FIGURE 2.

Environmental and experimental characteristics of investigations assessing the effect of mobile demersal fishing on organic carbon (OC). Bar charts represent the proportion of investigations for each category, with inset numbers indicating frequency. Data are shown for all investigations which directly measured changes of OC/OM (organic carbon/organic matter) concentration/content in seabed sediments (‘Total’, n = 49), those which reported a decrease in OC/OM due to mobile demersal fishing (‘Decrease’, n = 14), investigations with no significant effect (‘No effect’, n = 30) and those which found an increase in OC/OM due to mobile demersal fishing (‘Increase’, n = 5). ‘Homog’ = homogenized surface sediment. BCD = Below chart datum. Symbols courtesy of Integration and Application Network (ian.umces.edu/media‐library)