Carolyn Faithfull is a researcher at SLU Aqua, the Department of Aquatic Resources, Ecosystem Analysis.
The Baltic Sea marine ecosystem is highly impacted by multiple human induced pressures and climate change. Despite this, restoration actions are often directed towards individual measures, ignoring trade-offs and synergies that may affect multiple ecosystem processes and services. Due to the bathymetry of the Baltic Sea, sub-basins may be differently impacted by pressures, making it challenging to observe common patterns and co-occurring processes.
Here, we provide the first comprehensive analysis of systemic spatiotemporal changes of food webs across Baltic Sea sub-basins. Our analyses cover 26 to 46 years of harmonised data collection and apply integrated trend analysis. We compare temporal trends of key structural food web components, focusing on relative changes between trophic guilds, and interpret these changes in relation to variations in key environmental factors and human pressures. We found shifts in trophic-guild balance and ecosystem reorganization in all sub-basins, which were associated with regional changes in anthropogenic pressures.