Effects of marine protected areas on recruitment processes with special reference to Mediterranean littoral ecosystems

By Serge Planes, R. Galzin, A. Rubies, R. Goñi, J. Harmelin, L. Diréach, P. Lenfant, A. Quetglas. Environmental Conservation, 2000

118 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Although site-attached fish can be expected to increase in abundance in marine protected areas (MPAs), there is little known about recruitment effects. The present work reviews concepts and field evidence for enhancement of recruitment of species in MPAs, focusing geographically on the Mediterranean littoral because of its long history of intensive fishery exploitation, but drawing on evidence from studies on recruitment processes in general on MPAs both in the Mediterranean and elsewhere. We considered recruitment as the process of a fish being added to the local population. The general questions of interest are whether the increase in biomass of species protected in MPAs has an effect on recruitment in the MPAs or in neighbouring areas, and, on competition and predation effects on new recruits. A flow diagram of the effects of MPA status on recruitment is developed and employed to identify the relevant processes. The diagram incorporates three levels of factors: (1) characteristics of MPAs (location, size, habitat type, oceanography and level of protection); (2) life stages of species protected in MPAs relevant to recruitment (eggs, larvae, settlers and juveniles); and (3) fundamental processes of dispersal/movement, predation and competition. From this conceptual diagram, the following main components of the recruitment process were identified and used to structure the review: (1) relationship between the ecology of pelagic stages and the design, location and oceanographic regime of MPAs; (2) effects of protection in MPAs from fishery exploitation of nursery habitats on settlement success; and (3) effects of protection on survival of settlers and juveniles from competition and predation. We found an exceptionally low number of studies specifically addressing recruitment processes in MPAs. This was particularly the case in what concerns the relationship between larval ecology and the characteristics and oceanographic regime of MPAs. The effectiveness of MPAs in promoting recruitment mainly depends on the locations and on sizes of the MPAs in relation to the reproductive biology and larval ecology of the species concerned. The locations and sizes of MPAs in turn depend on MPA objectives, whether the purpose is to protect entire life cycles, the juveniles, or to increase egg production and larval export. The assessment of the relationship between the protection of nursery habitats and settlement success indicates that the magnitude of the effects of protection depends on whether the recruitment of the species involved is restricted to a narrowly-defined set of environmental conditions or, on the contrary, can occur in diverse environments, including areas beyond the influence of the MPAs. Thus, the locations of MPAs determine the habitats which are protected and, consequently, the species, the settlement of which will be favoured. For Mediterranean shallow-water species, the near-shore zone encompasses most of the essential nursery habitats for protection. Recruitment studies conducted in MPAs in the north-western Mediterranean have showed no differences in survival of newly-settled littoral fish between MPAs and the areas outside of them. Conversely, for older recruits, mortality was found to be higher inside MPAs, probably due to the increased abundance and size of large predators. This study highlights the almost total absence of studies addressing even the most elementary questions of recruitment in the specific context of MPAs.

Subfields: Ecology, Global and Planetary Change

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/56a01c65aa9eeb52aa8a358eee3410fc7dcd10a8

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Citations in the corpus

Evaluating the biological effectiveness of fully and partially protected marine areas (2013, background): “Despite the evidence of beneficial effects of no-take marine reserves for enhancing biomass and density of exploited species within the boundaries of the reserve [12-14], enhancing reproductive output [15,16], rehabilitating community structure [17,18] and biomass export through adult migration [19-”
Density dependence in marine protected populations: a review (2000, background): “…recruitment limitation hypothesis, in contrast, argues that resources on reefs are rarely limiting due to the high mortality rates of eggs and larvae in the pelagic environment and, as a consequence, there are never enough recruits to saturate the reef environment (Victor 1986; Planes et al. 2000).”
Designing indicators for assessing the effects of marine protected areas on coral reef ecosystems: A multidisciplinary standpoint (2005, unknown): “…Dugan and Davis 1993; Rowley 1994; Bohnsack 1996; Allison et al. 1998; Lauck et al. 1998; García-Charton and Pérez-Ruzafa 1999; Crowder et al. 2000; García-Charton et al. 2000; Pinnegar et al. 2000; Planes et al. 2000; Roberts and Hawkins 2000; Russ 2002; Sànchez-Lizaso et al. 2000; Halpern 2003).”
Condition, feeding and reproductive potential of white seabream Diplodus sargus as indicators of habitat quality and the effect of reserve protection in the northwestern Mediterranean (2003, background): “…and the effect of reserve protection on abundance, biomass and fish size (e.g. García-Rubíes & Zabala 1990, Dufour et al. 1995, Francour 1997, Planes et al. 2000, GarcíaCharton & Pérez-Ruzafa 2001), there are few studies on the effects of the bottom type on fish species (e.g. García-Rubíes &…”
Multi-scale spatial heterogeneity, habitat structure, and the effect of marine reserves on Western Mediterranean rocky reef fish assemblages (2004, background): “This variability is generally related to mesoscale hydrographic variability (see review by Planes et al. 2000).”