Pennino M. G. auteur aut IRD Bellido J. M. auteur aut IRD Conesa D. auteur aut IRD Coll Marta auteur aut IRD Tortosa-Ausina E. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Ecological indicators are increasingly used to examine the evolution of natural ecosystems and the impacts of human activities. Assessing their trends to develop comparative analyses is essential. We introduce the analysis of convergence, a novel approach to evaluate the dynamic and trends of ecological indicators and predict their behavior in the long-term. Specifically, we use a non-parametric estimation of Gaussian kernel density functions and transition probability matrix integrated in the R software. We validate the performance of our methodology through a practical application to three different ecological indicators to study whether Mediterranean countries converge towards similar fisheries practices. We focus on how distributions evolve over time for the Marine Trophic Index, the Fishing in Balance Index and the Expansion Factor during 1950-2010. Results show that Mediterranean countries persist in their fishery behaviors throughout the time series, although a tendency towards similar negative effects on the ecosystem is apparent in the long-term. This methodology can be easily reproduced with different indicators and/or ecosystems in order to analyze ecosystem dynamics. specialized Convergence analysis Non-parametric density estimation Transition probability matrix Ecological indicators Ecosystem approach to fisheries management Mediterranean sea MEDITERRANEE 040 036 020 78 449-457 2017 1470-160X https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070386 10.1016/j.ecolind.2017.03.041 1470-160X [F B010070386] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070386 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2017/08/010070386.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2017-09-05 2023-07-11 fdi:010070386 fre