Assessing the effects of marine protected area (MPA) on a reef fish assemblage in a northwestern Mediterranean marine reserve: Identifying community-based indicators

Abstract

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly envisaged as a tool to manage coastal ecosystems and fisheries. Assessment of their performance with respect to management objectives is therefore important. A number of MPAs provided conservation benefits for fished species. Observed benefits do not apply to all species at all times, and responses to protection are also highly variable among fish taxa. Among the many empirical studies on marine reserves, only a few designs considered 'before and after data' and spatial variation. In this paper, we are interested in assessing the effect of a no-take reserve on the reef fish assemblage in a northwestern Mediterranean example. Data were obtained from a three-year survey using underwater visual censuses (UVC), before and after MPA establishment. Permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) and multivariate regression trees (MRT) were used to evaluate the effects of reserve protection on the reef fish assemblage, while accounting for habitat. Modelled biological responses were abundances and diversity indices calculated at different levels of the assemblage. Significant effects were found for many of these metrics. In addition to PERMANOVA, univariate models provided more insight into the magnitude and direction of effects. The most sensitive metrics were related to large species and species targeted by fishing. These results may be used to choose the metrics that are more suitable as community-based indicators of MPA impact in the perspective of monitoring programs.

Simulation of the combined effects of artisanal and recreational fisheries on a Mediterranean MPA ecosystem using a trophic model

“…In addition, they have the advantage of being carefully monitored, and data sets are usually available over several years (e.g. Claudet et al 2006, Guidetti et al 2008). …”

Variación estacional en la composición de ensambles sublitorales de macroalgas asociadas al alga roja Gigartina skottsbergii Setchell & Gardner, en el Estrecho de Magallanes, Chile

“…Para evidenciar diferencias significativas en la riqueza, promedio presentes en los dos sitios de muestro, tanto temporalmente como espacialmente, se realizó un PERMANOVA factorial de 2 vías. Para variables univariadas se calculó la distancia euclidiana entre pares de observaciones (Claudet et al 2006). permutaciones sin restriccidatos.…”

Environmental mediation of Atlantic cod on fish community composition: an application of multivariate regression tree analysis to exploited marine ecosystems

“…This index has been used in previous work with MRT analysis and cluster analysis to provide an accurate means to classify and map MRT predictions (e.g. Claudet et al 2006, DeVantier et al 2006, Cappo et al 2007; see Fig. 2).…”