Search results for "Protected area"
showing 10 items of 180 documents
The Case of a Rudderfish Highlights the Role of Natural History Museums as Sentinels of Bio-invasions
2017
In September 2013 fishermen captured a rudderfish—Kyphosus vaigiensis—off Favignana Island, one of the islands of the Egadi Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) in western Sicily (Mannino et al., 2015). This species is rarely sampled in the Mediterranean Sea.
Effectiveness of European Atlanto-Mediterranean MPAs: Do they accomplish the expected effects on populations, communities and ecosystems?
2008
The success of MPAs in conserving fishing resources and protecting marine biodiversity relies strongly on how well they meet their planned (or implicit) management goals. From a review of empirical studies aiming at assessing the ecological effects of Mediterranean and Macaronesian MPAs, we conclude that establishing an MPA is successful for (i) increasing the abundance/biomass, (ii) increasing the proportion of larger/older individuals, and (iii) enhancing the fecundity of commercially harvested populations; also, MPAs demonstrated to be effective for (iv) augmenting local fishery yields through biomass exportation from the protected area, and (v) inducing shifts in fish assemblage structu…
Multi-zone marine protected areas: Assessment of ecosystem and fisheries benefits using multiple ecosystem models
2020
12 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables, 1 appendix supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2020.105232
Extending full protection inside existing marine protected areas, or reducing fishing effort outside, can reconcile conservation and fisheries goals
2020
Most fish stocks world-wide are fished at maximum sustainable yield (MSY) or overfished, as many fisheries management strategies have failed to achieve sustainable fishing. Identifying effective fisheries management strategies has now become urgent. Here, we developed a spatially explicit metapopulation model accounting for population connectivity in the north-western Mediterranean Sea, and parameterized it for three ecologically and economically important coastal fish species: the white seabream Diplodus sargus, the two-banded seabream Diplodus vulgaris and the dusky grouper Epinephelus marginatus. We used the model to assess how stock biomass and catches respond to changes in fishing mort…
Spatial genetic structure in the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura [Linnaeus, 1758]) suggests multi-scaled patterns of connectivity between protecte…
2016
Marine protected areas (MPAs) and networks of MPAs are advocated worldwide for the achievement of marine conservation objectives. Although the knowledge about population connectivity is considered fundamental for the optimal design of MPAs and networks, the amount of information available for the Mediterranean Sea is currently scarce. We investigated the genetic structure of the saddled sea bream (Oblada melanura) and the level of genetic connectivity between protected and unprotected locations, using a set of 11 microsatellite loci. Spatial patterns of population differentiation were assessed locally (50–100 km) and regionally (500–1000 km), considering three MPAs of the Western Mediterran…
Fish functional traits are affected by hydrodynamics at small spatial scale
2016
The Mediterranean damselfish Chromis chromis is a species with a broad distribution found both in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic as far south as the coast of Angola. We hypothesized that the species may have significant functional morphological plasticity to adapt along a gradient of environmental conditions. It is a non-migratory zooplanktivorous species and spends the daytime searching for food in the middle of the water column. Therefore, local hydrodynamics could be one of the environmental factors affecting traits of C. chromis with repercussions at the population level. We compared the body condition, individual growth and body shapes of damselfish collected under two diff…
Invasive alien species in Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas: the Egadi Islands (Italy) case study
2021
Invasive alien species (IAS) are one of the most severe threats to Mediterranean Sea biodiversity. Currently, the effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in providing protection for marine biodiversity from IAS is still not fully understood. Here, we analysed eight Mediterranean MPAs located in a strategic geographic position within the Mediterranean basin. All the analysed MPAs were affected by the presence of IAS - evidence of the vulnerability of MPAs to biological invasion. Valuable habitats such as vermetid reef and coralligenous formations have become victim to numerous alien species. Alien species populations are likely to continue increasing in the Mediterranean Sea, so imple…
The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach
2020
17 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368.-- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Daniel Vilas, Marta Coll, Xavier Corrales, Jeroen Steenbeek, Chiara Piroddi, Antonio Calò, Antonio Di Franco, Toni Font, Paolo Guidetti, Alessandro Ligas, Josep Lloret, Giulia Prato, Rita Sahyoun, Paolo Sartor, Joachim Claudet, The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach, Aquatic Conservation - Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 30(10):1885-1901(2020), which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368. This article may be used for non-commercial purpose…
Recreational and small-scale fisheries may pose a threat to vulnerable species in coastal and offshore waters of the western Mediterranean
2019
10 pages, 3 figures, supplementary material https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz071
Boat anchoring on Posidonia oceanica beds in a marine protected area (Italy, western Mediterranean): effect of anchor types in different anchoring st…
2004
Seagrasses worldwide are noted for suffering from mechanical damage caused by boat anchoring. This is particularly so in sites highly frequented by boaters (marine protected areas or coastal urbanised areas). In the last decades, different strategies have been put into practice to reduce such impacts on seagrasses (i.e. by anchoring bans or by deploying boat moorings), More recently, in consideration that few marine protected area (MPA) management bodies or local administrations have the resources to enforce their anchorage regulations, the self-regulatory approach based on education and information of boaters has been preferred in several cases. At present, however, very little is known on…