Codfish, not from the fjords of Bohuslän, but from the Norwegian ones not that far away. Spectacular photo: Joachim S. Müller (CC BY-NC-SA)
The importance of biodiversity is something that has moved higher on the agenda for decision makers during the last years. Our ecosystems are extremely complicated webs of interdependance, and losing one part of this web can have much bigger effects than one might think. Therefore we need to take care of all different species and stop the exctincion going on globally.
But Kerstin Johannesson, who is a professor at the department for Marine Ecology at Gothenburg University has an interesting take on this: We can’t just save the rare species, we have to take care of the common ones too.
She and her team of researchers have shown that the more common species have a crucial importance for the eco systems by building good settings for other species. This means that the common species probably are the ruler of the future for their rarer neighbours in the sea.
The researchers’ most obvious example of this is how almost all codfish has disappeared from the fjords of Bohuslän in the West of Sweden. I remember how we used to consider codfish the dullest everyday food served at the school canteen when I was a kid. Now it’s rather considered a delicacy.
With the loss of the codfish the fjords also lost one of their most important species, explains Kerstin Johannesson. This can have far-reaching consequences for other animals. Without the big fish of prey, the submarine meadows of seaweed becomes owergrown.
Then these bays stop working as food resources and nurseries for other fish species too.
– While life disappears little by little, we tend to put the blame on eutrophication, says Karin Johannsson.
So, it’s time to save the less glamorous ones. Take care of the cod!
