RT journal article
T1 Exploitation shifted trophic ecology and habitat preferences of Mediterranean and Black Sea bluefin tuna over centuries
A1 Andrews, Adam J.
A1 Pampoulie, Christophe
A1 Di Natale, Antonio
A1 Addis, Piero
A1 Bernal Casasola, Darío
A1 Aniceti, Veronica
A1 Carenti, Gabriele
A1 Gómez Fernández, Verónica
A1 Chosson, Valerie
A1 Ughi, Alice
A1 Von Tersch, Matt
A1 Fontanals Coll, María
A2 HistoriaGeografía y Filosofía
K1 anthropogenic impacts
K1 Black Sea
K1 historical baselines
K1 stable isotope analysis
K1 Thunnus thynnus
K1 trophic shifts
AB During recent decades, the health of ocean ecosystems and fish populations has been threatened by overexploitation, pollution and anthropogenic-driven climate change. Due to a lack of long-term ecological data, we have a poor grasp of the true impact on the diet and habitat use of fishes. This information is vital if we are to recover depleted fish populations and predict their future dynamics. Here, we trace the long-term diet and habitat use of Atlantic bluefin tuna (BFT), Thunnus thynnus, a species that has had one of the longest and most intense exploitation histories, owing to its tremendous cultural and economic importance. Using carbon, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotope analyses of modern and ancient BFT including 98 archaeological and archival bones from 11 Mediterranean locations ca. 1st century to 1941 CE, we infer a shift to increased pelagic foraging around the 16th century in Mediterranean BFT. This likely reflects the early anthropogenic exploitation of inshore coastal ecosystems, as attested by historical literature sources. Further, we reveal that BFT which migrated to the Black Sea–and that disappeared during a period of intense exploitation and ecosystem changes in the 1980s–represented a unique component, isotopically distinct from BFT of NE Atlantic and Mediterranean locations. These data suggest that anthropogenic activities had the ability to alter the diet and habitat use of fishes in conditions prior to those of recent decades. Consequently, long-term data provide novel perspectives on when marine ecosystem modification began and the responses of marine populations, with which to guide conservation policy.
PB Wiley
SN 1467-2979
YR 2023
FD 2023
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32534
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/32534
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 06-nov-2026