Patterns of variation of intertidal species of commercial interest in the Parque Litoral Norte (north Portugal) MPA: Comparison with three reference shores |
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| Institution: | 1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Francisco Xavier, 524, PHLC, sala 220, CEP 20559-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;2. Coral-Sol Research, Technological Development and Innovation Network, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;3. Departamento de Biologia Marinha, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Brigadeiro Trompowski, CCS, Bloco A, Sala 089, CEP 21941-590, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;4. Department of Biology, Harvey Mudd College, 1250 N. Dartmouth Ave., Claremont, CA 91711, USA;5. Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Francisco Xavier 524, PHLC, sala 220, CEP 20559-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;1. Laboratorio di Zoologia e Biologia Marina, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Biologiche ed Ambientali, Università del Salento, Lecce 73100, Italy;2. CIIMAR/CIMAR, Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Rua dos Bragas, 289, 4050-123 Porto, Portugal;3. Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Faculdade de Ciencias do Mar, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo, Spain;4. Institut français de recherche pour l''exploitation de la mer (IFREMER), Dynamiques de l''Environnement Côtier (DYNECO), Laboratoire d''Ecologie Benthique Côtière (LEBCO), Technopole Brest-Iroise BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France;1. Laboratory of Marine Plant Ecology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Aza-Aoba 468-1, Aramaki, Aoba, Sendai, Miyagi 980-0845, Japan;2. National Research Institute of Fisheries Science, Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, 2-12-4 Fukuura, Kanazawa, Yokohama, Kanagawa 236-8648, Japan |
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| Abstract: | Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are world-wide established with the aim of conserving biodiversity and preventing overexploitation of marine organisms. Evaluating the effectiveness of MPAs is needed in order to support and implement their management, but it is complicated by the large natural variability in space and time of distribution and abundance of natural populations. Here, we tested the hypothesis that patterns of total abundance and size-frequency distribution of two intensively harvested intertidal species (the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis) differed between a protected and three reference shores along the rocky coast of north Portugal. Response variables were in terms of mean values and measures of variance at different spatial scales (from centimetres to metres) and over time (along a period of about 12 months). A further comparison involved the estimation of the reproductive potential of sea urchins, quantified as variations of Gonad Index (GI = gonad dry weight/body dry weight × 100) at the scale of shore. Results did not generally support a predictable direct effect of protection, as the total abundance and the abundance of larger individuals of both species and GI did not differ between the MPA and reference shores. However, a considerable temporal and spatial variability at smaller scales was detected for several response variables. Such findings have implications for management of MPAs, highlighting the need for sampling designs properly replicated in space and time, in order to examine their effectiveness, and for considering spatial and temporal heterogeneity of target populations and driving processes as a criterion for their implementation and design. |
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