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 Approach) have been called into question.
Using visual censuses on rocky reefs, the biomass of whole fish assemblages and of a set of ecologically important species (widely used as indicators of coastal marine ecosystem health) have been assessed to evaluate the potential ecosystem‐wide effectiveness of Nat2000 marine sites located along the coasts of Sardinia (Italy). The assessment was performed in six fully protected MPAs, in 12 Nat2000 sites established or extending at sea, and in 18 adjacent unprotected control sites.
Results show that the highest fish biomasses are observed in fully protected MPAs. The values observed at Nat2000 sites do not differ or only slightly differ from those observed at control sites. This shows that Nat2000 sites may not presently contribute to effectively protect fish and the related rocky reef ecosystems.
These results do not dismiss at all the role of Nat2000 sites relative to the objectives for which they have been established. However, they show that to achieve ecosystem‐wide benefits it is crucial to rethink and broaden the scope of Nat2000 sites and adapt their management to that. By providing sounder and more comprehensive management plans, and implementing more consistent ecosystem‐wide conservation measures, Nat2000 marine sites could become an extraordinary tool at the EU scale, capable of delivering wider ecological benefits.
Ocean mesoscale and submesoscale features, such as eddies and filaments, play a key role in the foraging ecology of marine predators, by concentrating nutrients and acting as aggregative structures for pelagic organisms. Highly pelagic seabirds may exploit these features to find profitable food patches in a dynamic and complex 3-dimensional spatial environment. Using miniaturized GPS loggers, we investigated whether foraging habitat selection of the Mediterranean storm petrel Hydrobates pelagicus melitensis, one of the smallest (ca. 28 g) seabirds worldwide, was affected by different static and dynamic oceanographic features during the breeding period. Individuals performed long foraging trips (up to 1113 km) in a relatively short time (1 to 2 d), covering large home ranges (up to 34370 km2), particularly during incubation. Different oceanographic features affected the at-sea distribution of storm petrels at different spatio-temporal scales. During incubation, individuals selected areas characterized by shallow waters and strong currents, conditions that may enhance vertical water mixing and increase food availability. During chick-rearing, they foraged closer to the colony, selecting shallow and productive areas, where increasing Lagrangian coherent structures and eddy kinetic energy enhanced foraging probability. These features could play an important role in storm petrels’ foraging habitat selection, especially during chick-rearing, given their need to find predictable food patches in a short timespan. Overall, our results suggest that marine circulation processes are key drivers of the at-sea distribution of this small pelagic surface predator.
Plastic pollution is distributed patchily around the world’s oceans. Likewise, marine organisms that are vulnerable to plastic ingestion or entanglement have uneven distributions. Understanding where wildlife encounters plastic is crucial for targeting research and mitigation. Oceanic seabirds, particularly petrels, frequently ingest plastic, are highly threatened, and cover vast distances during foraging and migration. However, the spatial overlap between petrels and plastics is poorly understood. Here we combine marine plastic density estimates with individual movement data for 7137 birds of 77 petrel species to estimate relative exposure risk. We identify high exposure risk areas in the Mediterranean and Black seas, and the northeast Pacific, northwest Pacific, South Atlantic and southwest Indian oceans. Plastic exposure risk varies greatly among species and populations, and between breeding and non-breeding seasons. Exposure risk is disproportionately high for Threatened species. Outside the Mediterranean and Black seas, exposure risk is highest in the high seas and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of the USA, Japan, and the UK. Birds generally had higher plastic exposure risk outside the EEZ of the country where they breed. We identify conservation and research priorities, and highlight that international collaboration is key to addressing the impacts of marine plastic on wide-ranging species.
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