Rationale: This indicator is based on the vector of biomasses of the demersal species caught during the ecosystem survey in the demersal trawl. Following the widely accepted paradigm that diverse communities are more stable through time, and therefore more able to sustain either human or climate driven change, our approach can classify these sub-areas along a “resilience-to-change” gradient.
Theme: Biotic
Component: Benthos
Type of indicator: E, state of the ecosystem.
Priority of indicator: e, essential
Parameter:
• Biomass per species of the demersal fauna (IMR)
Responsible institution: Institute of Marine Research
The α-diversity can be viewed as a measure of species diversity at a local (trawl) scale α-diversity is higher in areas corresponding to the Atlantic waters and the polar front. Source: Institute of Marine Research