title: Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems.
abstract: Ecological extinction caused by overfishing precedes all other pervasive human disturbance to coastal ecosystems, including pollution, degradation of water quality, and anthropogenic climate change. Historical abundances of large consumer species were fantastically large in comparison with recent observations. Paleoecological, archaeological, and historical data show that time lags of decades to centuries occurred between the onset of overfishing and consequent changes in ecological communities, because unfished species of similar trophic level assumed the ecological roles of overfished species until they too were overfished or died of epidemic diseases related to overcrowding. Retrospective data not only help to clarify underlying causes and rates of ecological change, but they also demonstrate achievable goals for restoration and management of coastal ecosystems that could not even be contemplated based on the limited perspective of recent observations alone.
authors.affiliation: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0244, USA. jbcj@ucsd.edu
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: M X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Kirby
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Berger
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Bjorndal
authors.forename: L W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Botsford
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Bourque
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Bradbury
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Erlandson
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Estes
authors.forename: T P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kidwell
authors.forename: C B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Lange
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lenihan
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pandolfi
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Steneck
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Tegner
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Warner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D001419:Bacteria; D003063:Cnidaria; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D005068:Eutrophication; D005399:Fishes; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D006801:Humans; D008386:Marine Biology; D012624:Seaweed; D012758:Shellfish; D013997:Time Factors