Does full protection count for the maintenance of β‐diversity patterns in marine communities? Evidence from Mediterranean fish assemblages

Abstract

1. Although it is widely recognized that protection may enhance size, abundance, and diversity of fish, its effect on spatial heterogeneity of fish assemblages and species turnover is still poorly understood. 2.Here the effect of full protection within a Mediterranean marine protected area on β-diversity patterns of fish assemblages along a depth gradient comparing a no-take zone with multiple unprotected areas is explored. The no-take zone showed significantly higher synecological parameters, higher β-diversity among depths, and lower small-scale heterogeneity of fish assemblages relative to unprotected areas.3. Such patterns might likely depend on the high level of fishing pressure outside the no-take zone, as also abundance-biomass curves seemed to indicate. Results suggested that full protection could play a role in maintaining high β-diversity, thus reducing the fragility of marine communities and ecosystems, and spatial heterogeneity may represent a reliable predictor of how management actions could provide insurance against undesirable phase shifts.

A new approach to assess marine opportunity costs and monetary values-in-use for spatial planning and conservation; the case study of Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, Italy

“…Site (Dufour et al, 1995) 600 m 2 France (North-West Mediterranean sea) (Reñones et al, 1997) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Garcia-Charton and Pérez- Ruzafa, 1998) 250 m 2 Spain (South-West Mediterranean sea) (Garcıá-Charton and Pérez-Ruzafa, 1999) 250 m 2 Spain (South-West Mediterranean sea) (La Mesa and Vacchi, 1999) 250 m 2 Italy (Southern Tyrrhenian sea) (Garcıá-Charton et al, 2000) 250 m 2 France (Guidetti et al, 2001) 125 m 2 Italy (Ionian Sea) (Guidetti et al, 2002) 125 m 2 Italy (South Adriatic Sea) (Letourneur et al, 2003) 40 m 2 France (North-West Mediterranean sea) (Lipej et al, 2003) 100 m 2 Italy (North Adriatic Sea) (La Mesa et al, 2004) 50 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (García-Charton et al, 2004) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Bonaca and Lipej, 2005) 100 m 2 Italy (North Adriatic Sea) (Pérez-Ruzafa et al, 2006) 100 m 2 Spain (West Mediterranean sea) (Azzurro et al, 2007) 125 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (Guidetti et al, 2007) 125 m 2 Italy (North-West Tyrrhenian Sea) (Consoli et al, 2008) 40 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (Vacchi et al, 2009) 250 m 2 Italy-Ustica island (South Tyrrhenian sea) (Bussotti and Guidetti, 2009) 125 m 2 Italy (Ionian Sea) (Coll et al, 2013) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Appolloni et al, 2017) 125 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) Commercial species are considered according to Guidetti et al (2014). When abundances data are recorded in a publication, biomasses are estimated using population size-structure and lengthweight relationship (Froese and Pauly, 2012).…”

“…Nevertheless, many MPAs are inefficient to pursue their own conservation and sustainable objectives. Indeed, relevant sites characterized by high number of species (Appolloni et al, 2017;Di Donato et al, 2006;Russo et al, 2005) or by important species for ecosystem functions (Donnarumma et al, 2018;Fraschetti et al, 2005) are located in areas of partial protection. At the same time, management efforts are often vain since local populations often consider protection policy tools simply linked to biodiversity conservation (Badalamenti et al, 2000).…”

Comparative Analysis of Mollusc Assemblages from Different Hard Bottom Habitats in the Central Tyrrhenian Sea

“…Biodiversity is the first of eleven descriptors that have been chosen for the assessment of the Good Environmental Status (GES) within the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC). It has a pivotal role in terms of ecosystem services and in the supply of goods and services of the investigated coastal habitats [10,[41][42][43]. Therefore, solid biological and ecological knowledge of marine habitats and ecosystems is pivotal, especially in the light of the increasing seawater pollution of coastal zones.…”

A new approach to assess marine opportunity costs and monetary values for spatial planning and conservation; the case study of Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, Italy

“…170 Paper Sampling area Site (Dufour et al, 1995) 600 m 2 France (North-West Mediterranean sea) (Reñones et al, 1997) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Garcia-Charton and Pérez-Ruzafa, 1998) 250 m 2 Spain (South-West Mediterranean sea) (Garcı á-Charton and Pérez-Ruzafa, 1999) 250 m 2 Spain (South-West Mediterranean sea) (La Mesa and Vacchi, 1999) 250 m 2 Italy (Southern Tyrrhenian sea) (Garcı á- Charton et al, 2000) 250 m 2 France (Guidetti et al, 2001) 125 m 2 Italy (Ionian Sea) (Guidetti et al, 2002) 125 m 2 Italy (South Adriatic Sea) (Letourneur et al, 2003) 40 m 2 France (North-West Mediterranean sea) (Lipej et al, 2003) 100 m 2 Italy (North Adriatic Sea) (La Mesa et al, 2004) 50 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (García-Charton et al, 2004) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Bonaca and Lipej, 2005) 100 m 2 Italy (North Adriatic Sea) (Pérez-Ruzafa et al, 2006) 100 m 2 Spain (West Mediterranean sea) (Azzurro et al, 2007) 125 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (Guidetti et al, 2007) 125 m 2 Italy (North-West Tyrrhenian Sea) (Consoli et al, 2008) 40 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea) (Vacchi et al, 2009) 250 m 2 Italy-Ustica island (South Tyrrhenian sea) (Bussotti and Guidetti, 2009) 125 m 2 Italy (Ionian Sea) (Coll et al, 2013) 250 m 2 Balearic (West Mediterranean sea) (Appolloni et al, 2017) 125 m 2 Italy (Centre Mediterranean Sea)…”