The analysis of convergence in ecological indicators: An application to the Mediterranean fisheries

M. Grazia Pennino (), José María Bellido (), David Conesa (), Marta Coll () and Emili Tortosa-Ausina
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M. Grazia Pennino: Instituto Español de Oceanografía, Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
José María Bellido: Dpt. of Statistics and Operational Research, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
David Conesa: Dpt. of Statistics and Operational Research, Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain
Marta Coll: UMR MARBEC-IRD, LMI ICEMASA, University of Cape Town, South Africa & ICM-CSIC, Barcelona, Spain

No 2016/22, Working Papers from Economics Department, Universitat Jaume I, Castellón (Spain)

Abstract: Ecological indicators are increasingly used to examine the evolution of natural ecosystems and the impacts of human activities. Assessing their trends to develop comparative analyses is essential. Here, we introduce the analysis of convergence, a novel approach to evaluate the dynamic of ecological indicators’ trajectories and predict their behavior in the long-term, Specifically, we use a non-parametric estimation of Gaussian Kernel density functions and transition probability matrix integrated in the R software. We validate the performance of our methodology through a practical application to three different ecological indicators to study whether Mediterranean countries converge towards similar fisheries practice. We focus on how distributions evolve over time for the Marine Trophic Index, the Expansion Factor and the Fishing in Balance Index during 1950-2010. Results show that Mediterranean countries persist in their fishery behaviors throughout the time series, although a tendency towards similar negative effects on the ecosystem is apparent in the long-term. This methodology can be easily reproduced with different indicators and/or ecosystems in order to analyze dynamics.

Keywords: Convergence analysis; non-parametric density estimation; transition probability matrix; ecosystem approach to fisheries management; ecological indicators; Mediterranean Sea (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C14 Q22 Q57 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 29 pages
Date: 2016
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-env
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