Recovery or decline of the northwestern Black Sea: A societal choice revealed by socio-ecological modelling

Olivia Langmead, Abigail McQuatters-Gollop, Laurence D. Mee, Jana Friedrich, Alison J. Gilbert, Marian-Traian Gomoiu, Emma L. Jackson, Ståle Knudsen, Galina Minicheva and Valentina Todorova

Ecological Modelling, 2009, vol. 220, issue 21, 2927-2939

Abstract: During recent decades anthropogenic activities have dramatically impacted the Black Sea ecosystem. High levels of riverine nutrient input during the 1970s and 1980s caused eutrophic conditions including intense algal blooms resulting in hypoxia and the subsequent collapse of benthic habitats on the northwestern shelf. Intense fishing pressure also depleted stocks of many apex predators, contributing to an increase in planktivorous fish that are now the focus of fishing efforts. Additionally, the Black Sea's ecosystem changed even further with the introduction of exotic species. Economic collapse of the surrounding socialist republics in the early 1990s resulted in decreased nutrient loading which has allowed the Black Sea ecosystem to start to recover, but under rapidly changing economic and political conditions, future recovery is uncertain.

Keywords: Black Sea; Bayesian belief network (BBN); Eutrophication; DPSIR; Marine socio-ecological systems (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:220:y:2009:i:21:p:2927-2939

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2008.09.011

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