Recovery of grouper assemblages indicates effectiveness of a marine protected area in Southern Brazil

Abstract

Top predators have a strong influence on the structure and dynamics of marine ecosystems. These organisms have been largely used as indicators of the effectiveness of marine protected areas (MPAs). In Brazil, the impact of fisheries on reef species, such as groupers and sea basses, and the importance of local marine reserves in the maintenance of these fish communities are still poorly understood. Here we assessed the assemblage of groupers and sea basses (Epinephelidae and Serranidae) inside and outside the Arvoredo Marine Reserve (AR), a MPA in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. Density and biomass of 13 fish species (7 Epinephelidae and 6 Serranidae) were recorded. The most abundant groupers were Epinephelus marginatus and Mycteroperca acutirostris, while Serranus flaviventris and S. balwini were the most abundant sea basses. Grouper biomass was significantly higher inside the reserve, indicating the effectiveness of this MPA for target and threatened species, such as E. marginatus. In contrast, biomass of sea basses was higher outside the MPA, as a possible result of prey release effect. Despite the higher biomass of groupers inside AR, spearfishing records from the 1960s indicate that there is still a long way to a full recovery of the biomass of top predators, especially groupers and sharks. Thus, a more effective enforcement and longer-term protection are necessary to restore fish stocks and ecosystem health in these reefs.

Kelps’ Long-Distance Dispersal: Role of Ecological/Oceanographic Processes and Implications to Marine Forest Conservation

“…The continental shelf off this region is located near the Brazil-Malvinas Confluence (BMC) region, located at 38 • S ± 2 • [59,62]. The Falkland Current (Malvinas Current) acts as a branch of the sub-Antarctic Front, which is the northernmost oceanographic process associated with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in the Drake Passage [63].…”

“…The definition of target foundation species or groups and mapping niche suitability may improve management, when considering future needs for biodiversity management or conservation [58,59]. Differentiating natural drift-refuge colonization process from anthropogenic transport-bioinvasion process is a crucial task [60].…”

Spatial variation of reef fishes and the relative influence of biotic and abiotic habitat traits

“…Moreover, most studies aimed at assessing the effectiveness of marine reserves are based on comparing one protected area with one or more adjacent non-protected areas, but such an approach can provide unreliable results if the variability of variables intended to indicate the success of the implemented protection is not properly taken into account [51,52]. Reserve effects and their responsible processes can be correctly identified and predicted only through sampling and monitoring designs including adequate replication in space and/or time [53,54]. As a direct consequence, the possibility to generalise such issues to not yet implemented circumstances critically depends on identifying patterns of distribution of fishes and the relative influence of a range of biological and abiotic traits in relatively unstudied and ecologically peculiar systems.…”

Reducing the data-deficiency of threatened European habitats: Spatial variation of sabellariid worm reefs and associated fauna in the Sicily Channel, Mediterranean Sea

“…This is especially true for the urgently needed knowledge on patterns of distribution of reefs and their associated biodiversity (but see Cole and Chapman, 2007). In fact, identifying the relevant scales of variation of organisms is an essential requirement to design protection schemes able to preserve not only those populations directly, but also their driving processes (García-Charton et al, 2000;Benedetti-Cecchi et al, 2003;Fraschetti et al, 2005a;Micheli et al, 2005;Bertocci et al, 2012;Anderson et al, 2014). The present study was aimed at contributing to fill the above illustrated gaps by estimating and comparing spatial patterns of distribution, abundance and diversity of sabellariid bioconstructors and their associated fauna from biogenic reefs occurring in the shallow subtidal environment along the Italian coast of the Sicily Channel (central Mediterranean Sea).…”