The ocean is, with its extraordinary ability to regulate the climate and absorb carbon dioxide, a vital ecosystem for all life on the planet. Moreover, the ocean is highly important for coastal communities as a source of income and nutrition, and as a consequence of increasing dependence it is becoming more significant to mitigate the effects of these anthropogenic activities on the ocean and its resources. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are one of the policies implemented in order to diminish these impacts through the protection of high biodiversity areas by safeguarding nursing grounds for fish species, help remove excessive pollutants and nutrients and through the provision of more sustainable tourism and recreation opportunities. This thesis explores how MPAs influence coastal zones by assessing the environmental and economic impacts. Addo Elephant National Park Marine Protected Area (ANEP MPA) has, due to the complexity of this social-ecological system, been used as a case study. The thesis will help relevant stakeholders to gain an understanding of the current progress being made and how the effectiveness of the MPA can be further improved. Furthermore, this thesis could be used as an example on how to balance environmental and economic development agendas in coastal communities. During this research, a case study design was used, where data was collected through ten in-depth interviews. During the interviews, the participants’ perceptions where gathered on how the establishment of the MPA has impacted the marine life, the local activities (marine tourism, fishing and ship-to-ship bunkering (STSB)) and the local environmental awareness. Afterwards, the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings have shown that the establishment of the MPA has mixed results on the marine life and the local activities, which has led to a deficiency in the effectiveness of Addo Elephant National Park MPA. The local environmental awareness appeared to be too small, but whether or not the MPA contributed to growing awareness could not be said from the data alone. The data concluded that this lack of awareness led to a misuse of ocean resources, which aggravated due to a lack of enforcement. Furthermore, the overall enforcement within the MPA should be improved to enlarge the effectiveness of Addo Elephant National Park MPA.

Den europeiska hummern är en art som lever på flera olika platser runt om Europa. Bestånden för den europeiska hummern som lever i Sverige har varit på nedåt gående trend sedan 1969-talet. Överfiske och klimatförändringarna indikerar vara en av de bidragande faktorerna till varför detta sker. Marine protected areas är forskningplatser som eliminerar eller minimerar fisket av hummern för att undersöka hur ett begränsat fiske påverkar bestånden. Resultatet för hur Marine proteced areas gynnar hummerbestånden visar sig vara goda på det platser där det är implementerade. En ökning av ”catch per unite effort” var återkommande på flertalet av studierna och en ökade tillväxt för hummern visade sig vara gynnsam inom området. Ökade temperaturer och förhöjt pCO2 är ett resultat av att klimatet förändras och dessa faktorer påverkar hummerns tillväxt, metabolism och överlevnad. Ökade temperaturer är speciellt känsligt för humrar i tidigt juvenila stadier då det är som mest känsliga. Vidare under utvecklingen behöver inte förhöjda temperatur bidra med ökad dödlighet om temperaturen inte överstiger 22 ℃. Ett ökat pCO2 ger hummern ökade metabolism och syrekonsumtion, detta leder till att utvecklingstiden accelererar för hummern men detta sker på bekostnad av tillväxten för hummer i ett senare stadie vilket i sin tur kan leda till ökad dödlighet. Hummern är i behov av hårdare fiskeregleringar alternativ flera zoner med begränsat fiske för att återfå stabila bestånd och klimatförändringarna kommer påverka bestånden.

No description available.

One of the biggest questions surrounding common-pool natural resources (CPRs) lies in understanding the circumstances which increase the likelihood of sustainable use and those that lead to resource degradation. Small-scale fisheries are an example of a CPR that has proven difficult to manage sustainably. I use social network analysis methods to examine the social connectivity of small-scale fishing communities and the association of network structures with collaborative behavior of small-scale fisheries in the Northern Gulf of California, Mexico.I found considerable connectivity of communities via kinship ties of small-scale fishers, both within the region and to other areas in Mexico. Fisher kinship relationships are important mechanisms for information transfer. Identifying communities in the network that are most likely to share information with other communities allows managers to develop more effective and efficient education, outreach, and enforcement efforts.Communities are also connected by their use of the same fishing zones and Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). My results provide suggestions for dividing communities based on common use of fishing areas and MPAs. This may help fishers and managers to develop, implement, and enforce boundary rules that will facilitate regional management of small-scale fisheries. My results provided mixed evidence for the role of social structure in impacting positive outcomes for fisher' ability to collaborate and organize. A wide range of factors affect the emergence of institutions for CPR management. Similarly, finding a common network structure that can accurately predict sustainable use of CPRs is unlikely. Knowing how people are connected and the ways in which information about CPR resources moves through (or is hindered from moving through) a network can improve manager's ability to develop more effective strategies and actions. Adding social networks into the CPR management toolbox provides a mechanism by which those working in management and conservation can incorporate social structure into management activities.An understanding of the social networks that connect communities and the potential pathways for information transfer, combined with a system of enforceable rules and policies and effective outreach methods and materials, may help managers and resource users more effectively and sustainably manage CPRs in the long term.

Protected Areas (PAs) are one effective means to address biodiversity loss. Unfortunately, the history of PA establishment includes forced removal of people from lands that become parks and restrictions on access and use of lands and waters by local people. Relationships between PA managers, stakeholders, including local people, remain in many instances, difficult. This challenges the ability to create new PAs in Canada, where consent by local residents and other stakeholders is critical for PA establishment. This research examines governance of PAs as a means to improve relationships between PA authorities and local communities. Determining how much power communities wish to have over decision-making and their preferred methods for sharing power permits greater understanding of how to build relationships with communities, stakeholders and partners that are respectful, trustworthy and sustainable. Pukaskwa National Park and Lake Superior National Marine Conservation Area (NMCA) both in Northwestern, Ontario on the North Shore of Lake Superior, were studied along with their relationships to the nearby communities of Marathon and Terrace Bay, respectively. Pukaskwa, has been present on the landscape for over thirty years, while Lake Superior NMCA is in the process of establishment. The proximity of the PAs to each other and the communities to the PAs, along with the evolution of the respective guiding legislations, offered uniquely complex circumstances to investigate. A mixed methods approach to the research was employed involving the analysis of 190 community surveys and oral interviews with members of Town Councils from both communities. Few studies in Canada have examined governance of PAs and no study has examined governance of federally PAs in Northern Ontario. The results indicate that residents of the communities of Marathon and Terrace Bay, support the purposes of the PAs and multiple means of communicating with them about decisions made about the PAs. Clearly favouring the involvement of local people in decision-making about the PAs, respondents also recognized the importance of involving PA staff and scientists in decision-making. Visitors to Pukaskwa were also found to be important to decision-making. The findings further show that community members are resolute that Parks Canada have some control over decision-making. Marathon residents are comfortable with less collaboration and power sharing with Parks Canada than are residents of Terrace Bay. The results are sentinel to achieving approaches to citizen involvement in decision-making about PAs in ways that are meaningful to local residents. Achieving local support for PAs secures an option for governments to use that is critical to addressing biodiversity loss, important for improving human health and maintaining society’s connection to nature. / Graduate

It is widely agreed that marine protected areas (MPAs), which can provide long-term protection to marine ecosystems of high ecological, economic, social and cultural value, will only be successful if they are designed and implemented with the involvement and support of stakeholders and other key actors. Putting a collaborative approach into practice is not easy, though. Appropriate governance structures, which formalize and facilitate information sharing, consensus building, and decision making are necessary, but insufficient. Also needed is a shared interest on the part of all groups – beginning with MPA agencies themselves – to work together, notwithstanding the often considerable investments of time, effort and material resources that are required. Perhaps most fundamentally, effective collaboration depends on trust, and strong interpersonal relationships. Consistent with a global trend in favour of more inclusive and participatory approaches to protected area planning and management, Canada’s federal government has set out to develop a national system of MPAs in cooperation with a broad array of interest groups, including marine resource users and other stakeholders; government actors with responsibilities and authorities for oceans activities that relate to the objectives of MPAs; and Aboriginal communities and organizations within whose territories MPAs are situated. The overarching goal of the study was to understand the extent to which federal MPAs in British Columbia (BC), Canada, are established collaboratively, and what is required to overcome obstacles to successful collaboration. This goal was pursued through an in-depth investigation of two MPA planning processes in BC: the proposed Race Rocks MPA, at the southern tip of Vancouver Island; and the Gwaii Haanas National Marine Conservation Area Reserve and Haida Heritage Site, in the Haida Gwaii archipelago. Data for the study was collected through semi-structured interviews; documentary research; and a participant questionnaire. The study found that, while MPA agencies engaged with outside parties in a variety of ways to plan Race Rocks and Gwaii Haanas, these processes fell short of expectations for genuine collaboration in a number of respects. In the case of Race Rocks, this has resulted in the failure (for a second time) to designate the MPA. The dissertation illuminates the challenges and shortcomings that were encountered in both cases, and offers practical solutions to address them. / Graduate / 0366 / pipakins@gmail.com

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:12:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2006-Omar Souza Nicolau.pdf: 2729935 bytes, checksum: eb8a202ed2c7218ce40017550b9ec376 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-09-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This work aims to present environmental issues that emerged in Caravelas between 2002 and 2006. Two proposals are being dispute in the city: the establishment of a protected area of sustainable use versus a large shrimp farming project. These two enterprises are proposed within the same area, thus unabling the realization of both. Within this scenario, different local agents made efforts to mobilize the local community in order to support one or another proposal. This dissertation is a narrative on these agent s efforts, also evaluating their actions on truth disputes in place. These different agents, with include representatives from local municipal government, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the environmental federal agency (Ibama) and local traders, disposed themselves to mobilized the local community, lead to a situation of opposition: each action from one group of agents led to a reaction from the opposite group, forming a complex dynamics of reactive actions. This dispute grows up to involving other agents, such as representatives of the Federal Senate, State Government of Bahia, State Government of Esp?rito Santo, Public Prosecutor Bureau and local and the local and regional media. Futhermore, my insertion as a reasercher and, at the same time, activist from one of the two disputing permeate this study, influencing the narrative presented herein. / Este trabalho pretende apresentar as quest?es ambientais que se revelaram em Caravelas entre os anos de 2002 e 2006. H? duas propostas em disputa no munic?pio: a de uma Unidade de Conserva??o de Uso Sustentado; e outra, um mega-projeto de carcinicultura. A ?rea de ambos os empreendimentos se sobrep?em inviabilizando a realiza??o concomitante dos dois projetos. Neste cen?rio, diferentes agentes locais envidaram esfor?os para a mobiliza??o da comunidade caravelense para ades?o de uma ou outra proposta. A disserta??o narra o esfor?o dos agentes nesse processo, avaliando as a??es impetradas pelos mesmos na disputa pelas verdades que ora se encontram em jogo. Estes diferentes agentes, que incluem desde o poder p?blico municipal, ONGs de cunho ambientalista, Ibama at? comerciantes locais, se dispuseram a contribuir na mobiliza??o comunit?ria que se edificou e se comp?s em oposi??o: a cada dispositivo acionado por um grupo de agentes, impunha uma atua??o em resposta do outro grupo polarizado, constituindo uma din?mica complexa de a??es reativas. Esta disputa avan?a e se amplia envolvendo outros agentes tais como o Senado Federal, O governo do Estado da Bahia, do esp?rito Santo, o Minist?rio P?blico Estadual e Federal, a m?dia local e de outros estados. Ademais, a minha inser??o como pesquisador e ao mesmo tempo militante de um dos p?los da disputa tamb?m permeia todo o trabalho, explicitando as dificuldades e oportunidades que o fazer do trabalho acad?mico e a a??o pol?tica influenciaram mutuamente na produ??o da disserta??o.

[Truncated abstract] The extent to which marine populations are connected by larval dispersal is crucial to their distribution, maintenance and diversity. Thus, for the effective conservation of threatened systems such as coral reefs, understanding patterns of connectivity is essential. However, the biophysical mechanisms that retain or disperse larvae within and among populations are poorly understood. Though the open ocean environment provides the opportunity for long-distance dispersal, if this potential is only rarely realised, recruits produced from afar are unlikely to contribute to the local-scale demography of populations over ecological time frames, but will limit broad-scale genetic diversification over evolutionary time. This thesis explores the extent of genetic and demographic connectivity of two species of reef-building corals over a range of spatial scales among the discontinuous reef systems of northwest Australia. ... Putative source and sink dynamics were not random, but were associated with levels of disturbance and recovery from a recent and catastrophic coral bleaching. When S. hystrix samples from another two offshore systems were included in the analysis, large differences among systems showed that gene flow over hundreds of kilometres is rare over microevolutionary time scales that account for connections over multiple generations. Levels of subdivision over the same spatial scales were markedly lower in the acroporid coral, Acropora tenuis, than in S. hystrix. These results are congruent with expectations based on reproductive mode; in contrast to S. hystrix, which releases brooded larvae that are competent to settle immediately, A. tenuis broadcasts its gametes, and after external fertilisation, the larvae need to develop for several days before they are competent to settle. Despite the differences in levels of broad-scale subdivision, in both species significant differentiation was detected between reefs within systems (>10 km), and between sites within some reefs (< 10 km). These results indicate not only that dispersal between reefs and even some reef patches is restricted, but also that hydrodynamics influence retention of brooded and spawned larvae in similar ways. Further analysis of A. tenuis populations from two coastal systems detected significant differences in genetic diversity among the four major systems of northwest Australia. Additionally, genetic divergence between the coastal and offshore zones was greater than expected by the geographic separation of systems, indicating that connectivity between these zones via transport of A. tenuis larvae on oceanic currents occurs rarely even over microevolutionary time scales. This study has two primary implications for conservation. First, since coastal and offshore reefs of northwest Australia appear to be discrete genetic entities, they have independent evolutionary potential to adapt to local conditions and environmental change. Second, systems, reefs and some reef patches of northwest Australia are demographically independent units. Therefore, designs of coral reserve networks should consider routine dispersal distances of kilometres to a few tens of kilometres.

Chronic anthropogenic disturbance has left many marine systems at risk of degrading into undesirable states. In many cases, ecosystem shifts are triggered by catastrophic disturbance events that are beyond the control of local management, such as coral bleaching or cyclones. Recognition of this risk has instigated what has been referred to as a new paradigm for marine stewardship; managing areas with the explicit goal of maintaining ecosystem resilience. Despite this, there has been little synthetic influence of resilience theory on marine conservation planning. This thesis focuses on how to make good decisions regarding the selection of marine protected areas (MPAs), in the face of catastrophic disturbance events and for the conservation of highly dynamic marine systems. Large-scale catastrophic events, although rare, lie generally beyond the control of local management and can prevent marine reserves from achieving biodiversity outcomes. In Chapter 2, I formulate a new conservation planning problem that aims to minimize the probability of missing marine conservation targets as result of catastrophic events. To illustrate this approach, I address the problem of minimizing the impact of large scale coral bleaching events on a reserve system for the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. By explicitly considering the threat of catastrophic bleaching as part of the reserve design problem, it was possible to substantially improve the likely persistence of coral reefs within reserve networks, for a negligible increase in reserve cost. The results also demonstrate that simply aiming to protect the reefs at lowest risk of catastrophic bleaching does not necessarily lead to the best conservation outcomes. It is thought that recovery of marine habitats from uncontrollable disturbance may be faster in marine reserves than in unprotected habitats. But which marine habitats should be protected, those areas at greatest risk or those at least risk? In Chapter 3, I define this problem mathematically for two alternate conservation objectives and determine under which conditions each of the different protection strategies are optimal. With regard to the risk of uncontrollable disturbance, the optimal protection strategy depends on both the conservation objective and the expected rate of habitat recovery inside and outside protected areas. I illustrate this decision making with an example of cyclone disturbance of coral reefs on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. An adequate consideration of risk can indicate surprising routes to conservation success. The resilience of coral reef systems is closely linked to the presence of grazing herbivores. Although herbivore populations are generally protected through permanent static reserves, the benefits of protection are dynamic in both time and space. Periodically moving protection between reefs allows access to the greatest potential benefits of reservation and can help address social reluctance to permanently close areas. Using analytic methods to solve a theoretical case study, I demonstrate that periodically rotating protection around a reef system can lead to greater average reef resilience than under static protection, but only if the overall level of reservation is high enough or the rotation does not include all reefs in the system. The past ten years have seen increasing enthusiasm for MPAs as a tool for pelagic conservation. However, numerous criticisms have been levelled against the use of place-based management in such a dynamic environment. Evidence, tools and information to address these criticisms and establish the feasibility and relevance of pelagic MPAs are dispersed across the conservation, oceanography and fisheries management literature. In Chapter 5, I review this information and present a synthetic framework for systematic planning of pelagic MPAs. Although many of the lessons learned so far about MPA design in coastal systems can be transferred to pelagic systems, there are some fundamental differences and new challenges involved in the conservation of patchy and highly dynamic resources. These challenges are very much at the leading edge of new conservation science and are likely to stimulate solutions with impact far beyond the design of pelagic MPAs.

Submitted by Carlos Augusto Rolim da Silva Junior (carlos_jrolim@hotmail.com) on 2015-11-24T14:47:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2619104 bytes, checksum: de044ad4f4b291e30f7248f5a0b7e155 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-11-24T14:47:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2619104 bytes, checksum: de044ad4f4b291e30f7248f5a0b7e155 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-01-20 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Reefs ecosystems have high biological diversity, but they have suffered many impacts resulting from human activities. These anthropogenic stressors may promote particular impacts on reef benthic communities, which are often structured by sessile organisms. Thus, knowledge about the community structure of phytobenthos have been used as the basis for the assessment of environmental impacts in many marine environments. In the case of reefs, changes in nutrient concentrations, as well as overfishing, have been described as the greatest responsible for the damages to the structure of this ecosystem. Thus, several studies have been conducted in order to better understand the role of herbivory and nutrient enrichment on the structure of seaweed communities. In this context, the present study was to analyze the patterns of colonization and succession of the phytobenthos, as well as the influence of herbivory, especially the reef fish on these processes. Thus, this study was divided into two chapters, the first being: "Assessment of patterns of colonization and succession of the phytobenthos in reef communities in Paraíba coast." The assay used artificial substrates, and was conducted within the boundaries of a marine reserve (Parque Estadual Marinho de Areia VermelhaPEMAV) and an adjacent location that has similar biotic characteristics; and showed that the colonization of different groups over time is probably related with biological characteristics of the species (life cycle, morphological structure and reproductive strategies). The second chapter, entitled " The influence of herbivorous fish species on patterns of colonization and succession of phytobenthos in reef ecosystems," indicates that the group of herbivores did not affect the structure of the phytobenthos community present in PEMAV, a situation which is possibly related to overfishing and degradation of the coastal reefs in Paraíba, which alter the structure of the fish and phytobenthic communities. / Os recifes formam ecossistemas que apresentam grande diversidade biológica e, no entanto, têm sofrido diversos impactos, resultantes de ações antrópicas. Estes estressores antropogênicos podem promover um impacto especial sobre as comunidades bentônicas dos recifes, que quase sempre são estruturadas por organismos sésseis. Desta forma, conhecimentos a respeito da estrutura das comunidades de fitobentos têm sido utilizados como base para a avaliação de impactos ambientais em muitos ambientes marinhos. No caso dos recifes, as alterações nas concentrações de nutrientes, assim como a sobrepesca, têm sido apontados como os maiores responsáveis pelo comprometimento da estrutura desse ecossistema. Assim, diversos estudos têm sido conduzidos com o propósito de compreender melhor o papel da herbivoria e do enriquecimento de nutrientes na estrutura das comunidades de algas marinhas. Neste contexto, o presente estudo se propôs a analisar os padrões de colonização e sucessão do macrofitobentos, bem como a influência da herbivoria, em especial pela ictiofauna, sobre esses processos. Desta forma, o presente trabalho foi dividido em dois capítulos, sendo o primeiro: “Avaliação dos padrões de colonização e sucessão do macrofitobentos em comunidades recifais do litoral paraibano”. O ensaio utilizou substratos artificiais e foi conduzido dentro dos limites de uma reserva marinha (O Parque Estadual Marinho de Areia Vermelha-PEMAV) e numa localidade adjacente que apresenta características bióticas semelhantes; e evidenciou que a colonização e sucessão dos diferentes grupos ao longo do tempo provavelmente está relacionada às características biológicas das espécies (ciclo de vida, estrutura morfológica e estratégias reprodutivas). Já o segundo capítulo, intitulado “A influência da ictoufauna herbívora sobre os padrões de colonização e sucessão do macrofitobentos em ecossistemas recifais”, verificou que o grupo dos herbívoros não atuou de maneira a afetar a estrutura da comunidade do macrofitobentos presente no PEMAV, o que provavelmente está relacionado à degradação dos recifes costeiros paraibanos, que acaba por alterar a estrutura das comunidades ícticas e fitobentônicas.