Should the Critically Endangered Goliath grouper Epinephelus itajara be culled in Florida?

Scientometric analysis and literature synthesis of 60 years of science on the Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara)

Here, the authors investigate the evolution of scientific literature on the Atlantic goliath grouper (Epinephelus itajara), the largest grouper species in the Atlantic. This species was considered threatened according to the IUCN for nearly three decades due to overfishing and has been protected from fishing in a large part of its range. For the purpose of evaluating the scientific production on an endangered species banned from fishing, the authors present a scientometry and synthesis review analysing the literature produced in the timeline and the content of their studies. To this end, they set up an almost 60-year literary database through the Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar platforms. They analyse the publication and knowledge area patterns over the time in the world and in Brazil. They also feature the main areas, locations, ecosystems and types of those research studies and briefly describe the main records found in each decade. An increase in the number of publications was observed from the 1990s onwards worldwide, and particularly in Brazil from the 2000s, coinciding with the pioneering legislations for species protection. Most of the studies were classified within ecology and conservation and took place in countries that implemented moratoriums and had extensive areas of mangroves. Thus, fishing moratorium, classification as endangered, mangroves distribution and conservation all play a role in the studies distribution and contribute positively to the knowledge, as well as support conservation strategies for the species and its ecosystems of occurrence.

A classification framework for interspecific trade-offs in aquatic ecology

In some cases, wildlife management objectives directed at multiple species can conflict with one another, creating species trade-offs. For managers to effectively identify trade-offs and avoid their undesirable outcomes, they must understand the agents involved and their corresponding interactions. A literature review of interspecific trade-offs within freshwater and marine ecosystems was conducted to illustrate the scope of potential interspecific trade-offs that may occur. We identified common pitfalls that lead to failed recognition of interspecific trade-offs, including, single-species management and limited consideration of the spatial and temporal scale of ecosystems and their management regimes. We devised a classification framework of common interspecific trade-offs within aquatic systems. The classification can help managers determine whether the conflict is species based through direct relationships (i.e., predator-prey, competition, other antagonistic relationships) or indirect relationships involving intermediate species (i.e., conflict-generating species) or whether the conflict is driven by opposing management objectives for species that would otherwise not interact (i.e., nontarget management effects). Once the nature and scope of trade-offs are understood, existing decision-making tools, such as structured decision-making and real-options analysis, can be incorporated to improve the management of aquatic ecosystems. Article Impact Statement: A synthesis of interspecific trade-offs in aquatic ecosystems supports their identification and resolution.