Climate change in the marine environment is having a substantial impact on marine 32 ecosystems, and there is an extensive body of literature evaluating these impacts (see 33 Harley et al., 2006;Hoegh-guldberg, 2010; Pörtner et al., 2014). Climate change as a 34 stressor on the marine environment operates at a global scale and therefore cannot be 35 removed locally (Micheli et al., 2012). Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as spatially explicit 36 conservation tools cannot directly influence all impacts of climate change affecting 37 species and habitat traits, however, MPAs are still a useful tool in climate change 38 adaptation and mitigation (Côté and Darling, 2010; McLeod et al., 2009). The predicted climate change impacts on marine ecosystems: temperature increases, 41 rising sea levels, ocean acidification, changing circulation patterns, changes in weather 42 conditions and dissolved oxygen levels (Hoegh-guldberg, 2010; Pörtner et al., 2014), can 43 directly and indirectly affect species distributions and abundances, community 44 composition, habitat quality, and changes in population dynamics (Cheung et al., 2009; 45 Harley et Lawler, 2009). The cumulative effects of climate change and 46 anthropogenic drivers, (e.g. fishing) can lead to complex patterns of change and result in 47 enhanced vulnerability of natural and human systems (Halpern et al., 2008; Pörtner et al., 48 2014). At an ecosystem level, interactions between climate change impacts and fishing 49 can enhance diversity loss in benthic communities (Griffith et al., 2011) and promote a 50 change in ecosystem structure (Kirby et al., 2009). Additionally, the truncating effect of 51 fishing on age and size structure of populations can lower population recruitment 52 variability and reduce their ability to buffer environmental fluctuations (Perry et al., 53 2010). Protection of marine biodiversity from local stressors, such as fishing, can enhance the 56 resilience of species and habitats to climate change impacts (Micheli et al., 2012). 57 Mitigation of global climate change may also be enhanced by protecting habitat areas 58 that contribute to carbon sequestration, including mangroves, seagrasses, and salt 59 marshes (Crooks et al., 2011). However, the low predictability and variability of 60 ecosystems to climate change may undermine the effectiveness of conservation 61 measures (Pörtner et al., 2014). As a result, there have been numerous calls to consider 62 climate change in the establishment of MPAs to ensure marine biodiversity is protected 63 effectively under future climatic scenarios (McLeod et al., 2009;Salm et al., 2006