Abstract
In this paper we focus on the role of ecosystem models in improving our understanding of the complex relationships between bivalve farming and the dynamics of lower trophic levels. To this aim, we review spatially explicit models of phytoplankton impacted by bivalve grazing and discuss the results of three case studies concerning an estuary (Baie des Veys, France), a bay, (Tracadie Bay, Prince Edward Island, Canada) and an open coastal area (Adriatic Sea, Emilia-Romagna coastal area, Italy). These models are intended to provide insight for aquaculture management, but their results also shed light on the spatial distribution of phytoplankton and environmental forcings of primary production. Even though new remote sensing technologies and remotely operated in situ sensors are likely to provide relevant data for assessing some the impacts of bivalve farming at an ecosystem scale, the results here summarized indicate that ecosystem modelling will remain the main tool for assessing ecological carrying capacity and providing management scenarios in the context of global drivers, such as climate change.
Highlights
The culture of marine suspension-feeding bivalves involves farming extensive coastal areas at high biomass
Ecological carrying capacity would apply to an environmental threshold beyond which the ecological integrity of the ecosystem would be considered compromised
If suspension feeding bivalves pre-empt zooplankton grazing pressure, annual phytoplankton cycles will reflect predation by shellfish since aquaculture is persistently in place and forces temporal changes based on harvest and stocking
Summary
The culture of marine suspension-feeding bivalves involves farming extensive coastal areas at high biomass The ability of these animals to influence ecosystem processes is a central theme of this book. Ecological carrying capacity would apply to an environmental threshold beyond which the ecological integrity of the ecosystem would be considered compromised This approach requires assessment of inputs and outputs of matter and energy to coastal systems, and ecosystem modeling has frequently been utilized for this purpose (Grant and Filgueira 2011). This chapter is addressed from a provisioning point of view in Smaal and van Duren (2019) In both cases, the concentration of phytoplankton biomass, usually quantified as photopigments, primarily chlorophyll, has been the focus of ecosystem models. Grant and Filgueira (2011) argued that the extent of depletion should not exceed the natural
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