@article {471,
	title = {Fluctuations of macrobenthic populations: a link between climate-driven river run-off and sole fishery yields in the Gulf of Lions},
	journal = {Oecologia},
	volume = {133},
	year = {2002},
	abstract = {<p>The Rhone river is the most important input to the Mediterranean Sea,  responsible for 50\% of the primary productivity of the Gulf of Lions. A  highly variable amount of 1-23\&times;106 t year-1 of terrestrial material is  exported to the sea by the Rhone and stocked on the continental shelf  for the most part. Soft-bottom communities off the Rhone delta were  dominated by polychaetes both in species richness and abundance, and  exhibited strong temporal fluctuations mainly related to flooding  events. Floods caused pulses of organic matter followed, with different  time lags, by peaks of polychaetes. Opportunistic, short-lived species,  such as Mediomastus sp. and Aricidea claudiae, exhibited high short-term  peaks in density and biomass a few months after flooding events.  Conversely, long-lived species, such as Laonice cirrata and Sternaspis  scutata, peaked in density and biomass with a time lag of 1-3 years, and  their population increase lasted for a few years. The common sole,  Solea solea, is a voracious predator of polychaetes which represent  \&gt;80\% of its prey. A positive correlation was found between the mean  annual discharge of the Rhone river and the annual commercial landings  of S. solea with a time lag of 5 years in the two fishing harbours (Sete  and Martigues) located close to the Rhone delta. The long-term increase  in food (i.e. polychaete density and biomass) after flooding events  might favour the different stages of the sole life cycle, enhancing its  population size for several years. Fluctuations of sole fishery yields  in the Gulf of Lions could be influenced by climate, as the Rhone river  flow is related to the North Atlantic Oscillation that drives  precipitation over Western Europe.</p>},
	keywords = {abundance, annelid, Aricidea claudiae, biomass, climate, climate change, density, Europe, fishery, fishing, Gulf of Lions, Laonice cirrata, Martigues, Mediomastus sp., Mediterranean sea, north-western Mediterranean, organic matter, polychaete, Rh{\^o}ne river, richness, Sete, soft bottom, Solea solea, Sternaspis scutata},
	author = {C. Salen-Picard and A.M. Darnaude and D. Arlhac and M.L. Harmelin-Vivien}
}
