Are marine protected areas an adaptation measure against climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems? A UK case study

Hoppit, George; Schmidt, Daniela N.; Brazier, Paul; Mieszkowska, Nova; Pieraccini, Margherita

doi:10.1016/j.nbsj.2022.100030

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 110 publications

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“…However, the results of the scenarios clearly show that implementation of such steps is one of the best options to improve the catch and the ecosystem (e.g., Scenarios 3 and 6). These results are in line with reports on the implementation of management steps in other locations around the world (Vilas et al, 2020;Hoppit et al, 2022).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Evaluation of fisheries management policies in the alien species-rich Eastern Mediterranean under climate change

Ofir¹,

Corrales²,

Coll³

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Recent decades have witnessed declines in the amount of fishing catch due to changes in the marine ecosystem of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. These changes are mainly a consequence of direct human activities as well as global warming and the entry of invasive species. Therefore, there is a need to improve fisheries management so that it accounts for the various stressors and uses of the marine environment beyond fishing, while providing sustainable catches and maintaining a healthy ecosystem. The ability to understand, and sustainably manage, the fishing industry relies on models capable of analyzing and predicting the effects of fishing on the entire ecosystem. In this study, we apply Ecospace, the spatial-temporal component of the Ecopath with Ecosim approach, to study the Israeli continental shelf to evaluate the impact of climate change and alternative management options on the ecosystem. We examine several management alternatives under the severe assumption of the RCP8.5 climate change scenario for the region. Results indicate that under business-as-usual conditions, the biomass of the native species will decrease, the biomass of the invasive species will increase, and there will be a decrease in the fishing catch. In addition, of the management alternatives examined, the alternative of prohibition of fishing in the northern region of Israel along with the establishment of a network of marine nature reserves provides the optimal response for the ecosystem and fisheries. The Achziv Nature Reserve is projected to be successful, improving the biomass of local species and reducing, to some extent, the presence of invasive species. These results are consistent with visual surveys conducted inside and outside the reserve by the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority. Furthermore, simulation results indicate spill-over effects in areas close to nature reserves yielding higher catches in those regions.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Evaluation of fisheries management policies in the alien species-rich Eastern Mediterranean under climate change

Ofir¹,

Corrales²,

Coll³

et al. 2023

Front. Mar. Sci.

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“…Ecological research questions are increasingly focused on the adaptive potential of marine taxa to environmental change and how subsequent conservation measures, such as MPA designations, can be more resilient to future anthropogenic and ecological pressures ( Donelson et al 2019 ; Hoppit et al 2022 ). Very few genomic resources for octocorals are currently available, hindering such investigations into their adaptive capacity and the implications this may have for effective conservation and mitigation practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The First Genome of the Cold-Water Octocoral, the Pink Sea Fan, Eunicella verrucosa

MacLeod

Paris

Jenkins

et al. 2023

Genome Biology and Evolution

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Cold-water corals form an important part of temperate benthic ecosystems by increasing three-dimensionality and providing an important ecological substrate for other benthic fauna. However, the fragile three-dimensional structure and life-history characteristics of cold-water corals can leave populations vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbance. Meanwhile, the ability of temperate octocorals, particularly shallow-water species, to respond to adjustments in their environment linked to climate change, has not been studied. This study reports the first genome assembly of the pink sea fan (Eunicella verrucosa), a temperate shallow-water octocoral species. We produced an assembly of 467 Mb, comprising 4,277 contigs and an N50 of 250,417 bp. In total, 213 Mb (45.96% of the genome) comprised repetitive sequences. Annotation of the genome using RNAseq data derived from polyp tissue and gorgonin skeleton, resulted in 36,099 protein-coding genes after 90% similarity clustering, capturing 92.2% of the complete BUSCO ortholog benchmark genes. Functional annotation of the proteome using orthology inference identified 25,419 annotated genes. This genome adds to the very few genomic resources currently available in the octocoral community and represents a key step in allowing scientists to investigate the genomic and transcriptomic responses of octocorals to climate change.

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“…This migration will alter the composition at a given locality 25 . As marine protected areas are static in nature due to the legal frameworks of their designation in the UK, any migration of taxa out of the defined protected area would challenge their future 58 . Given that the southern species are forming weaker skeletons, we postulate that they are more prone to breakage than the species from the north of Britain.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most importantly, increased fragmentation will reduce habitat complexity and hence one of the ecosystem functions 61 , threatening protection in SACs 62 . These environmental stressors combined with non-climatic drivers, climate adaptation and mitigation actions in shallow marine habitats, are challenging the future of coralline algal based Marine protected areas 58 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental impacts on the structural integrity of British rhodoliths

Melbourne,

Brodie,

Rayfield

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

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Coralline algae form complex habitats which are biodiversity hotspots. Experimental studies suggest that climate change will decrease coralline algal structural integrity. These experiments, however, lack information on local morphological variability and how much structural change would be needed to threaten habitat formation. Here, using finite element modelling, we assess variability in cellular structure and chemical composition of the carbonate skeleton of four coralline algal species from Britain in contemporary and historical specimens collected over the last 130 years. Cellular and mineral properties are highly variable within species, between sites and through time, with structurally weaker cells in the southern species and contemporary material compared to northern taxa and historical material. Yet, temporal differences in strength were smaller than spatial differences. Our work supports long term experiments which show the adaptation potential of this group. Our results suggest that future anthropogenic climate change may lead to loss of habitat complexity in the south and expansion of structurally weaker southern species into northern sites.

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Are marine protected areas an adaptation measure against climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems? A UK case study

Cited by 10 publications

References 110 publications

Evaluation of fisheries management policies in the alien species-rich Eastern Mediterranean under climate change

Evaluation of fisheries management policies in the alien species-rich Eastern Mediterranean under climate change

The First Genome of the Cold-Water Octocoral, the Pink Sea Fan, Eunicella verrucosa

Environmental impacts on the structural integrity of British rhodoliths

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