Trait-based indices to assess benthic vulnerability to trawling and model potential loss of ecosystem functions

Abstract: The vulnerability to trawling on a species level is determined by a species' individual combination of biological traits that is related to the ecosystem functions. Trait-based indices of physical resistance RI and reproductive potential RPI were developed and combined into an overall vulnerability index on a species level, the RRI or Resistance and Reproductive Potential Index. The indices are used to explore how resistance and reproductive potentia change over a trawling gradient. The RRI allows for dividing the benthic community into groups expressing different levels of vulnerability that can be linked to ecosystem functions. The RRI index opens up the possibility of scenario modelling by simulating the extinction or loss of vulnerable species and its effects on functions. The validity of the trait-based RRI index was explored by comparing individual species' RRI scores to empirically observed responses over a trawling gradient based on a previously published data. RRI score and observed responses (regression slopes) were significantly correlated providing support for the rationality of the approach taken. Data analyses evidenced increases of resistance and resilience indices over the trawling gradient, demonstrating that communities lost vulnerable species with increasing trawling. When exploring the effects of trawling on the bioturbation, we found it to be disproportionately affected though the loss of vulnerable species. The proposed indices provide new insights into the link of species vulnerability and function.