Although more than 1300 marine reserves have already been established around the world, they still present a relatively new tool for environmental conservation and fisheries management. In accordance with this new approach towards marine protection, conservationists currently call for rapid establishment of a reserve network, which would encompass 10% to 30% of the oceans. Representative habitats from coastal areas as well as high seas would be included. Such a network should serve as a haven for marine species, ensuring their sustainability and aiding them to recover from fishery pressure. Furthermore, reserves are expected to enhance yields to the fishing industry through spillover and larval export. The paper attempts to determine, whether and under which conditions do marine reserves bring net benefits to economies.

The overarching objective of this dissertation was to improve our knowledge of the relationship between seascape heterogeneity and diversity of stony coral assemblages across spatial scales. Coral communities on patch reefs in three regions of the Caribbean were used as a model system to investigating this relationship because patch reef heterogeneity could be readily quantified within the seascape using remote sensing and image analysis techniques. I began with a theoretical approach, exploring the origins of observed species diversity among coral communities at increasing spatial scales. Hierarchical sampling and null models revealed that coral diversity was governed by non-random processes at local- (10s of meters) and meso- (100s of m) scales. Spatial autocorrelation and reef heterogeneity were then investigated as potential mechanistic drivers of these non-random diversity patterns. I found limited support for spatial drivers. However, beta diversity was significantly correlated to metrics of reef heterogeneity (measured as reef size, spatial configuration, and complexity), indicating that differences in reef heterogeneity were making a disproportionate contribution to the overall coral community diversity. The relationship between corals and reef heterogeneity was found to be both scale-dependent and region dependent. This theoretical approach was followed by a manipulative approach using an existing artificial patch reef array to experimentally test the influence of reef spatial configuration and topographical complexity on local diversity. Corals were most sensitive to reef size and secondarily reef configuration within the seascape. Unlike reef fishes, reef complexity did not emerge as a strong predictor of the coral community composition in either the observational data or the experimental manipulation. These observational and experimental explorations of the relationship between corals and habitat reveal that intra-habitat variability (i.e. differences between patch reefs) can influence the diversity and abundance of corals. I then focused on applying this improved theoretical understanding towards improving coral management efforts. I present a new methodology to assess the efficacy of marine reserve effects by controlling for natural seascape variation within and beyond the reserve boundary, and I quantified the bias of underestimating coral diversity by using conventional reef monitoring protocols that ignore differences in reef size. In conclusion, I demonstrate empirically that seascape attributes of reef heterogeneity can contribute to coral diversity at relatively small spatial scales (<1km) and can affect corals with different life history traits in different ways. Hence, management and conservation efforts must consider the role of these meso-scale spatial metrics to influence the structure of the coral assemblage at the local scale.

Understanding the level of biological connectivity among populations of harvested species is an important step towards establishing fisheries management and conservation guidelines. Many marine benthic resources present a complex metapopulation structure in which separate subpopulations of sessile post-larval individuals are connected through larval dispersal. The extent to which these subpopulations are linked is termed connectivity and can have different patterns and implications. Therefore, good management practices require tools that explicitly acknowledge this complexity across scales.I investigated the level of connectivity in a commercially important benthic species, the rock scallop (Spondylus calcifer), in an ecologically sensitive region in the NE margin of the Gulf of California, Mexico. My approach involved the development of a predictive coupled biological-oceanographic model (CBOM), which simultaneously incorporated key oceanographic and biological features. I validated CBOM outputs by means of two different techniques: population genetics analysis and measurements of spat abundance on artificial collectors.In order to infer the planktonic period of S. calcifer larvae to be used as an input for the model, I studied the early life history of the species under laboratory conditions. I estimated that the minimum period for larvae of S. calcifer to reach the settlement is approximately 15 days after fertilization. In addition to providing information useful for the model, this study produced information about the experimental conditions under which spawning induction and rearing of the species can be successful.I found strong connectivity along the study region (covering approximately 300 km of coastline). Sampled localities showed low levels of genetic structure, suggesting the existence of two subtly differentiated genetic populations. Both genetic and CBOM spatial scales of connectivity are in agreement suggesting that, on average, connectivity between subpopulation decreases when the geographic distance between them is >100 km.This study provides a multidisciplinary approach to evaluate the direction, magnitude and spatial scale of larval dispersal and connectivity, with implications for fisheries management and conservation in the study region. More broadly, it provides a baseline for future studies on coastal connectivity at various spatial scales of interest in the Gulf of California and beyond.

Marine reserves are promising tools for fisheries management, and are especially suited for complex, multi-species fisheries. Recent work has focused on the design of reserves to achieve particular management objectives and on defining appropriate indicators for monitoring to determine whether these objectives are being met. In principle, there should be a strong correlation between biological, social and economic indicators that are all correlated with fish abundance and ecosystem health. In practice, different indicators are often inconsistent, and it is common for researchers and fishers to have conflicting opinions on how well reserves are meeting management goals. I suggest that these discrepancies are not necessarily due to conflicting opinions regarding management objectives, but rather that the inherent biases in different sampling schemes may cause different measures of the same parameter to be uncorrelated. For example, scientists tend to sample only snapshots in time and space in randomly chosen locations, while fishers sample over much greater temporal and spatial scales but in non-random locations. Furthermore, marine ecosystems are extremely complex, and failing to account for the full extent of this complexity may lead to erroneous measurement of biological trends. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine the causes of discrepancies between different types of indicators using a multidisciplinary approach. A detailed study of the Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve (GRMR) in Belize provides a basis for comparison. Chapters 2 to 4 of the dissertation focus on understanding how the GRMR has functioned to produce fisheries benefits, and elucidating some of the factors responsible for variation in species’ responses to reserve protection. Chapters 5 to 7 of the dissertation focus on comparisons of different indicators of changes in fish abundances, and explain the circumstances under which indicators may disagree. With a better understanding of the functioning of the GRMR based on both scientific and local knowledge, efforts can be made to develop more appropriate indicators, and these indicators can then be tested for use in other coral reef reserves worldwide.

Submitted by Fabio Sobreira Campos da Costa (fabio.sobreira@ufpe.br) on 2017-02-16T13:59:37Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Nayara Ferreira Carvalho (PPGO-UFPE).pdf: 1641128 bytes, checksum: c4910be8fdae6566f2fa798507854475 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-02-16T13:59:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Dissertação Nayara Ferreira Carvalho (PPGO-UFPE).pdf: 1641128 bytes, checksum: c4910be8fdae6566f2fa798507854475 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-05-25 / CAPES / O presente estudo teve como objetivo revisitar áreas recifais estudadas no ano 2000 em Tamandaré-PE para descrever as comunidades macrobentônicas, com foco no ouriço E. lucunter e comparar com os dados obtidos anteriormente, e, ainda usou como referência o recife de Santiago em Paripueira-AL. Através das técnicas de “Line Transect” e “Quadrat” foram amostradas nove áreas recifais do complexo recifal de Tamandaré e uma área recifal em Paripueira. Os resultados indicaram diferenças significativas na estrutura das comunidades macrobentônicas estudadas entre os recifes e entre os períodos. A densidade e cobertura bentônica viva de corais escleractíneos, hidrocorais, zoantídeos e grupos funcionais algais parecem ter sido influenciados pelo padrão de distribuição e abundância de ouriços, apresentando diferenças significativas em sua composição na presença ou ausência destes. Em 2000, a densidade de ouriços da área recifal fechada de Tamandaré era aproximadamente cinco vezes maior que a encontrada no presente estudo. O contrário ocorreu na área recifal de Santiago que aumentou sua densidade de ouriço após ser reaberta à exploração antrópica em 2004. A exclusão das atividades pesqueiras e turísticas na Ilha da Barra ao longo de 16 anos indica a recuperação da abundância de espécies potencialmente predadoras de ouriços, que não só reduziu a densidade de E. lucunter na área fechada, mas também esse efeito foi exportado para as áreas recifais adjacentes. Este estudo sugere que a redução da abundância de ouriços nos recifes adjacentes é o resultado do spillover de predadores e anti-spillover de recrutas de ouriços para os recifes mais próximos da área fechada, e conclui que grande parte das diferenças observadas na densidade populacional do E. lucunter ao longo de todo o Complexo Recifal de Tamandaré-PE é devido aos efeitos diretos e indiretos da exclusão antrópica. / The aim of this study was to revisit Tamandaré-PE reef areas studied in 2000 to describe macrobenthic communities focusing on the E. lucunter sea urchin and compare the present data to the data obtained previously, and also used as a reference the Santiago reef in Paripueira-AL. Nine reef areas of Tamandaré reef complex and one reef area of Paripueira were sampled through the techniques of Line Transect and Quadrat. The results indicated significant differences in macrobenthic community studied among the reefs and between periods. The density and coverage of scleractinians corals, hydrocorals, zoanthids and algal functional groups seems to have been influenced by the pattern of sea urchins distribution and abundance, once these groups showed significant differences in their composition in the presence or absence of E. lucunter. In 2000, the sea urchin density of the Tamandaré closed area was about 5 times greater than the density found in this study. The opposite occurred in the Santiago reef, where there was an increased sea urchin density after this reef have been reopened to anthropic exploitation in 2004. The exclusion of fishing and tourist activities in Ilha da Barra over 16 years has resulted in a recovery of the species abundance potentially predatory of sea urchins, which not only reduced the E. lucunter density in the closed area, once this effect was exported to the adjacent reef areas. This study suggests that sea urchins abundance reducing on adjacent reefs is the result of spillover from predators and anti-spillover from sea urchins recruits to nearby reefs of the closed area, and concludes that much of the observed differences in E. lucunter density throughout the reef complex of Tamandaré-PE is due to the direct and indirect effects of anthropogenic exclusion.

I address the emergence, governance, and effects of marine reserve efforts in the Gulf of California, Mexico, emphasizing a community-based marine reserve network established by the commercial diving sector of Puerto Peñasco, Sonora. This network emerged as a means to manage benthic resources in rocky reefs, primarily rock scallop (Spondylus calcifer) and black murex snail (Hexaplex nigritus). My study also provides an analysis of growth, reproductive ecology, and management of both species.I show that local cooperation to manage fisheries commons incorporating the use of marine reserves can emerge rapidly. Furthermore, this cooperation can be sustained in a fishery spanning no more than two generations, effectively avoiding a local "tragedy of the commons". A blend of social group characteristics, fishers' ecological knowledge and participation in monitoring, and relatively rapid ecological response of the system can play key roles in reinforcing cooperation.I provide evidence of rapid effects of reserves on adjacent fisheries via larvae dispersal. Visual censuses revealed that density of young rock scallop (individuals recruited since reserve establishment) had increased by up to 40.7% within coastal reserves and by 20.6% in fished sites in only two years. Changes were also evident for black murex, with more than a three-fold increase in the density of juveniles within fished sites. These effects, however, were spatially-constricted, evident only for the northern portion of the reserve network. These empirical findings are more indicative of a reserve effect rather than other confounding factors and are consistent with field oceanography data (release of satellite-tracked drifters) and outputs from larvae dispersal models.Finally, I show that just as cooperation can emerge, it can rapidly fall with cascading effects to the system's resilience, particularly amidst threats to social capital and pressure from outside the community. I conclude that even when community-based reserves are effective within the biophysical and local social context, their long-term efficacy will rely on the system's capacity to control access and will demand the institutional capacity to do so. In Mexico this implies, at the least, the government's formal recognition of community-based initiatives and a means to give viability to these efforts.

Movement patterns and space use by mature fishes are critical in determining the effectiveness of marine reserves in conserving spawning stock biomass and/or providing biomass to adjacent fisheries through 'spillover'. Home range sizes, activity patterns, site fidelity and habitat preferences were determined for acoustically-tagged snappers and groupers using a rigorously-calibrated array of omnidirectional hydroacoustic receivers deployed in the diverse coral reef environments of a no-take marine reserve (NTMR) network in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. An individual-based localizing tendency model of reef fish movement was parameterized from fine-scale acoustic telemetry data and integrated into a Spatial Management Performance Assessment (SMPA) simulation model for reef fish populations developed to quantitatively evaluate performance of no-take marine reserves in the Dry Tortugas, Florida. Spatially-explicit SMPA models were parameterized for three overfished stocks in the lucrative snapper-grouper fishery: red grouper (Epinephelus morio), black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci), and mutton snapper (Lutjanus analis). SMPA models were used to evaluate the impacts of a variety of life histories, movement strategies and speeds, and management regulations upon long-term stock sustainability, as measured by annual changes in spawning potential ratio (SPR), and long-term stock productivity, as measured by annual changes in fisheries yield-in-weight per recruit (Yw/R). Under assumptions of constant regional fishing pressure, constant recruitment, and 'realistic' fish movement, SMPA simulation runs from initial conditions in 2000 suggested that by 2014, the Tortugas NTMR network should function to restore red grouper populations to 30% SPR, a Federal management benchmark for sustainability. Mutton snapper were the most mobile of the species investigated; if mutton snapper movements are ignored, their population is predicted to attain 30% SPR by 2014, but given 'realistic' mobility, they may not attain this target by 2021 without additional protections. Black grouper are currently fished at over 9 times sustainable levels. SMPA simulations suggest coupling an increase in minimum size at capture of 20 - 25 cm with NTMR implementation would result in substantial short term losses in yield, but would restore both black grouper and mutton snapper populations to 30% SPR by 2021 and lead to increased long-term yields. Although marine reserve sites are often chosen opportunistically, these findings strongly suggest that reserve designs (e.g. proper sizes and configurations) must take into account the scales and patterns of movement exhibited by the exploited stocks they are intended to protect. These modeling efforts also suggested reserves are not a panacea; in order to promote sustainability for severely depleted stocks, they must be accompanied by an overall reduction in fishing capacity. Although important questions remain concerning the movements of reef fish in response to habitat and density dependent processes, our analyses of realistic reef fish behaviors suggest that the NTMRs of the Dry Tortugas promote substantial gains in SPR, promoting long-term stock sustainability and enhanced egg production. Increased rates of movement diminish these benefits, but may also mitigate short-term losses in yield associated with NTMR establishment.

The goal of biodiversity conservation has been described as the conservation of diversity at three levels: ecosystem, species and genetic diversity. Developing a representative system of marine protected areas is considered an effective way to achieve this goal in the marine environment. The growing concern associated with threats to the marine environment has resulted in an increased demand for marine reserves (i.e. no-take areas) that conserve representative and adequate examples of biodiversity. Often, the decisions about where to locate reserves must be made in the absence of detailed information on the patterns of distribution of the biota. Alternative approaches are required that include defining habitats as surrogates for biodiversity. The development of biodiversity surrogates at fine-scales (i.e. habitats) will have an increasingly important role in the identification of sites that will contribute to a representative system of marine protected areas. This is because it will increase the likelihood that the system will adequately achieve biodiversity objectives by ensuring protection of a greater range of habitats and species. Surrogate measures of biodiversity enable decisions about where to locate marine reserves to be made more reliably in the absence of detailed data on the distribution of species. There is concern, however, about the reliability of surrogate measures to represent biotic diversity and the use of such measures in the design of marine reserve systems. Currently, surrogate measures are most often based on broad-scale (100s to 1000s of kilometres) bioregional frameworks that define general categories (sandy beach, rocky shore) for intertidal systems. These broad-scale categories are inadequate when making decisions about conservation priorities at the local level (10s to 100s of metres). This study provides an explanation of an intertidal shoreline habitat surrogate (i.e. shoreline types) used to describe 24,216 kilometres of Queensland’s coastline. The protective status of shoreline types was evaluated to assist with designing a representative system of intertidal marine protected areas. The shoreline types derived using physical properties of the shoreline were used as a surrogate for intertidal biodiversity to assist with the identification of sites for inclusion in a candidate system of intertidal marine reserves for 17,463 kilometres of the mainland coast of Queensland, Australia. This represents the first systematic approach, on essentially one-dimensional data, using fine-scale (10s to 100s of metres) intertidal habitats to identify a system of marine reserves for such a large length of coast. A range of solutions would provide for the protection of a representative example of shoreline types in Queensland. Shoreline types were used as a surrogate for intertidal biodiversity (i.e. habitats, microhabitats) to assist with the identification of sites to be included in a representative system of marine reserves in south east Queensland. The use of local-scale shoreline types increased the likelihood that sites identified for conservation achieved representation goals for the mosaic of habitats and microhabitats, and therefore the associated biodiversity present on rocky shores, than that provided by the existing marine reserve protection in south east Queensland. These results indicate that using broad-scale surrogate measures (rocky shore, sandy beach) for biodiversity (habitats, microhabitats and species) are likely to result in poor representation of fine-scale habitats and microhabitats, and therefore intertidal assemblages in marine reserves. When additional fine-scale data were added to reserve selection the summed irreplaceability of 24% (for spatial extent of habitats), and 29% (for presence/absence of microhabitats) of rocky shore sites increased above zero, where a value close to one means a site is necessary, for inclusion in a reserve system, to meet conservation targets. The use of finer-scale physical data to support marine reserve design is more likely to result in the selection of reserves that achieve representation at habitat and microhabitat levels, increasing the likelihood that conservation goals will be achieved. The design and planning of marine and terrestrial protected areas systems should not be undertaken independently of each other because it is likely to lead to inadequate representation of intertidal habitats in either system. The development of reserve systems specially designed to protect intertidal habitats should be integrated into the design of terrestrial and marine protected area systems. Marine reserve networks are a necessary and effective tool for conserving marine biodiversity. They also have an important role in the governance of oceans and the sustainable management of marine resources. The translation of marine reserve network theory into practice is a challenge for conservation practitioners. Barriers to implementing marine reserves include varying levels of political will and agency support and leadership, poorly coordinated marine conservation policy, inconsistencies with the use of legislation, polarised views and opposition from some stakeholders, and difficulties with defining and mapping conservation features. The future success of marine reserve network implementation will become increasingly dependent on: increasing political commitment and agency leadership to remove conflicts within and between government agencies involved in site identification and selection; greater involvement and collaboration with stakeholders; and the provision of resources to define and map conservation features. Key elements of translating marine reserve theory into implementation of a network of marine reserves are discussed based on approaches used successfully in New Zealand and New South Wales (Australia).

Since the first reserve selection algorithm was developed in the early 1980s, systematic approaches to reserve design have attracted widespread support due to their ability to identify repeatable and efficient solutions to conservation planning problems. Yet there has been limited application of these methods to the problem of designing reserve systems for biodiversity conservation in the marine environment. In my dissertation research, I apply systematic methods to examine four fundamental issues in marine reserve system design. These issues consider how conservation planning outcomes are influenced when design constraints such as spatial compactness, efficiency, economic costs and incremental reserve establishment are formulated as part of the reserve design problem. First, I consider the trade-offs between spatial design and cost efficiency. In particular, I examine how well marine reserve systems can satisfy the design requirement to minimise the degree of fragmentation whilst minimising reserve system cost. In this case cost refers to the number of sites required to achieve biodiversity conservation objectives. The second issue is the inefficiency of ad hoc marine reserve system design. In terrestrial systems, ad hoc reserve design has been shown to produce inefficient reserve systems, limiting opportunities to achieve conservation targets. I examine how efficiently South Australia’s existing marine reserves contribute to quantitative conservation targets and introduce a new measure of irreplaceability. This metric reflects the potential value of a site’s contribution to reservation goals, by assessing whether a site is selected more than could be expected from chance alone. Sites selected as often as would be expected by chance, fail to contribute to the design of efficient marine reserve systems and represent an opportunity cost. The third issue addresses the demands on reserve systems to achieve both conservation and socio-economic objectives. Options for the design of marine reserve systems, which achieve better economic outcomes for commercial users without compromising conservation targets, are examined using a cost function that serves to make trade–offs early in the design process. The fourth issue is one of shifting targets and incremental reserve design. The problem was most recently highlighted with the rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, where the amount of no-take areas increased from 5% to over 30% but the original zoning arrangements were left in place. The consequence this has on the efficiency of the final marine reserve system is examined when different starting targets are used as the base. Each issue is examined by formulating planning scenarios using data for South Australia’s state waters as a case study. The marine reserve systems are configured using the mathematical optimisation program MARXAN to examine the complex trade-offs of conservation planning problems. The program offers the flexibility to incorporate new approaches and developing theory in marine conservation into the formal statement of the reserve design problem. The results offer some important insights for the future of marine reserve system design. These include 1) efficient representation of biodiversity is only part of the reserve design problem, with small increases in reserve system cost reported as a trade-off for more spatially compact marine reserve systems, 2) despite spanning less than 4% of South Australian state waters, the existing ad hoc marine reserves presented considerable opportunity costs that did not improve even when conservation targets were increased. Hence ad hoc reserve selection is likely to constrain effective conservation of marine biodiversity by compromising the ability to select more suitable sites, 3) integrating conservation and socio-economic objectives presents opportunities to design representative, efficient and practical marine reserve systems that minimise potential loss to commercial users with only small increases to the areal extent of the reserve system and 4) incrementally changing target levels of reservation has a minor affect on the efficiency of the final reserve system, though is likely to influence which planning units are in the final reserve system.

abstract: In the face of increasing anthropogenic threats to marine systems, marine reserves have become a popular tool to promote sustainable fisheries management and protect marine biodiversity. However, the governance structures that determine marine reserve success are not well understood. The response of resource users to reserve establishment, as well as the socioeconomic, institutional, and political contexts in which they occur, are rarely considered during reserve implementation. I use the Coupled Infrastructure Systems (CIS) framework to better understand the interdependencies between social, economic, natural, and institutional processes affecting reserve implementation and performance efficacy in the Gulf of California, Mexico. I used a combination of interviews, qualitative case study comparisons, and systematic conservation planning tools to evaluate the role of different infrastructures, institutions, and governance for marine reserve efficacy in the Gulf of California, Mexico. At a local scale, I assessed stakeholder perceptions, preferences, and knowledge on reserves in the Midriff Islands sub-region of the Gulf. My results show differences in fisher perceptions about the use of reserves for biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, misconceptions about their location, and non-compliance behavior problems. At the regional scale, I explored the trajectories of reserve implementation and performance. I show that capacity-building programs and effective collaboration between non-profit organizations, environmental, fisheries, and other government authorities are essential to coordinate efforts leading to the provisioning of infrastructure that enables effective marine reserves. Furthermore, these programs help facilitate the incorporation of fishers into diversified management and economic activities. Infrastructure provision tradeoffs should be carefully balanced for designing scientifically-sound reserves that can achieve fisheries recovery objectives and incorporating stakeholder engagement processes during the planning phase that allow fishers to include their preferences in a way that complements proposed reserve network solutions. Overall, my results highlight the importance of multiple infrastructures in understanding the dynamics of interacting action situations at various stages of marine reserve implementation and operation. I identify strengths and weaknesses within marine reserve systems that help understand what combinations of infrastructures can be influenced to increase marine reserve effectiveness and robustness to internal and external challenges, as well as delivering benefits for both nature and people. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Environmental and Resource Management 2017