Browsing by Author "Hereu, Bernat"
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- Ecological traits, genetic diversity and regional distribution of the macroalga Treptacantha elegans along the Catalan coast (NW Mediterranean Sea)Publication . Medrano, Alba; Hereu, Bernat; Mariani, Simone; Neiva, J.; Pagès-Escolà, Marta; Paulino, Cristina; Rovira, Graciel·la; Serrao, Ester; Linares, CristinaThe widespread decline of canopy-forming macroalgal assemblages has been documented in many regions during the last decades. This pattern is often followed by the replacement of structurally complex algal canopies by more simplified habitats (e.g., turfs or sea urchin barren grounds). Against all odds, the fucoid Treptacantha elegans, a large Mediterranean brown macroalga, broadened its depth range to deeper and exposed environments and displayed an unexpected range expansion along the northern coast of Catalonia over the last two decades. Here, we reconstruct the spread of T. elegans in time and space and unravel ecological and demographic traits such as population dynamics and genetic patterns to provide a comprehensive and integrated view of the current status and geographical expansion for this species. Fast-growing dynamics, early fertile maturity, and high turnover rate are the main competitive advantages that allow the exposed populations of T. elegans to colonize available substrata and maintain dense and patchy populations. We also provided evidence that the deeper and exposed populations of T. elegans constitute a single group across the Catalan coast, with little genetic differentiation among populations. This seems to support the hypothesis of a unique source of spread in the last decades from the Medes Islands No-Take Zone towards both southern and northern waters.
- Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warmingPublication . Benedetti-Cecchi, Lisandro; Bates, Amanda E.; Strona, Giovanni; Bulleri, Fabio; Horta E Costa, Barbara; Edgar, Graham J.; Hereu, Bernat; Reed, Dan C.; Stuart-Smith, Rick D.; Barrett, Neville S.; Kushner, David J.; Emslie, Michael J.; García-Charton, Jose Antonio; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Aspillaga, EnekoProtection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 reef fish species surveyed in 357 protected versus 747 open sites worldwide. We quantify the stability of reef fish abundance from populations to metacommunities, considering responses of species and functional diversity including thermal affinity of different trophic groups. Overall, protection mitigates adverse effects of marine heatwaves on fish abundance, community stability, asynchronous fluctuations and functional richness. We find that local stability is positively related to distance from centers of high human density only in protected areas. We provide evidence that networks of protected areas have persistent reef fish communities in warming oceans by maintaining large populations and promoting stability at different levels of biological organization. Protected areas are meant to defend species from direct exploitation and habitat loss, but they might also reduce climate change impacts. Here, the authors show that marine protected areas mitigate the impacts of marine heatwaves on reef fish communities.