Marine protected area
View article
The cost and feasibility of marine coastal restoration Open
Land‐use change in the coastal zone has led to worldwide degradation of marine coastal ecosystems and a loss of the goods and services they provide. Restoration is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degrade…
View article
Fish conservation in freshwater and marine realms: status, threats and management Open
Despite the disparities in size and volume of marine and freshwater realms, a strikingly similar number of species is found in each – with 15 150 Actinopterygian fishes in fresh water and 14 740 in the marine realm. Their ecological and so…
View article
No-take marine reserves are the most effective protected areas in the ocean Open
Marine protected areas (MPAs) are an essential tool for reversing the global degradation of ocean life. Hence, it is important to know which types of MPAs are more effective, and under which conditions. No-take marine reserves – the MPAs w…
View article
The MPA Guide: A framework to achieve global goals for the ocean Open
Consistency in conservation Marine protected areas (MPAs) are now well established globally as tools for conservation, for enhancing marine biodiversity, and for promoting sustainable fisheries. That said, which regions are labeled as MPAs…
View article
Guidelines for applying the IUCN protected area management categories to marine protected areas Open
The development of this second edition of these guidelines was in part a response to evidence of the widespread incorrect application of the categories to marine protected areas (MPAs). Marine management and sustainable fisheries managemen…
View article
Remote Sensing of Coral Reefs for Monitoring and Management: A Review Open
Coral reefs are in decline worldwide and monitoring activities are important for assessing the impact of disturbance on reefs and tracking subsequent recovery or decline. Monitoring by field surveys provides accurate data but at highly loc…
View article
Essential ocean variables for global sustained observations of biodiversity and ecosystem changes Open
Sustained observations of marine biodiversity and ecosystems focused on specific conservation and management problems are needed around the world to effectively mitigate or manage changes resulting from anthropogenic pressures. These obser…
View article
A review of the combined effects of climate change and other local human stressors on the marine environment Open
Climate change (CC) is a key, global driver of change of marine ecosystems. At local and regional scales, other local human stressors (LS) can interact with CC and modify its effects on marine ecosystems. Understanding the response of the …
View article
Marine protected areas increase resilience among coral reef communities Open
With marine biodiversity declining globally at accelerating rates, maximising the effectiveness of conservation has become a key goal for local, national and international regulators. Marine protected areas ( MPA s) have been widely advoca…
View article
Climate Change, Coral Loss, and the Curious Case of the Parrotfish Paradigm: Why Don't Marine Protected Areas Improve Reef Resilience? Open
Scientists have advocated for local interventions, such as creating marine protected areas and implementing fishery restrictions, as ways to mitigate local stressors to limit the effects of climate change on reef-building corals. However, …
View article
Revisiting “Success” and “Failure” of Marine Protected Areas: A Conservation Scientist Perspective Open
Marine protected areas (MPAs) form the cornerstone of marine conservation. Identifying which factors contribute to their success or failure is crucial considering the international conservation targets for 2020 and the limited funds genera…
View article
Effective Coverage Targets for Ocean Protection Open
The UN's globally adopted Convention on Biological Diversity coverage target for marine protected areas (MPAs) is ≥10% by 2020. In 2014, the World Parks Congress recommended increasing this to ≥30%. We reviewed 144 studies to assess whethe…
View article
Advancing Marine Biological Observations and Data Requirements of the Complementary Essential Ocean Variables (EOVs) and Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) Frameworks Open
Measurements of the status and trends of key indicators for the ocean and marine life are required to inform policy and management in the context of growing human uses of marine resources, coastal development, and climate change. Two syner…
View article
Local support for conservation is associated with perceptions of good governance, social impacts, and ecological effectiveness Open
Local support is important for the longevity of conservation initiatives. The literature suggests that perceptions of ecological effectiveness, social impacts, and good governance will influence levels of local support for conservation. Th…
View article
Assessing real progress towards effective ocean protection Open
The United Nations’ target for global ocean protection is 10% of the ocean in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by 2020. There has been remarkable progress in the last decade, and some organizations claim that 7% of the ocean is already protec…
View article
Applying global criteria to tracking data to define important areas for marine conservation Open
Aim Enhanced management of areas important for marine biodiversity are now obligations under a range of international treaties. Tracking data provide unparalleled information on the distribution of marine taxa, but there are no agreed guid…
View article
Response of benthic fauna to experimental bottom fishing: A global meta‐analysis Open
Bottom‐contact fishing gears are globally the most widespread anthropogenic sources of direct disturbance to the seabed and associated biota. Managing these fishing disturbances requires quantification of gear impacts on biota and the rate…
View article
Circumpolar habitat use in the southern elephant seal: implications for foraging success and population trajectories Open
In the Southern Ocean, wide‐ranging predators offer the opportunity to quantify how animals respond to differences in the environment because their behavior and population trends are an integrated signal of prevailing conditions within mul…
View article
Management priorities for marine invasive species Open
Managing invasive alien species is particularly challenging in the ocean mainly because marine ecosystems are highly connected across broad spatial scales. Eradication of marine invasive species has only been achieved when species were det…
View article
A regulation-based classification system for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) Open
International audience
View article
The central importance of ecological spatial connectivity to effective coastal marine protected areas and to meeting the challenges of climate change in the marine environment Open
The several forms of ecological spatial connectivity – population, genetic, community, ecosystem – are among the most important ecological processes in determining the distribution, persistence and productivity of coastal marine population…
View article
Marine Mammals Exploring the Oceans Pole to Pole: A Review of the MEOP Consortium Open
Polar oceans are poorly monitored despite the important role they play in regulating Earth’s climate system. Marine mammals equipped with biologging devices are now being used to fill the data gaps in these logistically difficult to sample…
View article
Assessing spillover from marine protected areas and its drivers: A meta‐analytical approach Open
Overfishing may seriously impact fish populations and ecosystems. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are key tools for biodiversity conservation and fisheries management, yet the fisheries benefits remain debateable. Many MPAs include a fully p…
View article
Mapping global human dependence on marine ecosystems Open
Many human populations are dependent on marine ecosystems for a range of benefits, but we understand little about where and to what degree people rely on these ecosystem services. We created a new conceptual model to map the degree of huma…
View article
The MEDITS trawl survey specifications in an ecosystem approach to fishery management Open
The MEDITS programme started in 1994 in the Mediterranean with the cooperation among research institutes from four countries: France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Over the years, until the advent of the European framework for the collection an…
View article
Protected areas and freshwater biodiversity: a novel systematic review distils eight lessons for effective conservation Open
Protected areas are a global cornerstone of biodiversity conservation and restoration. Yet freshwater biodiversity is continuing to decline rapidly. To date there has been no formal review of the effectiveness of protected areas for conser…
View article
eDNA metabarcoding as a biomonitoring tool for marine protected areas Open
Monitoring of marine protected areas (MPAs) is critical for marine ecosystem management, yet current protocols rely on SCUBA-based visual surveys that are costly and time consuming, limiting their scope and effectiveness. Environmental DNA…
View article
Citizen science and marine conservation: a global review Open
Climate change, overfishing, marine pollution and other anthropogenic drivers threaten our global oceans. More effective efforts are urgently required to improve the capacity of marine conservation action worldwide, as highlighted by the U…
View article
A protocol for the intercomparison of marine fishery and ecosystem models: Fish-MIP v1.0 Open
Model intercomparison studies in the climate and Earth sciences communities have been crucial to building credibility and coherence for future projections. They have quantified variability among models, spurred model development, contraste…
View article
Coral reefs for coastal protection: A new methodological approach and engineering case study in Grenada Open
Coastal communities in tropical environments are at increasing risk from both environmental degradation and climate change and require urgent local adaptation action. Evidences show coral reefs play a critical role in wave attenuation but …