Roles of fishing and climate change in long-term fish species succession and population dynamics in the outer Beibu Gulf,South China Sea

A prevailing,controversial hypothesis is that fishing pressure has played a greater role than climatic and environmental drivers,in changing fish species succession and biomass fluctuation in the South China Sea(SCS).Based on otter trawl survey data from 1959 to 2010 in the outer Beibu Gulf(OBG),northern SCS,large seasonal and interannual variation is reported for fish species composition,the proportional abundances of dominant taxa,and fish biomass.Generalized additive models are developed to quantify relationships between fish biomass and the external factors of fishing pressure and climate change.Fishing pressure proved to be the main driver of sharp declines in demersal fish stocks,with high-value species being replaced by low-value ones over time.Abrupt decreases in fish biomass during the years of 1993 and 1998 correspond to El Nino events,with climate change possibly the main driver of proportional representation of pelagic species in fisheries trawl catch.The need to differentiate impacts of fishing and environmental drivers on fish species with different life history strategies is stressed to better understand fish community dynamics.

Millennial climate changes since MIS 3 revealed by element records in deep-sea sediments from northern South China Sea

High resolution elemental records in core MD05-2903 from the northern South China Sea were obtained from XRF scanning and grain size and mineral component analyses.The K/Ti curve reveals climate changes since MIS 3 on a millennial scale,representing one of the best such records so far from deep-sea sediments of the South China Sea.When compared our K/Ti record with other climate records from high latitude ice cores and from East Asia stalagmites,variations in the K/Ti record show some typical saw-shaped features of rapid climate changes in the Northern Hemisphere.Grain size analysis reveals a close relationship between variations in K/Ti and in the fine end-member grain size.XRD analysis confirms that high K/Ti layers were dominated by K-rich weathering minerals,especially illite,while low K/Ti layers contain low illite but high abundance of Ti-rich heavy minerals.Therefore,the K/Ti record reflects changes in the input and deposition of fine weathering minerals and heavy minerals in the northern South China Sea region during stadials and interstadials.These elemental changes were largely controlled by variations in rainfall,erosion,and fluvial transportation induced by East Asia Monsoon.