A global survey of reef fishes shows that the consequences of biodiversity loss are greater than previously anticipated as ecosystem functioning remained unsaturated with the addition of new species. Additionally, reefs worldwide, particularly those most diverse, are highly vulnerable to human impacts that are widespread and likely to worsen due to ongoing coastal overpopulation.

Aim To delineate biogeographical patterns in Galapagos shallow-water reef fauna at regional scales. Location Galapagos Islands.Methods Fishes and macro-invertebrates were quantitatively censused using underwater visual techniques along more than 500 transects at defined depth strata across the Galapagos archipelago. Data were analysed using multivariate techniques to define regional patterns and identify species typical of different regions.

Analysis of ecological baseline data collected for key resource species within the Galapagos Marine Reserve indicates that variation in animal density associated with the location of fully protected zones can be comparable to protected area effects. Even with a high level of interspersion between conservation, tourism and fishing management zones, major differences in densities of economically important species were evident between zone types prior to enforcement of fishing restrictions. Densities of the most valuable fishery resource, sea cucumbers, were three times higher in zones that remained open to fishing compared to ‘no-take’ conservation zones, and densities of sharks were five times higher in tourism zones than fishing or conservation zones. These results highlight bias in the socio-political processes that can accompany selection of marine protected areas, where fishers attempt to minimize perceived impacts on their livelihood by locating large protected zones in resource-poor areas, and tourism operators and sport divers argue for protection of areas containing atypically-interesting features. Bias in the location of fully protected zones can seriously confound ‘control-impact’ field investigations when data prior to prohibitions on fishing are lacking, including meta-analyses, which are dominated by such potentially systematically biased studies.

Aim To quantify general differences in reef community structure between wellenforced and poorly enforced marine protected areas (MPAs) and fished sites across the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP) regional seascape Location The Pacific continental margin and oceanic islands of Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador, including World Heritage sites at Galapagos, Coiba, Cocos and Malpelo Methods Densities of reef fishes, mobile and sessile invertebrates, and macroalgae were quantified using underwater visual surveys at 136 'no-take' and 54 openly fished sites associated with seven large MPAs that encompassed a range of management strategies. Spatial variation in multivariate and univariate community metrics was related to three levels of fishing pressure (high-protection MPAs, limited-protection MPAs, fishing zones) for both continental and oceanic reefs.Results High-protection MPAs possessed a much greater biomass of higher carnivorous fishes, lower densities of asteroids and Eucidaris spp. urchins, and higher coral cover than limited-protection MPAs and fished zones. These results were generally consistent with the hypothesis that overfishing of predatory fishes within the ETP has led to increased densities of habitat-modifying macroinvertebrates, which has contributed to regional declines in coral cover. Major differences in ecological patterns were also evident between continental and oceanic biogeographic provinces.Main conclusions Fishing down the food web, with associated trophic cascades, has occurred to a greater extent along the continental coast than off oceanic islands. Poorly enforced MPAs generate food webs more similar to those present in fished areas than in well-protected MPAs.

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