Research and policy questions: an introduction
Work in progress: this part of the textbook is under development (2026), and will be updated regularly over the coming months
As discussed in the introductory “Your research question” chapter, modelling should be driven by research/policy questions if it is to be efficient – that is for you not to lose valuable time and resources in your research. One clear lesson from teaching courses and working with ecosystem modelling is, however, that there are so many research and policy questions that can be explored with an extensive framework such as offered by EwE that the options can be overwhelming. What can and what cannot be addressed with a given modelling framework? So, what may the questions for EwE be?
To help provide some guidance, we’ve developed some exemplary questions, and we will expand on and discuss these in the following.[1]
The questions listed below are examples of topics that can be addressed using EwE, and while the list is far from exhaustive, it is quite extensive and may give the impression that EwE can be used as a universal ecological-social-economic modelling tool for just about anything. It can indeed by used for a lot, but it should be clear that it is but one of the tools in the toolbox – the analysis are often best supplemented by additional models or empirical information.
The list below represents overarching question, and for each we refer to a chapter where more detailed research/policy questions are raised. For each chapter we give suggestions for test models that may be used to explore the topic, and we provide details of how one may go about the modelling.[2] We may also provide links to published examples.
Some of the questions below are spatially explicit, (e.g., MPA design) and clearly call for use of the spatially explicit Ecospace model. Within the more detailed questions in each chapter there may be some that can be answered with time dynamic modelling, Ecosim, while others may call for spatially explicit modelling, and some with Ecotracer with either Ecosim or Ecospace. The basic static mass-balance model, Ecopath, can as a rule not be used for what-if questions, but may be useful for comparing different states of ecosystems using indicators. We provide suggestions in the various chapters, for what model or which models that may be useful for a given question.
Overarching questions
- Are there cascading ecological effects associated with varying levels of forage fish exploitation?
- What are the ecosystem-level impacts and economic consequences of prioritizing marine mammal recovery versus fisheries yields, and how can management strategies be optimized to balance these competing objectives?
- What are the ecosystem-wide impacts of reducing bycatch, and how do these effects vary under different management scenarios and levels of compliance?
- Can models help assess and predict ecosystem environmental status and what management strategies are most effective in improving environmental status across multiple indicators?
- Evaluating ecosystem-based harvest control rules: How do different ecosystem-based harvest control rules perform compared to single-species management approaches in terms of ecosystem health and fisheries sustainability?
- How can Management Strategy Evaluation approaches be effectively utilized to design robust fisheries management strategies that account for ecological, economic, and social uncertainties in complex marine ecosystems?
- How does balanced harvesting compare to traditional size-selective fisheries management in terms of ecosystem structure, function, and fisheries yield, and under what conditions might balanced harvesting provide superior ecological and economic outcomes?
- How do climate change-driven alterations in physical and chemical ocean conditions cascade through marine ecosystems, affecting biodiversity, ecosystem function, and the provision of ecosystem services, and what are the implications for management strategies?
- How can one predict and manage the ecological and economic impacts of invasive species in aquatic ecosystems?
- Evaluating Marine Protected Area (MPA) effectiveness: What are the potential ecosystem-wide effects of implementing different MPA designs (size, location, restrictions) on biomass, biodiversity, and fisheries yields?
- To what extent do artificial reefs, including oil structures, wind farms, and wave energy installations, enhance ecosystem productivity, and how does this impact vary across different trophic levels and spatial scales?
- What are the ecological consequences of a major coastal or marine infrastructure project on ecosystem structure, function, and services, and can these impacts be mitigated through ecosystem-based management strategies?
- How do interactions between fisheries management strategies, climate change, and other environmental factors impact the ecological, social, and economic dimensions of marine systems, and how can we optimize management approaches to balance these interconnected outcomes?
- Anthropic's Claude was consulted for parts of this section, notably to add additional questions. Claude's suggestions were evaluated, rephrased and edited or omitted as judged best. ↵
- Not all questions have explanations for how to address them with EwE, but we will be expanding on and refining this over a series of courses in the near future. ↵
