Cette expérience m’a permis de choisir la meilleure stratégie à adopter pour traiter les données de variation génétique des SSR dans des modèles démographiques. J’ai ensuite utilisé ces marqueurs SSR et des méthodes ABC pour étudier l’impact local des occupations humaines précolombiennes sur les forêts en Guyane française. Les changements démographiques subis par des populations de quatre espèces d’arbres ont été comparés entre cinq sites occupés et quatre sites non perturbés. Les perturbations naturelles et induites par l’homme ont contribué à la mise en place de la diversité observée actuellement, comme le suggère des signatures d’effet fondateur détectées sur les sites perturbés ou non. Néanmoins, la taille des populations fondatrices semble être proportionnelle à l’impact humain estimé, indiquant que les perturbations anthropique ont induit un remplacement des populations plus important que les processus écologiques naturels. Pour terminer, j’ai mené une étude de démographie comparative d’espèces d’arbres tropicaux à l’échelle régionale de la Guyane française. Cinq scénarios démographiques ont été testés pour neuf populations de huit espèces en utilisant des microsatellites nucléaires et des séquences chloroplastiques. Les changements démographiques les plus récents détectés convergent vers une signature générale d’expansion de la forêt humide depuis probablement la dernière glaciation. Cela peut suggérer, soit que la composition des forêts du plateau des Guyanes était différente, ou que le couvert forestier était moins étendu. Ce résultat constitue le premier indice de changement passé, probablement d’origine climatique, subi par les communautés forestières du plateau des Guyanes ; qui n’avait jusque-là pas pu être testé avec des méthodes standards en raison d’un manque de fossiles. En conclusion, j’ai recueilli des preuves génétiques que les perturbations, à différents échelles de temps, ont marqué la structure et la composition génétique des forêts du plateau des Guyanes. L’application de ces méthodes à d’autres régions Néotropicales pourrait contribuer, à l’avenir, à reconstruire l’histoire écologique de la forêt amazonienne de façon détaillée.
The current tree species distribution in Amazonian tropical rainforests is the outcome of dynamic processes in which past perturbations, climatic or anthropogenic, may have played a major role. Currently available genetic tools associated with powerful analytical methods allow inferring and dating the genomic imprint of demographic events undergone by natural populations. The aim of my thesis is to contribute to an overview of the demographic evolution of the tropical rainforest in the Guiana shield during the Quaternary. I have first studied the properties of microsatellites or Simple sequence repeat (SSR) and the limits in their applications as molecular markers in phylogeography. Several SSR alleles in multiple populations of three divergent tree genera have been sequenced and the sources of polymorphisms, carried by each portion of SSR-containing DNA amplicons, have been broken apart. I have observed that the amount of variation was as large in flanking regions as in the SSR itself. The former contributed significantly to the phylogenetic information and sometimes was the main source of differentiation among individuals and populations. This experiment allowed me to choose the best strategy to treat SSR variation in demographic modeling. I have subsequently used SSR markers and ABC methods to study the impact of pre-Columbian human settlements at the local level on rainforests in French Guiana. Demographic changes undergone by populations of four tree species were compared between five settled and four undisturbed sites. Both natural turnover and human-induced disturbances appeared as shaping currently observed genetic diversity, with signatures of founder effect both at disturbed and undisturbed sites. Nevertheless, the size of founding populations appeared to be proportional to the estimated human impact, suggesting that human-made disturbance caused deeper population turnover than background ecological processes. Finally, I have conducted a comparative demography study of tropical tree species at the regional level across French Guiana. Five demographic scenarios have been tested for nine populations from eight species using both nuclear microsatellites and chloroplastic sequences. The most recent demographic signals detected converge on a global signature of expansion of the rainforest since probably the last glaciation. This finding can suggest either that the composition of the Guiana shield rainforests was different, or that its global extent was smaller, during earlier epochs of the Pleistocene than today. This result is the first firm indication of changes undergone by the forest communities of the Guiana shield in the distant climatic past – something which could not be tested with standard methods due to almost complete lack of fossil evidence. In conclusion, I have gathered genetic evidence that disturbances, both in historical and geological times, have marked the structure and composition of forests in the Guiana shield.The extensive application of these methods to other regions of the Neotropics maycontribute, in the future, to the detailed reconstruction of the ecological history ofAmazonian forests.

http://www.theses.fr/2012AGUY0568/document

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The replenishment and persistence of marine species is contingent on dispersing larvae locating suitable habitatand surviving to a reproductive stage. Pelagic larvae rely on environmental cues to make behavioural decisionswith chemical information being important for habitat selection at settlement. We explored the sensory worldof crustaceans and fishes focusing on the impact anthropogenic alterations (ocean acidification, red soil, pesti-cide) have on conspecific chemical signals used by larvae for habitat selection. Crustacean (Stenopus hispidus)and fish (Chromis viridis) larvae recognized their conspecifics via chemical signals under control conditions. Inthe presence of acidified water, red soil or pesticide, the ability of larvae to chemically recognize conspecificcues was altered. Our study highlights that recruitment potential on coral reefs may decrease due to anthropo-genic stressors. If so, populations of fishes and crustaceans will continue their rapid decline; larval recruitmentwill not replace and sustain the adult populations on degraded reefs
ISSN: 0025-326X

hal-01491052
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01491052
DOI : 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.08.083

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Springer Verlag
Résumé : International audience
Marine organisms are under threat globally from a suite of anthropogenic sources, but the current emphasis on global climate change has deflected the focus from local impacts. While the effect of increased sedimentation on the settlement of coral species is well studied, little is known about the impact on larval fish. Here, the effect of a laterite “red soil” sediment pollutant on settlement behaviour and post-settlement performance of reef fish was tested. In aquarium tests that isolated sensory cues, we found significant olfaction-based avoidance behaviour and disruption of visual cue use in settlement-stage larval fishat 50 mg L−1, a concentration regularly exceeded in situ during rain events. In situ light trap catches showed lower abundance and species richness in the presence of red soil, but were not significantly different due to high variance in the data. Prolonged exposure to red soil produced altered olfactory cue responses, whereby fish in red soil made a likely maladaptive choice for dead coral compared to controls where fish chose live coral. Other significant effects of prolonged exposure included decreased feeding rates and body condition. These effects on fish larvae reared over 5 days occurred in the presence of a minor drop in pH and may be due to the chemical influence of the sediment. Our results show that sediment pollution of coral reefs may have more complex effects on the ability of larval fish to successfully locate suitable habitat than previously thought, as well as impacting on their post-settlement performance and, ultimately, recruitment success.
ISSN: 0029-8549

hal-01346933
https://hal-uvsq.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346933
https://hal-uvsq.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346933/document
https://hal-uvsq.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346933/file/ms%20O%27Connor%20et%20al%20%202014%20%28Oecologia%29.pdf
PUBMED : 26080759

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : International audience
Wound healing is important for sharks from the earliest life stages, for example, as the 'umbilical scar' in viviparous species heals, and throughout adulthood, when sharks can incur a range of external injuries from natural and anthropogenic sources. Despite anecdotal accounts of rapid healing in elasmobranchs, data regarding recovery and survival of individuals from different wound or injury types has not been systematically collected. The present study documented: (i) 'umbilical scar' healing in wild-caught, neonatal blacktip reef sharks while being reared for 30 days in flow-through laboratory aquaria in French Polynesia; (ii) survival and recovery of free-swimming blacktip reef sharks in Australia and French Polynesia following a range of injuries; and (iii) long-term survival following suspected shark-finning activities. Laboratory monitoring, tag-recapture records, telemetry data and photo-identification records suggest that blacktip reef sharks have a high capacity to survive and recover from small or even large and severe wounds. Healing rates, recovery and survival are important factors to consider when assessing impacts of habitat degradation and fishing stress on shark populations. The present study suggests that individual survival may depend more on handling practices and physiological stress rather than the extent of physical injury. These observations also contribute to discussions regarding the ethics of tagging practices used in elasmobranch research and provide baseline healing rates that may increase the accuracy in estimating reproductive timing inferred from mating scars and birth dates for neonatal sharks based on umbilical scar healing status. Cite as: Chin A, Mourier J, Rummer JL (2015) Blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) show high capacity for wound healing and recovery following injury. Conserv Physiol 3: doi:10.1093/conphys/cov062.
Conservation physiology

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01250745
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01250745
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01250745/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01250745/file/Conserv%20Physiol-2015-Chin-.pdf
DOI : 10.1093/conphys/cov062

Éditeur(s) : Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls
Résumé : Coastal uses have deeply evolved these last decades and high anthropogenic pressures on coastal ecosystems have affected the sustainability of these areas with respect to the services and the resources they may provide. Traditional fisheries management has failed to avoid overexploitation of most coastal marine resources. Management measures based on an Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) are thus required. Spatial management covers various ranges of properties that may enhance usual regulatory means. If spatial considerations are explicitly integrated in fisheries management, the latter may contribute to zoning design in order to balance the economic, social and biological values of natural marine resources. While traditional fisheries management approaches protect resource based on population numbers, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) protect ecosystem in space. Besides their ecological effects on fish assemblages within its boundaries, MPAs can enhance adjacent artisanal fisheries. MPAs can thus ensure the sustainability of fisheries and at the same time maintain non-fisheries benefits of marine ecosystems to society.
Vie et Milieu (0240-8759) (Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls), 2006-12 , Vol. 56 , N. 4 , P. 301-305

Droits : 2007 Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-2598.pdf
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2598/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Ecological resilience assessments are an important part of resilience-based management (RBM) and can help prioritize and target management actions. Use of such assessments has been limited due to a lack of clear guidance on the assessment process. This study builds on the latest scientific advances in RBM to provide that guidance from a resilience assessment undertaken in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We assessed spatial variation in ecological resilience potential at 78 forereef sites near the populated islands of the CNMI: Saipan, Tinian/Aguijan, and Rota. The assessments are based on measuring indicators of resilience processes and are combined with information on anthropogenic stress and larval connectivity. We find great spatial variation in relative resilience potential with many high resilience sites near Saipan (5 of 7) and low resilience sites near Rota (7 of 9). Criteria were developed to identify priority sites for six types of management actions (e.g., conservation, land-based sources of pollution reduction, and fishery management and enforcement) and 51 of the 78 sites met at least one of the sets of criteria. The connectivity simulations developed indicate that Tinian and Aguijan are each roughly 10 × the larvae source that Rota is and twice as frequent a destination. These results may explain the lower relative resilience potential of Rota reefs and indicates that actions in Saipan and Tinian/Aguijan will be important to maintaining supply of larvae. The process we describe for undertaking resilience assessments can be tailored for use in coral reef areas globally and applied to other ecosystems.
ISSN: 0006-3207

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/
hal-01224905
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01224905
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01224905/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01224905/file/1-s2.0-S0006320715300926-main.pdf
DOI : 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.001

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
Our understanding of the contribution of interspecific interactions to functional diversity in nature lags behind our knowledge of spatial and temporal patterns. Although two-species mutualisms are found in all types of ecosystems, the study of their ecological influences on other community members has mostly been limited to third species, while their influence on entire communities remains largely unexplored. 2. We hypothesized that mutualistic interactions between two respective ant species and an epiphyte mediate the biological traits composition of entire invertebrate communities that use the same host plant, thereby affecting food webs and functional diversity at the community level. 3. Aechmea mertensii (Bromeliaceae) is both a phytotelm ('plant-held water') and an ant-garden epiphyte. We sampled 111 bromeliads (111 aquatic invertebrate communities) associated with either the ant Pachycondyla goeldii or Camponotus femoratus. The relationships between ants, bromeliads and invertebrate abundance data were examined using a redundancy analysis. Biological traits information for invertebrates was structured using a fuzzy-coding technique, and a co-inertia analysis between traits and abundance data was used to interpret functional differences in bromeliad ecosystems. 4. The vegetative traits of A. mertensii depended on seed dispersion by C. femoratus and P. goeldii along a gradient of local conditions. The ant partner selected sets of invertebrates with traits that were best adapted to the bromeliads' morphology, and so the composition of the biological traits of invertebrate phytotelm communities depends on the identity of the ant partner. Biological traits suggest a bottom-up control of community structure in C. femoratus-associated phytotelmata and a greater structuring role for predatory invertebrates in P. goeldii-associated plants. 5. This study presents new information showing that two-species mutualisms affect the functional diversity of a much wider range of organisms. Most biological systems form complex networks where nodes (e. g. species) are more or less closely linked to each other, either directly or indirectly, through intermediate nodes. Our observations provide community-level information about biological interactions and functional diversity, and perspectives for further observations intended to examine whether large-scale changes in interacting species/community structure over broad geographical and anthropogenic gradients affect ecosystem functions.
ISSN: 0269-8463

hal-00817509
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00817509

Éditeur(s) : EDP Sciences
Résumé : The necessity to move from a traditional fishery management to an ecosystem approach is now acknowledged. Indicators are required to support the development of this approach. For example, community indicators have been proposed to assess the impact of fishing. We tested here the applicability of one such community indicator, the abundance-biomass comparison (ABC method), as a measure of the impact of bottom trawling (years of sampling: 2001 and 2003) on the benthic invertebrates-typically starfishes, crabs, squat lobsters, shrimps and large hard-shelled molluscs-of "Grande Vasiere", a major French fishing zone, in the Bay of Biscay. The ABC method is generally used as an impact indicator for different types of physical, biological and anthropogenic disturbances on benthic communities. This method is based on the assumption that increasing disturbance shifts communities from dominance by large-bodied species with low turnover rates toward dominance by small-bodied species with high turnover rates. At less disturbed areas the average biomass of individuals is greater than at more heavily disturbed areas. The ABC method measures this effect by comparing the ranked distributions of abundance and biomass within a given community. We applied the ABC method and compared the size structure and the species diversity at two areas exposed to moderate and high bottom trawl effort. Species diversity was lower in the most exploited area. The highly trawled area was dominated by opportunistic organisms, mainly one species of swimming crab Liocarcinus depurator, one species of squat lobster Munida rugosa and Norway lobsters Nephrops norvegicus, which are large-bodied species. Consequently, the results of the ABC method were inconsistent with the theoretical expectation for these particular macrofaunal communities and the measured levels of fishing intensity.
La nécessité de passer d'une gestion monospécifique des pêches à une approche écosystémique est largement reconnue. Pour mettre en place une telle approche, des indicateurs ont été proposés afin d'estimer l'impact de la pêche sur les communautés. Nous avons testé l'efficacité de l'un de ces indicateurs, la comparaison abondance-biomasse (méthode ABC), pour mesurer l'impact du chalutage de fond (année d'échantillonnage : 2001 et 2003) sur les communautés de la macrofaune benthique de la Grande Vasière, golfe de Gascogne (typiquement des crabes, étoiles de mer, des galathées, de gros mollusques à coquille dure). La méthode ABC est généralement utilisée comme un indicateur d'impact de différents types de perturbations physiques, biologiques et anthropiques sur les communautés benthiques. Cette méthode est basée sur l'hypothèse qu'un régime de perturbation croissant entraîne une modification de la structure des communautés qui deviennent graduellement dominées par des espèces opportunistes de petite taille caractérisées par un renouvellement rapide. Dans une communauté modérément perturbée, la biomasse moyenne des individus est ainsi plus grande que dans une communauté fortement perturbée. La méthode ABC mesure cet effet en comparant les distributions en biomasse et densité dans chaque communauté. Nous avons appliqué la méthode ABC et étudié la structure en taille et la diversité spécifique des communautés benthiques en comparant deux zones, l'une soumise à un effort de pêche modéré et l'autre à un important effort de pêche. La diversité spécifique était plus faible sur les sites fortement chalutés. Ces sites étaient dominés par des organismes opportunistes de grande taille, principalement une espèce de crabe nageur Liocarcinus depurator, une espèce de galathée Munida rugosa et des langoustines Nephrops norvegicus. Dans ces conditions, les résultats de la méthode ABC n'étaient pas cohérents avec la théorie pour ces communautés de macro-invertébrés benthiques et les efforts de pêche mesurés.
Aquatic Living Resources (0990-7440) (EDP Sciences), 2006-07 , Vol. 19 , N. 3 , P. 219-228

Droits : 2006 EDP
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-2133.pdf
DOI:10.1051/alr:2006022
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/2133/