0000000001142628
AUTHOR
Alberto Ruiu
Assessing the potential of marine Natura 2000 sites to produce ecosystem‐wide effects in rocky reefs: A case study from Sardinia Island (Italy)
A number of policy measures have been adopted to cope with ongoing ocean degradation. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are among them. MPAs and their coverage have increased worldwide, including in EU waters. Natura 2000 (Nat2000) sites are at the core of the EU biodiversity conservation strategy and have been established to protect habitats and species included in two EU directives. Besides their specific objectives, their potential to contribute to an ecosystem-wide conservation and their complementarity with other national and supranational initiatives (e.g. nationally established MPA networks, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive, the Convention on Biological Diversity Ecosystem-Based A…
Common Bottlenose Dolphin Protection and Sustainable Boating: Species Distribution Modeling for Effective Coastal Planning
Indicators for preserving marine biodiversity include knowledge of how the spatial distribution and critical habitats of species overlap with human activities and impacts. Such indicators are key tools for marine spatial planning, a process that identifies and resolves conflicts between human uses and the conservation of marine environments. The common bottlenose dolphin in the Mediterranean Sea is considered a vulnerable species by the IUCN Red List and a priority species of the EU Habitat Directive. Here, we estimated spatio-temporal patterns of the species occurrence in the area around one Marine Protected Area (MPA) and two Sites of Community Importance (SCI) of the North western Sardin…