Recent changes in the trophic structure of the Black Sea

ABSTRACT During the past few decades, the Black Sea has been subjected to various human impacts that have led to changes in the ecology of this inland sea. River runoff has introduced high levels of certain heavy metals and other toxic substances as well as detergents. Ship traffic has led to the introduction of new species, and fishing pressures have also altered the ecology of the area. This paper reviews major ecological changes over the past 40 years. An increase in nutrients has caused eutrophication, with outbursts of phytoplankton blooms and changes in the species composition of these algae. Small‐sized zooplankton species and gelatinous zooplankton have become more common, while many of the herbivorous copepods have decreased in abundance or have disappeared. The introduction of the predatory ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi in the 1980s has had significant impact on the plankton community and has led to a sharp decline in anchovy stocks. Decreased water transparency has led to a loss of macrophytic algae, except in shallow waters, and to a subsequent decline in the zoobenthos associated with this flora. Eutrophication has also led to decreased oxygen concentrations in the near‐bottom water due to large amounts of decomposing phytoplankton, and regions of hypoxia and anoxia now appear on the shelf, with consequent reduction in benthic populations of invertebrates and demersal fish. The numbers of fish species harvested commercially have fallen from 26 to 5, but the total catch has increased, owing to increases in abundance of small fish (e.g., sprat) and horse mackerel, and to increased fishing effort.