Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming
Abstract Protection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 ree...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44976-y |
| _version_ | 1797274100880637952 |
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| author | Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Amanda E. Bates Giovanni Strona Fabio Bulleri Barbara Horta e Costa Graham J. Edgar Bernat Hereu Dan C. Reed Rick D. Stuart-Smith Neville S. Barrett David J. Kushner Michael J. Emslie Jose Antonio García-Charton Emanuel J. Gonçalves Eneko Aspillaga |
| author_facet | Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Amanda E. Bates Giovanni Strona Fabio Bulleri Barbara Horta e Costa Graham J. Edgar Bernat Hereu Dan C. Reed Rick D. Stuart-Smith Neville S. Barrett David J. Kushner Michael J. Emslie Jose Antonio García-Charton Emanuel J. Gonçalves Eneko Aspillaga |
| author_sort | Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Protection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 reef fish species surveyed in 357 protected versus 747 open sites worldwide. We quantify the stability of reef fish abundance from populations to metacommunities, considering responses of species and functional diversity including thermal affinity of different trophic groups. Overall, protection mitigates adverse effects of marine heatwaves on fish abundance, community stability, asynchronous fluctuations and functional richness. We find that local stability is positively related to distance from centers of high human density only in protected areas. We provide evidence that networks of protected areas have persistent reef fish communities in warming oceans by maintaining large populations and promoting stability at different levels of biological organization. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:54:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7a4651912641413ea139423fa3b9db89 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T14:54:34Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj.art-7a4651912641413ea139423fa3b9db892024-03-05T19:31:54ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-02-0115111710.1038/s41467-024-44976-yMarine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warmingLisandro Benedetti-Cecchi0Amanda E. Bates1Giovanni Strona2Fabio Bulleri3Barbara Horta e Costa4Graham J. Edgar5Bernat Hereu6Dan C. Reed7Rick D. Stuart-Smith8Neville S. Barrett9David J. Kushner10Michael J. Emslie11Jose Antonio García-Charton12Emanuel J. Gonçalves13Eneko Aspillaga14Department of Biology, University of Pisa, URL CoNISMaDepartment of Biology, University of VictoriaEuropean Commission, Joint Research CentreDepartment of Biology, University of Pisa, URL CoNISMaCCMAR, Centre of Marine Sciences, University of AlgarveInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaDepartament de Biologia Evolutiva, Ecologia i Ciències Ambientals, Facultat de Biologia, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBIO), Universitat de BarcelonaMarine Science Institute, University of California Santa BarbaraInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaInstitute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of TasmaniaChannel Islands National ParkAustralian Institute of Marine ScienceDepartamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus EspinardoMARE – Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA – Instituto UniversitárioInstituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB)Abstract Protection from direct human impacts can safeguard marine life, yet ocean warming crosses marine protected area boundaries. Here, we test whether protection offers resilience to marine heatwaves from local to network scales. We examine 71,269 timeseries of population abundances for 2269 reef fish species surveyed in 357 protected versus 747 open sites worldwide. We quantify the stability of reef fish abundance from populations to metacommunities, considering responses of species and functional diversity including thermal affinity of different trophic groups. Overall, protection mitigates adverse effects of marine heatwaves on fish abundance, community stability, asynchronous fluctuations and functional richness. We find that local stability is positively related to distance from centers of high human density only in protected areas. We provide evidence that networks of protected areas have persistent reef fish communities in warming oceans by maintaining large populations and promoting stability at different levels of biological organization.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44976-y |
| spellingShingle | Lisandro Benedetti-Cecchi Amanda E. Bates Giovanni Strona Fabio Bulleri Barbara Horta e Costa Graham J. Edgar Bernat Hereu Dan C. Reed Rick D. Stuart-Smith Neville S. Barrett David J. Kushner Michael J. Emslie Jose Antonio García-Charton Emanuel J. Gonçalves Eneko Aspillaga Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming Nature Communications |
| title | Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| title_full | Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| title_fullStr | Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| title_full_unstemmed | Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| title_short | Marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| title_sort | marine protected areas promote stability of reef fish communities under climate warming |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-44976-y |
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