About the project
CoDINA aims to increase the understanding of pelagic food web dynamics in sub-Arctic ecosystems. This we will do by studying the interaction between Barents Sea cod and its prey. We will examine the mechanisms generating predator- prey interactions to gain a deeper understanding of trophic connections in the BS.
We are interested in how these may change within the annual cycle, between years and spatially as a consequence of dynamics internal to a single population or between populations and how the functionality is influenced by external pressures like climate and fishing. Cod have been important predators in many ecosystems in the North Atlantic, but their ecological significance has generally diminished with reduced abundance. In contrast, the cod stock in the BS is at a record high level. This is a well-studied and data-rich stock, but still large holes remain in our knowledge. Some of these knowledge gaps are related to how the function of cod in the ecosystem may vary in space and time and how this may be detected in spatiotemporal patterns in their diet.
While earlier studies mainly have built on data from the 1980s and onward, we in the proposed project have a unique opportunity to also include the 1930s-1960s, including a warm (until the mid 1950s), but until now data poor period. Newly digitized Cefas diet data for BS cod from this period will be used in unison with data from the joint IMR-PINRO stomach content database (1984-), the PINRO field feeding analysis data (1947-1985), population and hydrographic data from IMR,PINRO ICES and other sources.
Based upon these data and the project team's joint expertise in a variety of analysis and modelling approaches we anticipate to move significant steps forward towards successful modelling, understanding and (ecosystem-based) management of the Barents Sea cod stock and its main prey species.
We further expect that (parts of) the knowledge provided will be transferable to other marine sub-Arctic systems.
Objectives
Outcomes
Background
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CoDINA will be led by the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research with Geir Ottersen as the project manager, and Bjarte Bogstad, Edda Johannesen and Daniel Howell as other key researchers. The project is in collaboration with CEES at the University of Oslo, the Fisheries Research Institute PINRO in Murmansk, Russia and CEFAS and the University of Sheffield in the UK.
Sub-projects
Financing
This Project is funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) (MARINFORSK)
RCN Project Number: 255460 (Project data bank at RCN)
UiO Project Number: 190700
Cooperation
Tools
Period
01.06.2016 - 31.01.2021