Marine Protected Areas

Joachim Claudet, National Center for Scientific Research, USR 3278 CNRS‐EPHE CRIOBE, Perpignan, France

Published online: November 2012

DOI: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0023605

Abstract

Human‐induced disturbance can affect the ecological functioning of coastal areas and reduce the associated goods and services required for human welfare. Major concerns are rising over observed declines in the abundance of particular species as well as reductions in functional diversity and changes in food web structure. As a result, the conservation and restoration of marine biodiversity and functions is a major concern. Marine protected areas are a useful management tool to mitigate some of the human‐induced changes in marine ecosystems. If properly managed and enforced, they can have several ecological, fisheries and socio‐economic benefits. Effects of marine protected areas are variable and context‐dependent but main drivers of change are now known. In recent years, MPA research made several important advances but some questions still remain unresolved.

Key Concepts:

  • Marine protected areas are a useful management tool.

  • Marine protected areas can have ecological, fisheries and socio‐economic benefits.

  • Partial protection confers less ecological benefits than full protection.

  • Effects of marine protected areas mainly depend on their design and age, on the socio‐cultural context in which they are established and on the life history traits of the species targeted by protection.

  • Effective marine protected areas need to be well enforced.

  • The global coverage of marine protected areas is still very low.

Keywords: marine reserve; ecology; economy; fisheries; coastal management; network; ecosystem‐based management; conservation; protection; impact assessment

Figure 1.

Generic zoning in a multiple‐use MPA. Modified from Agardy et al., ; Claudet et al., .
Figure 2.

Role of enforcement levels on the ecological effectiveness of marine protected areas. Response ratios (and 95% confidence intervals) of fish biomass from inside to outside Italian MPAs. At the Italian regional level, no overall positive response in terms of biomass increase is detected in the system of MPAs (n=15). The positive response existing in some well‐enforced MPAs (n=3) is masked by the poor effectiveness of MPAs with medium (n=6) or low (n=6) levels of enforcement. Modified from Guidetti et al., and Claudet et al., .
close

References

Agardy T, Bridgewater P, Crosby MP et al. (2003) Dangerous targets? Unresolved issues and ideological clashes around marine protected areas. Aquatic Conservation‐Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 13: 353–367.

Alban F, Boncoeur J and Roncin N (2011) Assessing the impact of marine protected areas on society's well‐being: An economic perspective. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 226–246. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Alcala AC and Russ GR (2006) No‐take marine reserves and reef fisheries management in the Philippines: A new people power revolution. Ambio 35: 245–254.

Alcala AC, Russ GR, Maypa AP and Calumpong HP (2005) A long‐term, spatially replicated experimental test of the effect of marine reserves on local fish yields. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 62: 98–108.

Babcock RC, Shears NT, Alcala AC et al. (2010) Decadal trends in marine reserves reveal differential rates of change in direct and indirect effects. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18256–18261.

Christie P (2004) Marine protected areas as biological successes and social failures in Southeast Asia. American Fisheries Society Symposium 42: 155–164.

Christie P, Pollnac RB, Oracion EG et al. (2009) Back to basics: An empirical study demonstrating the importance of local‐level dynamics for the success of tropical marine ecosystem‐based management. Coastal Management 37: 349–373.

Claudet J, Guidetti P, Mouillot D, Shears NT and Micheli F (2011) Ecological effects of marine protected areas: conservation, restoration and functioning. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 37–71. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Claudet J, Osenberg CW, Benedetti‐Cecchi L et al. (2008) Marine reserves: size and age do matter. Ecology Letters 11: 481–489.

Claudet J, Osenberg CW, Domenici P et al. (2010) Marine reserves: fish life history and ecological traits matter. Ecological Applications 20: 830–839.

Claudet J, Pelletier D, Jouvenel JY, Bachet F and Galzin R (2006) Assessing the effects of marine protected area (MPA) on a reef fish assemblage in a northwestern Mediterranean marine reserve: identifying community‐based indicators. Biological Conservation 130: 349–369.

Côté IM, Mosqueira I and Reynolds JD (2001) Effects of marine reserve characteristics on the protection of fish populations: a meta‐analysis. Journal of Fish Biology 59: 178–189.

Di Franco A, Bussotti S, Navone A, Panzalis P and Guidetti P (2009) Evaluating effects of total and partial restrictions to fishing on Mediterranean rocky‐reef fish assemblages Marine Ecology Progress Series 387: 275–285.

Gaines SD, White C, Carr MH and Palumbi S (2010) Designing marine reserve networks for both conservation and fisheries management. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18286–18293.

García‐Charton J‐A, Pérez‐Ruzafa Á, Sánchez‐Jerez P et al. (2004) Multi‐scale spatial heterogeneity, habitat structure, and the effect of marine reserves on western Mediterranean rocky reef fish assemblages. Marine Biology 144: 161–182.

Goñi R, Badalamenti F and Tupper M (2011) Effects of marine protected areas on local fisheries: evidence from empirical studies. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 72–98. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Goñi R, Hilborn R, Díaz D, Mallol S and Adlerstein S (2010) Net contribution of spillover from a marine reserve to fishery catches. Marine Ecology Progress Series 400: 233–243.

Goñi R, Quetglas A and Renones O (2006) Spillover of spiny lobsters Palinurus elephas from a marine reserve to an adjoining fishery. Marine Ecology Progress Series 308: 207–219.

Grorud‐Colvert K, Claudet J, Carr M et al. (2011) The assessment of marine reserve networks: guidelines for ecological evaluation. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 293–321. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Grüss A, Kaplan DM and Hart DR (2011) Relative impacts of adult movement, larval dispersal and harvester movement on the effectiveness of reserve networks. PLoS ONE 6: e19960.

Guidetti P, Milazzo M, Bussotti S et al. (2008) Italian marine reserve effectiveness: does enforcement matter? Biological Conservation 141: 699–709.

Guidetti P and Sala E (2007) Community‐wide effects of marine reserves in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series 335: 43–56.

Gulland JA (1974) The Management of Marine Fisheries. Seattle, USA: University of Washington Press.

Halpern BS, Lester SE and McLeod E (2010) Placing marine protected areas onto the ecosystem‐based management seascape. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18312–18317.

Jackson JBC, Kirby MX, Berger WH et al. (2001) Historical overfishing and the recent collapse of coastal ecosystems. Science 293: 629–637.

KPMG Consulting (2000) Economic and Financial Values of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Townsville, Australia: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

Lester SE and Halpern BS (2008) Biological responses in marine no‐take reserves versus partially protected areas. Marine Ecology Progress Series 367: 49–56.

Lester SE, Halpern BS, Grorud‐Colvert K et al. (2009) Biological effects within no‐take marine reserves: a global synthesis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 384: 33–46.

Lloret J, Zaragoza Nr, Caballero D et al. (2008) Spearfishing pressure on fish communities in rocky coastal habitats in a Mediterranean marine protected area. Fisheries Research 94: 84–91.

Lubchenco J, Palumbi SR, Gaines SD and Andelman S (2003) Plugging a hole in the ocean: the emerging science of marine reserves. Ecological Applications 13: S3–S7.

McClanahan TR and Kaunda‐Arara B (1996) Fishery recovery in a coral‐reef marine park and its effect on the adjacent fishery. Conservation Biology 10: 1187–1199.

McClanahan TR and Mangi S (2000) Spillover of exploitable fishes from a marine park and its effects on the adjacent fishery. Ecological Applications 10: 1792–1805.

McLeod E, Salm R, Green A and Almany J (2009) Designing marine protected area networks to address the impacts of climate change. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 7: 362–370.

Micheli F and Halpern BS (2005) Low functional redundancy in coastal marine assemblages. Ecology Letters 8: 391–400.

Micheli F, Halpern BS, Botsford LW and Warner RR (2004) Trajectories and correlates of community change in no‐take marine reserves. Ecological Applications 14: 1709–1723.

Molloy PP, McLean IB and Côté IM (2009) Effects of marine reserve age on fish populations: a global meta‐analysis. Journal of Applied Ecology 46: 743–751.

Mora C (2011) Effectiveness of the global network of marine protected areas. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 334–346. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Mumby PJ, Dahlgren CP, Harborne AR et al. (2006) Fishing, trophic cascades, and the process of grazing on coral reefs. Science 311: 98–101.

Pauly D, Christensen V, Dalsgaard J et al. (1998) Fishing down marine food webs. Science 279: 860–863.

Planes S, Galzin R, Rubies AG et al. (2000) Effects of marine protected areas on recruitment processes with special reference to Mediterranean littoral ecosystems. Environmental Conservation 27: 126–143.

Pollnac R, Christie P, Cinner JE et al. (2010) Marine reserves as linked social‐ecological systems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18262–18265.

Sanchirico JN (2011) Economically optimal spatial and inter‐temporal fishing patterns in a metapopulation. In: Claudet J (ed.) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach, pp. 99–120. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Shears NT and Babcock RC (2003) Continuing trophic cascade effects after 25 years of no‐take marine reserve protection. Marine Ecology Progress Series 246: 1–16.

Shears NT, Babcock RC and Salomon AK (2008) Context‐dependent effects of fishing: variation in trophic cascades across environmental gradients. Ecological Applications 18: 1860–1873.

Stelzenmüller V, Maynou F, Bernard G et al. (2008) Spatial assessment of fishing effort around European marine reserves: implications for successful fisheries management. Marine Pollution Bulletin 56: 2018–2026.

Swain DP, Sinclair AF and Hanson JM (2007) Evolutionary response to size‐selective mortality in an exploited fish population. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 274: 1015–1022.

Walsh MR, Munch SB, Chiba S and Conover DO (2006) Maladaptive changes in multiple traits caused by fishing: impediments to population recovery. Ecology Letters 9: 142–148.

Wood LJ, Fish L, Laughren J and Pauly D (2008) Assessing progress towards global marine protection targets: shortfalls in information and action. Oryx 42: 340–351.

Worm B, Barbier EB, Beaumont N et al. (2006) Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. Science 314: 787–790.

Further Reading

Agardy TS (1997) Marine Protected Areas and Ocean Conservation. Sand Diego, CA: R.G. Landes Company & Academic Press.

Claudet J (ed.) (2011) Marine Protected Areas – A Multidisciplinary Approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Côté IM and Reynolds JD (eds) (2006) Coral Reef Conservation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Gaines SD, Lester SE, Grorud‐Colvert K et al. (2010) Evolving science of marine reserves: new developments and emerging research frontiers. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18251–18255.

Grorud‐Colvert K, Lester SE, Airamé S et al. (2010) Communicating marine reserve science to diverse audiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 107: 18306–18311.

Guidetti P and Claudet J (2010) Co‐management practices enhance fisheries in marine protected areas. Conservation Biology 24: 312–318.

Marinesque S, Kaplan DM and Rodwell LD (2012) Global implementation of marine protected areas: Is the developing world being left behind? Marine Policy 36: 727–737.

Mora C, Myers RA, Coll M et al. (2009) Management Effectiveness of the World's Marine Fisheries. PLoS Biology 7: e1000131.

Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans. (2011) The Science of Marine Reserves (2nd edn, Europe), www.piscoweb.org.

Sale P, Cowen R, Danilowicz B et al. (2005) Critical science gaps impede use of no‐take fishery reserves. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 20: 74–80.

Related Sub-Topics:

Human Impacts | Biomes and Ecosystems | Conservation and Management | Restoration Ecology
Contact Editor close
Submit a note to the editor about this article by filling in the form below.

* Required Field

Article Title: Marine Protected Areas
 
How to Cite close
Claudet, Joachim(Nov 2012) Marine Protected Areas. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1002/9780470015902.a0023605]