Coral reef ecosystems are some of the most biologically diverse systems in the world, and provide a number of ecosystem services that humans depend on for their wellbeing. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a social-ecological intervention that while conserving these ecosystems, also have significant impacts on the communities that depend on them for their wellbeing. Community-based MPAs are growing in popularity with the assumption that by putting communities at the forefront of their planning and management, more participation will occur, ensuring positive social and ecological impacts. This study, through mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, examines two community-based MPAs in coastal Kenya (called tengefus) to understand how each tengefu was incepted, and how resource users perceive the impacts of the tengefu on ecosystem services and human wellbeing. Participation in and donor support for the tengefu were found to influence how resource users perceived impacts. Individuals who were more engaged in the project or held some type of leadership position perceived more positive impacts on ecosystem services and human wellbeing compared to those not involved. In the two cases, tangible benefits (e.g. fisheries spillover and ecotourism) from the marine enclosure itself are too few to benefit the community as a whole. For tengefus to be social successes, more attention should be given to engaging all resource-dependent community members in their planning, implementation and management, and to understanding the multifaceted role of donor funding in supporting these initiatives.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate tourism capacity, the effectiveness of the management plan and the visitors’ willingness to pay (WTP) for increased conservation effort in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park (BRMP) in Tobago. Non-market contingent valuation was applied to estimate tourists’ WTP, using the data from a survey of 164 tourists. Local residents and government agencies were consulted to evaluate the management plan and the tourism capacity. Eighty-eight percent of local residents stated that the park was not well managed and that they lacked trust in the park agency. The density of tourists was 67-97% more than socially acceptable crowding norm. The tourists were willing to pay an additional entry fee of US$11.72 per person, which would generate additional revenue for the park management. In conclusion, the BRMP management needs modification in order to increase stakeholders’ trust, reduce tourists crowding intensity, and generate additional user-based revenue.

Les Aires Marines Protégées (AMPs) sont reconnues comme des outils efficaces de conservation et de gestion des ressources. L'efficacité des AMPs, définie comme le degré d'accomplissement de leurs objectifs, est très variable. Certaines caractéristiques des AMPs (âge) expliquent une partie de cette variabilité, mais une autre partie reste encore inexpliquée. En appliquant la Science de l’Organisation (OS, discipline qui étudie l’organisation) aux AMPs, d'autres facteurs qui affectent l'efficacité de la gestion pourraient être détectés. Les objectifs de ce manuscrit sont : 1) évaluer l'efficacité des AMPs méditerranéennes, 2) explorer l'application des OS aux AMPs, 3) utiliser la OS pour l'évaluation des caractéristiques de l'organisation des AMPs, la performance (qui est le niveau d'effort exercé pour atteindre les objectifs) et l'efficacité. Les données écologiques et organisationnelles des AMPs méditerranéennes ont été collectées dans la littérature scientifique et grise, et par des questionnaires. Les résultats montrent que les AMPs méditerranéennes sont efficaces, malgré que la variabilité de nos résultats n’ait été que partiellement expliquée. Notre approche utilisant la OS pour les AMPs n’a pas été appliquée auparavant. Notre tentative d'incorporer la OS dans le contexte des AMPs est ainsi originale. Les résultats montrent une hétérogénéité organisationnelle des AMPs méditerranéennes. Dans les AMPs étudiées, la performance était faible, avec des relations entre des variables organisationnelles et l'efficacité des AMPs. Cette recherche constitue une avancée pour améliorer l'efficacité des AMPs, qui aura de multiples répercussions écologiques, sociales et politiques. / Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are recognized as tools for conservation and resource management purposes. MPA management effectiveness, i.e. the degree of achievement of MPA goals, is highly variable. Some MPA features (e.g. age) partially explain such variability, but part of it still remains unexplained. Other factors affecting MPA management effectiveness could be detected by applying the Organization Science (OS, discipline that studies the organizations) to MPAs. The objectives of this manuscript are to 1) assess the management effectiveness of Mediterranean MPAs, 2) explore the application of OS in MPA context, 3) use the OS framework for the assessment of MPA organizational features, management performance (i.e. the level of effort exerted to achieve MPA goals) and effectiveness. Ecological and organizational data on Mediterranean MPAs were collected through questionnaires, and from peer-reviewed and grey literature. Results show that Mediterranean MPAs are effective, but the overall variability of our outcomes was only partially explained. No previous studies applied the OS framework to MPAs. Our attempt to incorporate the OS framework in the MPA context is, therefore, novel. Results show a significant heterogeneity of Mediterranean MPAs from an organizational point of view. The studied MPAs displayed a generally low management performance, with relationships between some organizational variables and the MPA management effectiveness. The present research is an important step forward to improve MPA management effectiveness, which has multiple ecological, social and political implications.

Due to degrading marine environments and loss of biological diversity, marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly utilized to protect living marine resources. Unfortunately, effective management of these areas is often held back by conflicts between conservation and user interests, together with the limited knowledge on the functioning of marine ecosystems. As a way of reducing tensions and closing knowledge-gaps, collaborative arrangements between stakeholders and decision-makers are increasingly sought and comprised into policy guiding the establishment of MPAs. Despite the rising scholarly interest in these matters, little has been written about whether the commitments to collaboration expressed in policy are fulfilled in practice. Pursuing this question, the purpose of this thesis is to examine the resemblance between policy and practice in the context of collaboration between decision-makers and stakeholders during the establishment of MPAs. A case study of the Swedish Skånska Kattegatt, a marine protected area on the west coast of Sweden, reveals a discrepancy between policy and practice during the early stages of the process, regarding the construction of the knowledge base of the decision. The study identifies a possible cause to be lacking resources at the County administrative board responsible for the establishment, a crucial aspect to which more attention needs to be directed in similar, future settings.

No description available.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasing in popularity as a tool to manage fish stocks through conservation of entire habitats and fish assemblages. Quantifying the habitat use, site fidelity, and movement patterns of marine species is vital to this method of marine spatial planning. The success of these protected areas requires that sufficient habitat is guarded against fishing pressure. For large animals, which often have correspondingly large home range areas, protecting an entire home range can be logistically challenging. For MPAs to successfully protect large top predator species, it is important to understand what areas of a home range are especially important, such as breeding and feeding grounds. New technologies, such as acoustic telemetry, have made it possible to track marine animal movements at finer spatial and temporal scales than previously possible, better illuminating these spatial use patterns. This study focused on the movement patterns of great barracuda (n=35), an ecologically important top predator, around Buck Island Reef National Monument, a no-take MPA in St. Croix, U.S.V.I. managed by the National Park Service. As developing standardized methods for acoustic telemetry is still a work in progress, the first half of this study focuses on determining appropriate tools for generating home range size estimates for great barracuda and analyzing ecological parameters driving these results. The second half of this study focused on the use of network analysis to look at spatial divisions within individual home ranges and to compare individual to population level spatial patterns, as well as to generate a relative estimate of population density within the park. Barracuda within the park demonstrated high site fidelity to individual territories, but at the population level they consistently used all habitats within the array. Core use areas within home ranges were evenly distributed throughout all habitats monitored by the acoustic array, although movement corridors were detected along high rugosity reef structures. Greater population densities within the park indicate that density dependent behaviors may be influencing habitat use within the park, and suggest that barracuda are contributing high levels of top down pressure through predation within the park boundaries.

Seabirds are wide-ranging apex-predators and useful bio-indicators of marine systems. Nevertheless, changes are occurring in the marine environment, and seabirds require protection from the deleterious effects of climate change, fisheries, pollution, offshore development, introduced predators and invasive species. The UK supports internationally important populations of seabirds but also has vast wind and wave resources, therefore understanding how seabirds use the marine environment is vital in order to quantify the potential consequences of further exploiting these resources. In this thesis I first describe the range of wave energy converting devices operational or in development in the UK, and review the potential threats and benefits these developments may have for marine birds. I then synthesise data from colony-based surveys with detailed information on population dynamics, foraging ecology and near-colony behaviour, to develop a projection model that identifies important at-sea areas for breeding seabirds. These models show a positive spatial correlation with one of the most intensive at-sea seabird survey datasets, and provide qualitatively similar findings to existing tracking data. This approach has the potential to identify overlap with offshore energy developments, and could be developed to suit a range of species or whole communities and provide a theoretical framework for the study of factors such as colony size regulation. The non-breeding period is a key element of the annual cycle of seabirds and conditions experienced during one season may carry-over to influence the next. Understanding behaviour throughout the annual cycle has implications for both ecological theory and conservation. Bio-logging can provide detailed information on movements away from breeding colonies, and the analysis of stable isotope ratios in body tissues can provide information on foraging during the non-breeding period. I combine these two approaches to describe the migration strategies of northern gannets Morus bassanus breeding at two colonies in the north-west Atlantic, revealing a high degree of both winter site fidelity and dietary consistency between years. These migratory strategies also have carry-over effects with consequences for both body condition and timing of arrival on the breeding grounds. Finally, I investigate the threats posed to seabirds and other marine predators during the non-breeding period by collating information on the distributions of five different species of apex predator wintering in the Northwest African upwelling region. I describe the threat of over-fishing and fisheries bycatch to marine vertebrates in this region, and highlight the need for pelagic marine protected areas to adequately protect migratory animals throughout the annual cycle. In summary, the combination of colony-based studies, bio-logging, stable isotope analysis and modelling techniques can provide a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between individuals and the marine environment over multiple spatial and temporal scales.

Les aires marines protégées (AMPs), soulèvent un intérêt croissant pour leur capacité à améliorer la conservation des ressources marines et, potentiellement, les captures des pêcheries au travers de l'export de poissons et de larves vers les zones pêchées. Des lacunes importantes subsistent dans nos connaissances des impacts du mouvement des poissons sur le fonctionnement des AMPs, et sur la manière dont les AMPs protégeant les populations de poissons modérément à fortement mobiles pourraient être efficaces sans être extrêmement larges. Différents modèles sont utilisés ici afin de combler ces lacunes de connaissances. Tout d'abord, un modèle conceptuel a été développé afin d'explorer les impacts du mouvement des poissons sur l'efficacité des AMPs comparativement à ceux de la dispersion larvaire. Les résultats de ce modèle démontrent que le mouvement des poissons a un impact négatif plus fort sur la persistance d'une population dans les réseaux d'AMPs que la dispersion larvaire. La redistribution de l'effort de pêche anciennement dans les AMPs et la concentration des pêcheurs en bordure d'AMPs réduisent de façon significative la persistance et les captures des populations se dispersant dans le stade adulte, tandis qu'elles n'ont qu'un effet marginal pour les populations se dispersant dans le stade larvaire. Deux modèles appliqués ont été ensuite développés afin d'examiner les impacts des AMPs protégeant des fractions spécifiques de populations migratrices. Un modèle spatialement explicite a été utilisé afin d'étudier les effets des AMPs pour deux populations de merlus sud africaines effectuant des migrations ontogéniques. Les résultats de ce modèle montrent que les AMPs ciblant les juvéniles entraînent une augmentation considérable de la biomasse féconde. Cette augmentation de biomasse conduit à une amélioration des captures de certaines, mais pas de toutes les flottes de pêche. Un modèle par recrue est utilisé afin d'évaluer les effets des AMPs pour les populations récifales effectuant des migrations pour former des agrégations de ponte transitoires. L'application de ce modèle à deux populations de poissons des Seychelles révèle que les AMPs protégeant les agrégations de ponte augmentent le potentiel reproductif des poissons en général, mais pas les captures par recrue. / Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly considered for their ability to improve species conservation and, potentially, fisheries yields via the export of fish and larvae to fished areas. Critical knowledge gaps remain on the impacts of fish movement for MPA functioning and on how MPAs protecting moderately to highly mobile populations may be effective without being extremely large. Here, different models are used to address these knowledge gaps. First, a conceptual model was developed to explore the impacts of fish movement versus larval dispersal on MPA effectiveness. Results demonstrate that fish movement has a stronger negative impact on population persistence in MPA networks than larval dispersal. Redistribution of the fishing effort formerly in MPAs and concentration of fishers on MPA borders dramatically reduce persistence and yields for mobile populations, while they marginally change results for populations with dispersing larvae. Two applied models examining the effects of MPAs targeting specific fractions of migratory populations were then developed. A spatially-explicit model was used to study the effects of MPAs on two South African hake populations undergoing ontogenetic migrations. Results show that MPAs targeting juveniles considerably increase hake spawning biomass. This increase in biomass improves the yields of some, but not all fishing fleets. A per-recruit model was used to assess MPA effects for reef populations migrating to form transient spawning aggregations. Applying the model to two populations from Seychelles, MPAs protecting spawning aggregations are found to improve fish reproductive potential in general, but not yield-per-recruit.

O recrutamento é extremamente importante no ambiente recifal, sendo o principal responsável pelo reabastecimento de populações adultas de peixes. Esse fenômeno é altamente complexo, não sendo claro se é influenciado apenas por processos estocásticos ou também por processos determinísticos. No presente estudo avaliamos a dinâmica temporal do recrutamento de diversas espécies de peixes recifais, identificando sítios de berçário (i.e. recrutamento estável e alto) e a influência de variáveis ambientais. Para tal, utilizamos dados de um monitoramento de médio prazo (i.e. 2001 a 2014) realizado no Banco dos Abrolhos (BA-Brasil). Foram amostrados mais de 45 sítios, sendo levantados dados sobre a comunidade de peixes, comunidade bentônica e outras variáveis ambientais. A partir desses dados, avaliamos a variação do recrutamento por sítio em dois períodos distintos (i.e. 2001-2008/2006-2014) e a influência de variáveis ambientais no recrutamento, através da técnica Boosted Regression Trees. Constatamos que diversas espécies de peixe apresentam-se com recrutamento estável em distintos sítios de amostragem. Também observamos um efeito positivo da densidade de peixes recifais coespecíficos adultos e da cobertura relativa de algas frondosas no recrutamento de diversas espécies analisadas. No geral, observamos que há certa espécie especificidade no processo de recrutamento, porém, em escalas espaciais maiores, os padrões podem estar ligados a características mais gerais, relacionadas a um grupo taxonômico mais elevado. Em relação aos sítios de berçário, um se destacou, sendo berçário de 5 diferentes espécies, incluindo Scarus trispinosus, uma das espécies prioritárias para conservação na região de Abrolhos. Assim, recomendamos a criação de uma área marinha de proteção integral que englobe o sítio em questão. Além disso, as descobertas deste trabalho nos permitem reforçar a teoria de que o recrutamento de peixes recifais pode ser influenciado por fenômenos determinísticos e não varia simplesmente de maneira estocástica. / Recruitment is extremely important in the reef environment, because it is the main source of population replenishment. Reef fish recruitment is a highly complex process and it is not clear whether it is influenced only by stochastic processes or also by deterministic processes. Herein, we aimed to investigate temporal dynamics of reef fish recruitment, identify nursery sites (i.e. predictably high recruitment sites) and evaluate the influence of environmental variables on recruitment. We used data from a medium-term time series (i.e. 2001-2014) of scientific surveys in Abrolhos Bank (BA-Brazil). We sampled more than 45 sites, for several consecutive years and recorded data about fish community, benthic community and other environmental variables. We assessed the variation of recruitment on each site, during two distinct periods (i.e. 2001-2008 / 2006-2014), and used the Boosted Regression Trees technique to evaluate the influence of environmental variables in recruitment. We found that several reef fish species present a low variable recruitment at different sampling sites. BRT showed a positive effect of the coverage of flesh algae and abundance of conspecific in the abundance of recruits (i.e. young-of-year) of many species. Overall, we notice that the recruitment traits seems to be species specific, but we also found indications that in larger spatial scales, recruitment spatial and temporal patterns may be related to general characteristics among species of the higher taxa. Nursery sites varied among species and one site was a nursery to 5 different reef fish species, including Scarus trispinosus, a species that require priority conservation in the Abrolhos Bank. Therefore, we recommend the creation of a new no-take marine protected area that encompasses this site. Our results also indicated that reef fish recruitment may be influenced by deterministic processes and do not vary only stochastically.

Les espèces démersales représentent 50% des captures des pêcheries françaises du golfe du Lion, dont la plupart sont pleinement exploitées, voir surexploitées depuis plusieurs décennies. Cette thèse évalue la pertinence d'aires marines protégées (AMPs) comme outil de gestion et de conservation de ces populations. Jusqu'à présent de telles zones ont été uniquement mises en place le long des côtes pour protéger des espèces très peu mobiles. Le problème est plus complexe pour les espèces vivant en haute mer car leur habitat est plus large et plus diffus. Pour ce faire, la distribution spatiale de 12 espèces démersales exploitées clés ont été étudiées de 1994 à 2010, à l'aide d'observations scientifiques et d'outils statistiques ad hoc. Une approche géostatistique a permis de détecter des structures d'auto-corrélation spatiale pour l'ensemble des espèces, et de produire des cartes de distributions annuelles de chaque espèce. Ces distributions sont apparues très stables sur les dix-sept années, mis à part un phénomène d'expansion/ rétraction avec le niveau d'abondance totale sur la région. Par ailleurs une approche par modèle linéaire généralisé a révélé des associations importantes de ces espèces à un habitat stable dans le temps. Ces résultats sont en accord avec la théorie du bassin de MacCall selon laquelle l'association d'une espèce à un habitat est densité-dépendant, et l'augmentation de la densité d'individus dans une zone serait à l'origine de la colonisation d'habitats sub-optimaux. Protéger l'habitat optimal d'une espèce permettrait alors de constituer un habitat «source», si la zone est judicieusement choisie ; en effet le report de l'effort de pêche à l'extérieur de l'AMP peut au contraire rendre cette mesure inefficace voir délétère. Par ailleurs les populations adultes occupaient généralement des zones plus concentrées et incluses dans l'aire de répartition des juvéniles. Ces zones communes d'habitats essentiels (reproduction et nourriceries) peuvent être potentiellement intéressantes à protéger dans un cadre monospécifique. L'hétérogénéité observée des répartitions d'une espèce à l'autre implique l'instauration de zones très clairsemées, et rend la gestion difficile dans une cadre pluri-spécifique. Une zone de taille raisonnable a tout de même été identifiée, représentant 20% de la population de chaque espèce et représentative de la diversité des habitats de cette région. / Demersal species represent 50% of French fisheries catches in theGulf of Lions, most of which are fully exploited, or overfished for decades. This thesis evaluates the relevance of marine protected areas (MPAs) as a tool for conservation and management of these populations. So far these areas have been implemented only along the coast to protect the very few mobile species. The problem is more complex for deep sea species because their habitat is broader and more diffuse. To do this, the spatial distribution of 12 key demersal species exploited were studied from 1994 to 2010, with scientific observations and ad hoc statistical tools. A geostatistical approach allowed to detect spatial autocorrelation structures for all species, and produce maps of annual distributions of each species. These distributions appeared very stable over 17 years, apart from a phenomenon of expansion/ contraction with the level of total abundance in the region. In addition, a generalized linear model approach revealed significant associations of these species to a temporally stable habitat. These results are consistent with MacCall basin theory, according which habitat suitability is a density-dependent thus the increase of individuals in an area make them colonize sub-optimal habitats. An optimal habitat under protection could thus be "source" habitat, if the area is carefully chosen. Indeed reporting the fishing effort outside the MPA can instead make this measure ineffective or deleterious. The adult population were generally in more concentrated areas and included in the spatial range of juveniles. These common areas of essential habitat (breeding and nursery) may be potentially interesting to protect a single species . However, the heterogeneity of distributions of a species to another involves the introduction of very sparse areas, making the management difficult. However an area of ​​reasonable size has been identified, covering 20% ​​of the population of each species and representative of the diversity of bottom habitats in the region.