1. Food Webs in the Wake of Atlantic cod Present is not the key to the pastPresent is not the key to the past How might coastal ecosystems have changed since cod extirpationHow might coastal ecosystems have changed since cod extirpation

2. What’s known and knowable about Atlantic cod? They were big predatorsThey were big predators Had broad trophic latitudeHad broad trophic latitude Were abundantWere abundant Lived in coastal benthic habitatsLived in coastal benthic habitats Strong interactors (controlled the structure of food webs)Strong interactors (controlled the structure of food webs) Monhegan I., Maine 1880s Knowable? (integrate ecological processes with historical patterns)

3. Cod vertebra: 4,100 y bp Fish hooks: 5,000 y bp

4. CodTomcodSculpinFlounderSturgeon? Large? SmallOther 0 20 40 60 80 100 Fish Species % Bone Weight Fish bones in Indian “kitchen” middens 500 - 2,500 years ago Carlson 1986 Archaeological site in Boothbay Harbor, Maine

5. Coast of Maine

6. The Turner Farm Penobscot Bay

7. Spies & Lewis 2001 400 - 4500 ybp Atlantic cod Flounder total Sea mink Fish unidentified Winter flounder Softshell clams Swordfis h Sculpin Sturgeon Yellowtail flounder Tomcod Harbor seal Seal (unidentified) Grey seal American dab Dogfish Cunner Herring Blue mussel Haddock Halibut Pollock wolf fish Sand flounder Salmonids American Eel Sea urchin Harp Seal Alewife Waved whelk Quahod Carchardon (great white) Plocaena (porpoise) Cusk Balaena ( Right) Mackerel Bluefish 010 20 30 40 Average percent fragments from all strata

8. Atlantic cod Flounder total Sea Mink Fish spp Winter flounder Softshell clams Swordfish Sculpin Sturgeon Yellowtail flounder Tomcod Harbor seal Phocid unidentified Grey seal American dab Dogfish Cunner Herring Blue mussel Haddock Halibut Pollock wolf fish Sand flounder Salmonid American eel Sea urchin Harp Seal Alewife Waved whelk Quahod Great white shark Porpoise Cusk Right whale Mackerel Bluefish 4350410035501600400 Proportion of Bone Mass Years bp

9. Atlantic cod Flounder total Sea Mink Fish spp Winter flounder Softshell clams Swordfish Sculpin Sturgeon Yellowtail flounder Tomcod Harbor seal Phocid unidentified Grey seal American dab Dogfish Cunner Herring Blue mussel Haddock Halibut Pollock wolf fish Sand flounder Salmonid American eel Sea urchin Harp Seal Alewife Waved whelk Quahod Great white shark Porpoise Cusk Right whale Mackerel Bluefish 4350410035501600400 Proportion of Bone Mass Years bp No lobster or crabs?

10. 050010001500200025003000350040004500 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Years Before Present Atlantic cod body length (cm) Cod Size Over Past 4500 years 5000

11. Fishing Grounds of Coastal Maine 1830 - 1880 (Goode 1887) Acadia National Park Turner Farm Site

12. 0 10 20 30 40 Nereidiformia Other Polychaeta Amphipoda Euphausiacea Pandalidae Crangonidae Axiidae Paguridae Majidae Cancridae Other Decapoda Other Crustacea Gastropoda Bivalvia Cephalopoda Other mollusca Echinoidea Ophiuroidea Other Echinodermata Clupeidae Gadidae Scombridae Scorpaenidae Other Pisces Other groups Animal remains Sand and rock % Prey Langton & Bowman 1980 Crustaceans Fish Sand and rocks! Cod’s Prey Echinoderms

13. 40 cm