There is growing empirical evidence around the world demonstrating regime shifts of marine ecosystems. But generalizable criteria to detect and define regime shifts are elusive because of: (i) an incomplete scientific understanding of processes underlying regime shifts; (ii) because the baseline state and conditions are ill defined, and; (iii) due to an inherent ambiguity in the concept of system identity. We surveyed marine scientists in Tasmania, Australia, and determined the effect of changing conditions (including type of climate impact, species loss, species composition, spatio-temporal extent, and human intervention) on their perception of marine regime shift. We find, there is an objective difficulty in detecting regime shifts that goes beyond scientific uncertainty and there is disagreement on which configurations of change indeed constitute a regime shift. Furthermore, this difference of opinion was not related to the degree of confidence that scientists indicated when identifying regime shifts. This lack of consensus and seemingly unrelated scientific confidence, may be attributable to value ambiguity around people s attitudes, cognitive biases, and baseline shift. When applying evidenced-based reference points in well-reasoned Ecosystem Based Management, there should be scientific consensus on the manifestation and extent of specific regime shifts, and recognition of value ambiguities influencing scientific perceptions.
Funding
Australian Research Council
History
Publication title
ICES Journal of Marine Science
Volume
76
Issue
6
Pagination
1736-1747
ISSN
1054-3139
Department/School
Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Publisher
Academic Press Ltd Elsevier Science Ltd
Place of publication
24-28 Oval Rd, London, England, Nw1 7Dx
Rights statement
Copyright 2019 International Council for the Exploration of the Sea
Repository Status
Restricted
Socio-economic Objectives
Marine biodiversity; Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems; Ecosystem adaptation to climate change