IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecomod/v506y2025ics0304380025001371.html

Study in the ecosystem structure and trophodynamics in the Kuroshio-Oyashio Extension area

Author

Listed:
  • Chen, Gan
  • Wang, Wen
  • Zhao, Rongrong
  • Ma, Qiuyun
  • Wang, Shaoqin
  • Tian, Siquan
  • Han, Dongyan

Abstract

The Northwest Pacific (NWP) is not only the region with the highest fishery production in the world, but also the location of the Kuroshio-Oyashio Extension (KOE). Regular monitoring and assessment of marine ecosystem are essential for maintaining its stability and the sustainability of fishery products. Based on the survey data from the high-seas fishery resources survey in the KOE in 2023, the trophic structure and characteristics of open ocean ecosystem in this area were analyzed using the Ecopath with Ecosim model. A total of 25 functional groups were defined based on their ecological characteristics. The field sampling information was used as the biomass data to maximize the quality of the model. The results indicated that the trophic levels of these groups ranged from 1.00 to 4.35. Chub mackerel is a major economic species in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, and the ecotrophic efficiency of chub mackerel was lower than in previous studies (0.74 in 2019), indicating that the proportion of its production contributing to the ecosystem energy might have decreased. Mixed trophic impact results showed that the main interactions between functional groups are primarily predation and feeding competition. Total primary production/total respiration (TPP/TR), and total primary production/total biomass (TPP/TB) indicated the system maturity. Compared to previous studies in the KOE and its adjacent area ecosystems (the total system throughput was 3529.54 t·km-2·year-1 and the TR was 486.42 t·km-2·year-1), both the TST (1766.22 t·km-2·year-1) and the TR (151.27 t·km-2·year-1) were relatively lower, which revealed the low productivity characteristic of the KOE ecosystem. Combined with the high TPP/TR (7.31) and the low system omnivory index (0.20), these overall ecosystem characteristics suggested that the KOE ecosystem was structurally simple and vulnerable to disturbance from external activities. Sensitivity analysis indicated that the main output parameters of the model were highly sensitive to the changes in the biomass of the functional groups. This study provided a reference for ecosystem-based fisheries management in the open ocean waters of the KOE.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Gan & Wang, Wen & Zhao, Rongrong & Ma, Qiuyun & Wang, Shaoqin & Tian, Siquan & Han, Dongyan, 2025. "Study in the ecosystem structure and trophodynamics in the Kuroshio-Oyashio Extension area," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 506(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:506:y:2025:i:c:s0304380025001371
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111152
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380025001371
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111152?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Heymans, Johanna Jacomina & Coll, Marta & Link, Jason S. & Mackinson, Steven & Steenbeek, Jeroen & Walters, Carl & Christensen, Villy, 2016. "Best practice in Ecopath with Ecosim food-web models for ecosystem-based management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 331(C), pages 173-184.
    2. Booth, Shawn & Walters, William J & Steenbeek, Jeroen & Christensen, Villy & Charmasson, Sabine, 2020. "An Ecopath with Ecosim model for the Pacific coast of eastern Japan: Describing the marine environment and its fisheries prior to the Great East Japan earthquake," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 428(C).
    3. Link, Jason S., 2010. "Adding rigor to ecological network models by evaluating a set of pre-balance diagnostics: A plea for PREBAL," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(12), pages 1580-1591.
    4. Darwall, William R.T. & Allison, Edward H. & Turner, George F. & Irvine, Kenneth, 2010. "Lake of flies, or lake of fish? A trophic model of Lake Malawi," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 221(4), pages 713-727.
    5. Lucey, Sean M. & Gaichas, Sarah K. & Aydin, Kerim Y., 2020. "Conducting reproducible ecosystem modeling using the open source mass balance model Rpath," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 427(C).
    6. Evan Howell & Colette Wabnitz & John Dunne & Jeffrey Polovina, 2013. "Climate-induced primary productivity change and fishing impacts on the Central North Pacific ecosystem and Hawaii-based pelagic longline fishery," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 119(1), pages 79-93, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gray DiLeone, A.M. & Ainsworth, C.H., 2019. "Effects of Karenia brevis harmful algal blooms on fish community structure on the West Florida Shelf," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 392(C), pages 250-267.
    2. Natugonza, Vianny & Ogutu-Ohwayo, Richard & Musinguzi, Laban & Kashindye, Benedicto & Jónsson, Steingrímur & Valtysson, Hreidar Thor, 2016. "Exploring the structural and functional properties of the Lake Victoria food web, and the role of fisheries, using a mass balance model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 342(C), pages 161-174.
    3. Xu, Peng & Huang, Lintao & Zhang, Yuyang & Huang, Hui, 2024. "Different degrees of decline in China's fishing efforts are beneficial to the sustainable development of coral reef fisheries resources on Yongxing Island China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 494(C).
    4. Booth, Shawn & Walters, William J & Steenbeek, Jeroen & Christensen, Villy & Charmasson, Sabine, 2020. "An Ecopath with Ecosim model for the Pacific coast of eastern Japan: Describing the marine environment and its fisheries prior to the Great East Japan earthquake," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 428(C).
    5. Tesfaye, Gashaw & Wolff, Matthias, 2018. "Modeling trophic interactions and the impact of an introduced exotic carp species in the Rift Valley Lake Koka, Ethiopia," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 378(C), pages 26-36.
    6. Bueno-Pardo, Juan & García-Seoane, Eva & Sousa, Ana I. & Coelho, João P. & Morgado, Mariana & Frankenbach, Silja & Ezequiel, João & Vaz, Nuno & Quintino, Victor & Rodrigues, Ana M. & Leandro, Sérgio &, 2018. "Trophic web structure and ecosystem attributes of a temperate coastal lagoon (Ria de Aveiro, Portugal)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 378(C), pages 13-25.
    7. Bentley, Jacob W. & Serpetti, Natalia & Heymans, Johanna Jacomina, 2017. "Investigating the potential impacts of ocean warming on the Norwegian and Barents Seas ecosystem using a time-dynamic food-web model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 360(C), pages 94-107.
    8. Heymans, Johanna Jacomina & Coll, Marta & Link, Jason S. & Mackinson, Steven & Steenbeek, Jeroen & Walters, Carl & Christensen, Villy, 2016. "Best practice in Ecopath with Ecosim food-web models for ecosystem-based management," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 331(C), pages 173-184.
    9. Lercari, Diego & Defeo, Omar & Ortega, Leonardo & Orlando, Luis & Gianelli, Ignacio & Celentano, Eleonora, 2018. "Long-term structural and functional changes driven by climate variability and fishery regimes in a sandy beach ecosystem," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 368(C), pages 41-51.
    10. Ricci, P. & Sion, L. & Capezzuto, F. & Cipriano, G. & D'Onghia, G. & Libralato, S. & Maiorano, P. & Tursi, A. & Carlucci, R., 2021. "Modelling the trophic roles of the demersal Chondrichthyes in the Northern Ionian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 444(C).
    11. Perryman, Holly A. & Tarnecki, Joseph H. & Grüss, Arnaud & Babcock, Elizabeth A. & Sagarese, Skyler R. & Ainsworth, Cameron H. & Gray DiLeone, Alisha M., 2020. "A revised diet matrix to improve the parameterization of a West Florida Shelf Ecopath model for understanding harmful algal bloom impacts," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 416(C).
    12. Sagarese, Skyler R. & Lauretta, Matthew V. & Walter, John F., 2017. "Progress towards a next-generation fisheries ecosystem model for the northern Gulf of Mexico," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 345(C), pages 75-98.
    13. Haro, Daniela & Labra, Fabio A. & Neira, Sergio & Hernández-Padilla, Juan Carlos & Arreguín-Sánchez, Francisco, 2025. "Ecological role of marine mammals in the Magellan Strait: Insights from trophic modeling," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 501(C).
    14. Heinichen, Margaret & McManus, M. Conor & Lucey, Sean M. & Aydin, Kerim & Humphries, Austin & Innes-Gold, Anne & Collie, Jeremy, 2022. "Incorporating temperature-dependent fish bioenergetics into a Narragansett Bay food web model," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 466(C).
    15. Wang, Sai & Wang, Lin & Chang, Hao-Yen & Li, Feng & Tang, Jin-Peng & Zhou, Xing-An & Li, Xing & Tian, Shi-Mi & Lin, Hsing-Juh & Yang, Yang, 2018. "Longitudinal variation in energy flow networks along a large subtropical river, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 387(C), pages 83-95.
    16. Woodstock, Matthew S. & Sutton, Tracey T. & Frank, Tamara & Zhang, Yuying, 2021. "An early warning sign: trophic structure changes in the oceanic Gulf of Mexico from 2011—2018," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 445(C).
    17. Hongxiang Li & Lei Jin & Yujie Si & Jiandong Mu & Zhaoning Liu & Cunqi Liu & Yajuan Zhang, 2024. "Lake Restoration Improved Ecosystem Maturity Through Regime Shifts—A Case Study of Lake Baiyangdian, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Shan, Kun & Li, Lin & Wang, Xiaoxiao & Wu, Yanlong & Hu, Lili & Yu, Gongliang & Song, Lirong, 2014. "Modelling ecosystem structure and trophic interactions in a typical cyanobacterial bloom-dominated shallow Lake Dianchi, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 291(C), pages 82-95.
    19. Borrett, Stuart R. & Sheble, Laura & Moody, James & Anway, Evan C., 2018. "Bibliometric review of ecological network analysis: 2010–2016," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 382(C), pages 63-82.
    20. Calhoun-Grosch, Stacy & Ruzicka, Jim J. & Robinson, Kelly L. & Wang, Verena H. & Sutton, Tracey & Ainsworth, Cameron & Hernandez, Frank, 2024. "Simulating productivity changes of epipelagic, mesopelagic, and bathypelagic taxa using a depth-resolved, end-to-end food web model for the oceanic Gulf of Mexico," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 489(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:506:y:2025:i:c:s0304380025001371. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/ecological-modelling .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.