Community Change within a Caribbean Coral Reef Marine Protected Area following Two Decades of Local Management
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ArticleKAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Reef Ecology Lab
Date
2013-01-14Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/325310
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Structural change in both the habitat and reef-associated fish assemblages within spatially managed coral reefs can provide key insights into the benefits and limitations of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). While MPA zoning effects on particular target species are well reported, we are yet to fully resolve the various affects of spatial management on the structure of coral reef communities over decadal time scales. Here, we document mixed affects of MPA zoning on fish density, biomass and species richness over the 21 years since establishment of the Saba Marine Park (SMP). Although we found significantly greater biomass and species richness of reef-associated fishes within shallow habitats (5 meters depth) closed to fishing, this did not hold for deeper (15 m) habitats, and there was a widespread decline (38% decrease) in live hard coral cover and a 68% loss of carnivorous reef fishes across all zones of the SMP from the 1990s to 2008. Given the importance of live coral for the maintenance and replenishment of reef fishes, and the likely role of chronic disturbance in driving coral decline across the region, we explore how local spatial management can help protect coral reef ecosystems within the context of large-scale environmental pressures and disturbances outside the purview of local MPA management. © 2013 Noble et al.Citation
Noble MM, van Laake G, Berumen ML, Fulton CJ (2013) Community Change within a Caribbean Coral Reef Marine Protected Area following Two Decades of Local Management. PLoS ONE 8: e54069. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054069.Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)Journal
PLoS ONEPubMed ID
23342078PubMed Central ID
PMC3544719ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1371/journal.pone.0054069
Scopus Count
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