Ecological Network Analysis, indicators of food-web changes in the Baltic Sea

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Long term changes in the Baltic Sea ecosystems have been studied using a food web model based on the software Ecopath with Ecosim. Indices of ecosystem change were calculated by using the ecological network analysis. These indices were tested for decadal regime shifts by using two different methods, the sequential t-test analysis of regime shift (STARS) and chronological cluster analysis. The results indicate that at least one regime shift has occurred over the past 30 years. Our analysis further indicates that changes in physical drivers were not the only cause of regime shifts in the ecosystem, as regime shifts mostly occurred when there was cumulative anthropogenic stressor of fishing and large scale environmental drivers.