title: Capacity for recovery of rocky subtidal assemblages following pollution abatement in a scenario of global change.
abstract: The successful protection and management of marine ecosystems depend on understanding the capability of biota for recovering after stressor mitigation actions are taken. Here we present long-term changes (1984-2012) in degraded subtidal assemblages following the implementation of the sewerage scheme for the metropolitan area of Bilbao (1 million inhabitants). Qualitative and quantitative species composition of disturbed vegetation shifted over time, making it more similar to that of the reference assemblages considered. Species density in the disturbed habitats increased, which is also a positive sign of recovery. However, eleven years after the clean-up was completed, canopy-forming macrophytes showed no signs of recovery. We argue that the ecological resilience of the ecosystem may have been eroded after a long-standing pollution perturbation and that underlying climate change could be influencing the recovery trajectory of the degraded assemblages. The implications of these conclusions for the implementation of European marine environmental legislation are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, PO Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain. Electronic address: isabel.diez@ehu.es.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Díez
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, PO Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santolaria
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, PO Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Muguerza
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Biology and Ecology, University of the Basque Country UPV/EHU, PO Box 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Gorostiaga
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000517:prevention & control*; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D012624:Seaweed / Q000254:growth & development*; D013030:Spain; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation
keywords: Climate change; Ecological quality assessment; Ecological resilience; Ecosystem restoration; Long-term changes; Macroalgal communities