Trophic Cascades in a Formerly Cod-Dominated Ecosystem

2005/06/09 by Kenneth T. Frank, Brian Petrie, Jae S. Choi +1 · 7 citations
Environmental Science · #Marine and fisheries research #Isotope Analysis in Ecology #Marine Bivalve and Aquaculture Studies

paper · doi:10.1126/science.1113075

openalex publication_date 2005/06/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/25

Abstract

Removal of top predators from ecosystems can result in cascading effects through the trophic levels below, completely restructuring the food web. Cascades have been observed in small-scale or simple food webs, but not in large, complex, open-ocean ecosystems. Using data spanning many decades from a once cod-dominated northwest Atlantic ecosystem, we demonstrate a trophic cascade in a large marine ecosystem. Several cod stocks in other geographic areas have also collapsed without recovery, suggesting the existence of trophic cascades in these systems.

Citations

• Trophic cascades revealed in diverse ecosystems
• Catastrophic shifts in ecosystems
• Killer Whale Predation on Sea Otters Linking Oceanic and Nearshore Ecosystems

Cited by

• Spatial management of marine resources can enhance the recovery of predators and avoid local depletion of forage fish
• Ecological forecasting under climate change: the case of Baltic cod
• Global fish production and climate change
• Global phytoplankton decline over the past century
• Prey items and predation behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada based on Inuit hunter interviews
• Delay in fishery management: diminished yield, longer rebuilding, and increased probability of stock collapse1
• Cod fisheries [wikipedia]