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Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features
Citation
Edgar, GJ and Stuart-Smith, RD and Willis, TJ and Kininmonth, SJ and Baker, SC and Banks, S and Barrett, NS and Becerro, MA and Bernard, ATF and Berkhout, J and Buxton, CD and Campbell, SJ and Cooper, AT and Davey, M and Edgar, SC and Forsterra, G and Galvan, DE and Irigoyen, AJ and Kushner, DJ and Moura, R and Parnell, PE and Shears, NT and Soler, G and Strain, EMA and Thomson, RJ, Global conservation outcomes depend on marine protected areas with five key features, Nature, 506, (7487) pp. 216-220. ISSN 0028-0836 (2014) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2014 Macmillan Publishers Limited.
Abstract
In line with global targets agreed under the Convention on Biological
Diversity, the number of marine protected areas (MPAs) is increasing
rapidly, yet socio-economic benefits generated by MPAs remain
difficult to predict and under debate. MPAs often fail to reach their
full potential as a consequence of factors such as illegal harvesting,
regulations that legally allow detrimental harvesting, or emigration
of animals outside boundaries because of continuous habitat or
inadequate size of reserve. Here we show that the conservation
benefits of 87 MPAs investigated worldwide increase exponentially
with the accumulation of five key features: no take, well enforced,
old (>10 years), large (>100km2), and isolated by deep water or sand.
Using effective MPAs with four or five key features as an unfished
standard, comparisons of underwater survey data from effective MPAs
with predictions based on survey data from fished coasts indicate
that total fish biomass has declined about two-thirds from historical
baselines as a result of fishing. Effective MPAs also had twice as many
large (>250mm total length) fish species per transect, five times more
large fish biomass, and fourteen times more shark biomass than
fished areas. Most (59%) of the MPAs studied had only one or two
key features and were not ecologically distinguishable from fished
sites. Our results show that global conservation targets based on
area alone will not optimize protection of marine biodiversity. More
emphasis is needed on better MPA design, durable management
and compliance to ensure that MPAs achieve their desired conservation
value.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
| Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
| Objective Field: | Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems |
| UTAS Author: | Edgar, GJ (Professor Graham Edgar) |
| UTAS Author: | Stuart-Smith, RD (Dr Rick Stuart-Smith) |
| UTAS Author: | Kininmonth, SJ (Dr Stuart Kininmonth) |
| UTAS Author: | Baker, SC (Dr Sue Baker) |
| UTAS Author: | Barrett, NS (Associate Professor Neville Barrett) |
| UTAS Author: | Berkhout, J (Mr Just Berkhout) |
| UTAS Author: | Buxton, CD (Professor Colin Buxton) |
| UTAS Author: | Cooper, AT (Miss Antonia Cooper) |
| UTAS Author: | Davey, M (Dr Marlene Davey) |
| UTAS Author: | Soler, G (Mr German Soler Alarcon) |
| UTAS Author: | Strain, EMA (Dr Beth Strain) |
| UTAS Author: | Thomson, RJ (Dr Russell Thomson) |
| ID Code: | 89277 |
| Year Published: | 2014 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 808 |
| Deposited By: | Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration |
| Deposited On: | 2014-02-27 |
| Last Modified: | 2021-01-28 |
| Downloads: | 1,496 View Download Statistics |
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