Jeffrey Hutchings, Dalhousie University, Canada talks on "Correlates of rate and uncertainty of population recovery in marine fishes" in the so-called Kaffeklubben at DTU Aqua. Kaffeklubben arranges seminars presenting recent research within aquatic sciences. Guests are welcome.
Abstract
The depletion of fish populations in the 1980s and 1990s stimulated an unprecedented amount of research on recovery. Some of this work addressed long-standing questions of fish population dynamics:
- Does per capita population growth rate (r) always increase as abundance declines?
- Do teleost fishes possess greater intrinsic recovery abilities (as reflected by rmax) than other vertebrates?
- Does magnitude of population reduction affect probability of recovery?
- If fish evolve in response to fishing, changing average fitness and thus rmax, are the population-dynamic consequences likely to be negative, positive, or neutral?
Challenging some perceptions, recent meta-analyses and model simulations on marine teleost fishes indicate that:
- rmax does not differ from that of terrestrial mammals.
- high fecundity has no influence on recovery potential.
- allee effects can be manifest in some depleted populations.
- the greater the depletion, the more uncertain the recovery.
- the effects of fisheries-induced evolution seem unlikely to have a positive influence on fitness.
About Kaffeklubben
DTU Aqua’s so-called Kaffeklubben (The Coffee Club) arranges seminars presenting recent research on various topics across aquatic sciences, hence contribution to knowledge sharing in DTU Aqua.
The lectures are held by scientists from DTU Aqua or from other research institutes in Denmark or abroad. The audience consists mainly of employees at DTU Aqua, but others are welcome to participate. Registration is not necessary
The seminars are in English and last one hour. They take place at DTU Aqua in Charlottenlund, Copenhagen.