Cultivation/depensation effects on juvenile survival and recruitment: Implications for the theory of fishing
Large, dominant fish species that are the basis of many fisheries may be naturally so successful due partly to "cultivation effects," where adults crop down forage species that are potential competitors/predators of their own juveniles. Such effects imply a converse impact when adult abundance is severely reduced by fishing: increases in forage species may then cause lagged, apparently depensatory decreases in juvenile survival. Depensatory effects can then delay or prevent stock rebuilding.