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- Weak biodiversity connectivity in the European network of no-take marine protected areasPublication . Assis, J.; Fragkopoulou, Eliza; Serrão, Ester A.; e Costa, Horta; Gandra, Miguel; Abecasis, DavidThe need for international cooperation in marine resource management and conservation has been reflected in the increasing number of agreements aiming for effective and well-connected networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). However, the extent to which individual MPAs are connected remains mostly unknown. Here, we use a biophysical model tuned with empirical data on species dispersal ecology to predict connectivity of a vast spectrum of biodiversity in the European network of marine reserves (i.e., no-take MPAs). Our results highlight the correlation between empirical propagule duration data and connectivity potential and show weak network connectivity and strong isolation for major ecological groups, resulting from the lack of direct connectivity corridors between reserves over vast regions. The particularly high isolation predicted for ecosystemstructuring species (e.g., corals, sponges, macroalgae and seagrass) might potentially undermine biodiversity conservation efforts if local retention is insufficient and unmanaged populations are at risk. Isolation might also be problematic for populations' persistence in the light of climate change and expected species range shifts. Our findings provide novel insights for management directives, highlighting the location of regions requiring additional marine reserves to function as stepping-stone connectivity corridors. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- Among-individual variation in white seabream (Diplodus sargus) spatial behaviour and protection in a coastal no-take areaPublication . De Benito Abelló, Carmela; Bentes, Luis; Sousa, Inês; Pedaccini, Marie; Villegas-Ríos, David; Olsen, Esben Moland; Gonçalves, Jorge Manuel Santos; Horta E Costa, BarbaraMarine protected areas (MPAs), and specially no-take areas (NTAs), play an important role in protecting target populations from fisheries. When developing spatial conservation and management tools, the design has mainly focused on population-level measures of fish home ranges, spawning and feeding areas, and migration routes. Intraspecific differences in fish behaviour, however, are often not accounted for, even though they could influence the level of realized protection. In this study, we investigated the intraspecific variation in spatial behaviour of a harvested fish, Diplodus sargus, and how it impacts the degree of protection granted by a NTA in the south of Portugal. We identified four behavioural types according to their spatial behaviour: residents, commuters, seasonal visitors, and single users. Time at risk (i.e. outside the NTA) greatly varied among the four groups, but also over the year for the seasonal and the single users. Our study shows how acoustic telemetry can assist spatial conservation and fisheries management and provides novel insight regarding the role of individual variation in behaviour to understand protection granted by MPAs to harvested species. It also suggests that incorporating such information into all stages of MPA design and implementation can result in increased resilience of the protected populations.
- Assessment of catches, landings and fishing effort as useful tools for MPA managementPublication . Batista, M. I.; Horta e Costa, Bárbara; Gonçalves, L.; Henriques, M.; Erzini, Karim; Caselle, J. E.; Gonçalves, E. J.; Cabral, H. N.Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been widely recognized as a tool to achieve both fisheries management and conservation goals. Simultaneously achieving these multiple goals is difficult due to conflicts between conservation (often long-term) and economic (often short-term) objectives. MPA implementation often includes additional control measures on fisheries (e.g. vessel size restrictions, gear exclusion, catch controls) that in the short-term may have impacts on local fishers' communities. Thus, monitoring fisheries catches before, during and after MPA implementation is essential to document changes in fisheries activities and to evaluate the impact of MPAs in fishers' communities. Remarkably, in contrast with standard fisheries-independent biological surveys, these data are rarely measured at appropriate spatial scales following MPA implementation. Here, the effects of MPA implementation on local fisheries are assessed in a temperate MPA (Arrabida Marine Park, Portugal), using fisheries monitoring methods combining spatial distribution of fishing effort, on-board observations and official landings statistics at scales appropriate to the Marine Park. Fisheries spatial distribution, fishing effort, on-board data collection and official landings registered for the same vessels over time were analysed between 2004 and 2010. The applicability and reliability of using landings statistics alone was tested (i.e. when no sampling data are available) and we conclude that landings data alone only allow the identification of general patterns. The combination of landings information (which is known to be unreliable in many coastal communities) with other methods, provides an effective tool to evaluate fisheries dynamics in response to MPA implementation. As resources for monitoring socio-ecological responses to MPAs are frequently scarce, the use of landings data calibrated with fisheries information (from vessels, gear distribution and on-board data) is a valuable tool applicable to many worldwide coastal small-scale fisheries. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
- A regulation-based classification system for marine protected areas (MPAs)Publication . Horta e Costa, Bárbara; Claudet, Joachim; Franco, Gustavo; Erzini, Karim; Cara, Anthony; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a global conservation and management tool to enhance the resilience of linked social-ecological systems with the aim of conserving biodiversity and providing ecosystem services for sustainable use. However, MPAs implemented worldwide include a large variety of zoning and management schemes from single to multiple-zoning and from no-take to multiple-use areas. The current IUCN categorisation of MPAs is based on management objectives which many times have a significant mismatch to regulations causing a strong uncertainty when evaluating global MPAs effectiveness. A novel global classification system for MPAs based on regulations of uses as an alternative or complementing, the current IUCN system of categories is presented. Scores for uses weighted by their potential impact on biodiversity were built. Each zone within a MPA was scored and an MPA index integrates the zone scores. This system classifies MPAs as well as each MPA zone individually, is globally applicable and unambiguously discriminates the impacts of uses. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Ocean protection quality is lagging behind quantity: Applying a scientific framework to assess real marine protected area progress against the 30 by 30 targetPublication . Pike, Elizabeth P.; MacCarthy, Jessica M. C.; Hameed, Sarah O.; Harasta, Nikki; Grorud‐Colvert, Kirsten; Sullivan‐Stack, Jenna; Claudet, Joachim; Horta E Costa, Barbara; Gonçalves, Emanuel J.; Villagomez, Angelo; Morgan, LanceThe international community set a global conservation target to protect at least 30% of the ocean by 2030 ("30 x 30") to reverse biodiversity loss, including through marine protected areas (MPAs). However, varied MPAs result in significantly different conservation outcomes, making MPA coverage alone an inadequate metric. We used The MPA Guide framework to assess the the world's largest 100 MPAs by area, representing nearly 90% of reported global MPA coverage and 7.3% of the global ocean area, and analyzed the distribution of MPA quality across political and ecological regions. A quarter of the assessed MPA coverage is not implemented, and one-third is incompatible with the conservation of nature. Two factors contribute to this outcome: (1) many reported MPAs lack regulations or management, and (2) some MPAs allow high-impact activities. Fully and highly protected MPAs account for one-third of the assessed area but are unevenly distributed across ecoregions in part because some nations have designated large, highly protected MPAs in their overseas or remote territories. Indicators of MPA quality, not only coverage, are needed to ensure a global network of MPAs that covers at least 30% of the ocean and effectively safeguards representative marine ecosystems from destructive human activities.