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The Bay of Seine: A Resilient Socio-Eco-System Under Cumulative Pressures

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Evolution of Marine Coastal Ecosystems under the Pressure of Global Changes

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Abstract

The Bay of Seine (Normandy coast of the English Channel) is a highly impacted ecosystem concerned by numerous human activities. It is subjected to heavy historic anthropogenic pressures and the emergence of new human activities: fishing, harbour extension, aggregate extraction, deposition of dredged sediment, and offshore wind farms. By contrast, this area shows a high level of protection of its natural heritage, mainly owing to the Natural Reserve and Natura 2000 sites. Moreover, an accumulation of research projects has ensured the acquisition of a high level of scientific knowledge and high-quality ecological data in this area. However, there is a lack of a systematic approach taking into account the available data. By building maps of benthic habitats, food-web modelling and calculating ecological indicators, we are able to take the first steps towards an ecosystem-based management. These integrative approaches allow us to assess the ecological quality status of the Bay of Seine and the Seine estuary. Trophic models based on the quantification of energy and matter fluxes in ecosystems, as well as indices derived from ecological network analysis, are used to describe the interaction between species across all trophic levels. When applied to spatial models, ecological functioning and ecosystem health can be assessed in different areas of the ecosystem. In the Bay of Seine, benthic habitats display high resilience while pelagic, fish and bird compartments have been shown to be highly modified, due to hydrological and climatic changes. The North Channel and the Navigation Channel of the Seine estuary appear to be far more intensely stressed, while the South Channel and marine areas of the Bay show a more mature functioning. Our conclusions reveal the need to consider the influence of human pressures on the functioning of complex ecosystems, thus providing an integrated approach that can be used to study a social-ecological system affected by global changes and investigate the cumulative impacts of human activities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Normandie Univ., UNICAEN, UNIROUEN, Laboratoire Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière M2C, UMR 6143 M2C, 24 rue des Tilleuls, 14000, Caen, France

    Jean-Claude Dauvin, Aurore Raoux, Jean-Philippe Pezy & Noémie Baux

  2. Normandie Université UNICAEN, UMR Biologie des Organismes Marins et Écosystèmes Aquatiques, CNRS-7208, IRD-207, MNHN, Sorbonne Université, UA, 14032, Caen, France

    Nathalie Niquil

Authors
  1. Jean-Claude Dauvin
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  2. Aurore Raoux
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  3. Jean-Philippe Pezy
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  4. Noémie Baux
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  5. Nathalie Niquil
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Correspondence to Jean-Claude Dauvin .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut Océanographique, JFSO France Institut Océanographique, Marseille, France

    Hubert-Jean Ceccaldi

  2. JAMSTEC (JAPAN AGENCY FOR EARTH-OCEAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) and JFSO France, Paris, France

    Yves Hénocque

  3. Yokohama College of Commerce, JFSO-Japan, Tokyo, Japan

    Teruhisa Komatsu

  4. JFSO France, ST JEAN DE LUZ, France

    Patrick Prouzet

  5. UMR CNRS 5805 EPOC-OASU, Pessac, France

    Benoit Sautour

  6. Centre for Marine Research and Operations, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology, Tokyo, Japan

    Jiro Yoshida

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Dauvin, JC., Raoux, A., Pezy, JP., Baux, N., Niquil, N. (2020). The Bay of Seine: A Resilient Socio-Eco-System Under Cumulative Pressures. In: Ceccaldi, HJ., Hénocque, Y., Komatsu, T., Prouzet, P., Sautour, B., Yoshida, J. (eds) Evolution of Marine Coastal Ecosystems under the Pressure of Global Changes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-43484-7_7

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