Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley
Résumé : International audience
AimBiological invasions are major contributors to global change and native biodiversity decline. However, they are overlooked in marine conservation plans. Here, we examine for the first time the extent to which marine conservation planning research has addressed (or ignored) biological invasions. Furthermore, we explore the change of spatial priorities in conservation plans when different approaches are used to incorporate the presence and impacts of invasive species.LocationGlobal analysis with a focus on the Mediterranean Sea region.MethodsWe conducted a systematic literature review consisting of three steps: (1) article selection using a search engine, (2) abstract screening and (3) review of pertinent articles, which were identified in the second step. The information extracted included the scale and geographical location of each case study as well as the approach followed regarding invasive species. We also applied the software Marxan to produce and compare conservation plans for the Mediterranean Sea that either protect, or avoid areas impacted by invasives, or ignore the issue. One case study focused on the protection of critical habitats, and the other on endemic fish species.ResultsWe found that of 119 papers on marine spatial plans in specific biogeographic regions, only three (2.5%) explicitly took into account invasive species. When comparing the different conservation plans for each case study, we found that the majority of selected sites for protection (ca. 80%) changed in the critical habitat case study, while this proportion was lower but substantial (27%) in the endemic fish species case study.Main conclusionsBiological invasions are being widely disregarded when planning for conservation in the marine environment across local to global scales. More explicit consideration of biological invasions can significantly alter spatial conservation priorities. Future conservation plans should explicitly account for biological invasions to optimize the selection of marine protected areas.
ISSN: 1366-9516

hal-01431351
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01431351
DOI : 10.1111/ddi.12491

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Inter-Research
Résumé : International audience
Ecological connectivity is important for effective marine planning and biodiversity conservation. Our aim was to identify factors important in influencing variation in benthic community structure on shallow rocky reefs in 2 regions of the Mediterranean Sea with contrasting oceanographic regimes. We assessed beta (β) diversity at 146 sites in the littoral and shallow sub-littoral from the Adriatic/Ionian Seas (eastern region) and Ligurian/Tyrrhenian Seas (western region) using a null modelling approach to account for variation in species richness. The distance decay relationship between species turnover within each region and geographic distance by sea was determined using generalised linear models. Mantel tests were used to examine correlations between β diversity and connectivity by ocean currents, estimated from Lagrangian dispersal simulations. Variation in β diversity between sites was partitioned according to environmental and spatial components using a distance-based redundancy approach. Species turnover along a gradient of geographic distance was greater by a factor of 3 to 5 in the western region than the eastern region, suggesting lower con-nectivity between sites. β diversity was correlated with connectivity by ocean currents at both depths in the eastern region but not in the western region. The influence of spatial and environmental predictors of β diversity varied considerably between regions, but was similar between depths. Our results highlight the interaction of oceanographic, spatial and environmental processes influencing benthic marine β diversity. Persistent currents in the eastern region may be responsible for lower observed β diversity compared to the western region, where patterns of water circulation are more variable.
Marine Ecology Progress Series

Droits : http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
hal-01357935
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357935
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357935/document
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01357935/file/m553p001.pdf
DOI : 10.3354/meps11783

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are increasingly used for biodiversity conservation and the management of sustainable fisheries. The use of taxonomic surrogates in routine monitoring of the reserve effects on fish assemblages may represent a promising method due to its substantial technical and economic benefits. However, higher taxonomic ranks should be used as surrogates with caution, especially for fish, where the approach is still virtually undocumented. This study aims to shed light on relationships between taxonomic relatedness and ecological similarity, which is crucial to assess the relevance of species surrogacy to reflect species-level information and detect changes in fish related to protection regimes. By analyzing data from a Mediterranean MPA, we show that rather being related to taxonomic relationships, the ability of higher taxa to reflect species-level patterns was explained in terms of aggregation level and distribution of species within taxa. Null models using random aggregations of species were created to identify the best surrogates able to depict changes in responses of assemblages to protection observed at the species-level. Comparison of null model predictions with the more classical higher-taxon approach revealed that the latter was not reliable because, unlike null model outcomes, surrogates determined empirically were not relevant for other subsequent independent monitoring. The effectiveness of species surrogates to depict changes in responses of assemblages to protection observed at the species-level depended (1) on the numerical resolution of the aggregation and (2) the magnitude of differences between protected and unprotected locations. Such findings suggest that surrogacy approaches may be applied for routine monitoring of Mediterranean reef fish communities, although mere empirical determinations of sufficient taxonomy seems to be not reliable, legitimizing the use of alternative methods based on null models. Guidelines for the careful use of species surrogacy in the ecological evaluation of MPAs on fish assemblages are provided.
ISSN: 0006-3207

hal-01174428
https://hal-univ-perp.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01174428
DOI : 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.06.002