Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico
Isolated reefs suffered from overfishing to a lesser extent than coastal reefs systems. Nevertheless, the exploitation of coastal areas forced fishers to move offshore to compensate for their decreasing catches, helped by an overall increase in their technological capabilities. Thus, these once pris...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.583056/full |
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| author | Fabio Favoretto Fabio Favoretto Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio Lorena León-Deniz Carlos González-Salas Horacio Pérez-España Mariana Rivera-Higueras Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate Alejandro Vega-Zepeda Harold Villegas-Hernández Octavio Aburto-Oropeza |
| author_facet | Fabio Favoretto Fabio Favoretto Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio Lorena León-Deniz Carlos González-Salas Horacio Pérez-España Mariana Rivera-Higueras Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate Alejandro Vega-Zepeda Harold Villegas-Hernández Octavio Aburto-Oropeza |
| author_sort | Fabio Favoretto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Isolated reefs suffered from overfishing to a lesser extent than coastal reefs systems. Nevertheless, the exploitation of coastal areas forced fishers to move offshore to compensate for their decreasing catches, helped by an overall increase in their technological capabilities. Thus, these once pristine isolated areas are under increasing threat and should be considered a protection priority. Here, we compared the fish and epibenthic community of two isolated coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico: one is the Alacranes reefs a Marine Protected Area (MPA) with two No-Take Zones (NTZs) and the other is Bajos del Norte an Open Area (OA). Alacranes reef is ∼135 km off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula while Bajos del Norte ∼160 km. Our results show that despite being isolated, the OA reefs never reach the same biomass levels of MPA or NTZ reefs which in some cases exceeded 1 ton/ha. Furthermore, 70% of the reefs within NTZ and MPA had a large predatory fish (e.g., sharks, jackfish, groupers) biomass relative contribution larger than 25%, while only two reefs in the OA had a relative piscivore contribution of more than 25%. Large predatory fish have a larger contribution to overall biomass within NTZs than MPAs reefs, even at low biomass values, suggesting that NTZ is more effective in protecting large predators. NTZ and MPA reefs also showed from 5 to 10% higher coral cover than OA which had a higher erect algae cover (∼22.9%). Indicating that the disruption of the trophic pyramid caused by the fishing pressure in OA reefs is reflecting on the trophic cascades controlling the benthic communities balance. These isolated areas represent the last pillars of natural diversity and are under such an increasing anthropogenic pressure that just being isolated is not enough anymore to guarantee a safe zone from detrimental activities like overfishing. Immediate establishment of protective NTZ is needed to maintain the role they play as a natural wilderness capital. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:10:34Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cec4e3d129c5470fa2cbd284dcca6862 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T09:10:34Z |
| publishDate | 2020-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-cec4e3d129c5470fa2cbd284dcca68622022-12-21T23:52:57ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452020-11-01710.3389/fmars.2020.583056583056Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, MexicoFabio Favoretto0Fabio Favoretto1Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio2Lorena León-Deniz3Carlos González-Salas4Horacio Pérez-España5Mariana Rivera-Higueras6Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate7Alejandro Vega-Zepeda8Harold Villegas-Hernández9Octavio Aburto-Oropeza10Gulf of California Marine Program, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California Sur (UABCS), La Paz, MexicoCentro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A. C. (CBMC), La Paz, MexicoCentro para la Biodiversidad Marina y la Conservación A. C. (CBMC), La Paz, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Marina, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Marina, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, MexicoInstituto de Ciencias Marinas y Pesquerías, Universidad Veracruzana, Boca del Río, MexicoUniversidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Posgrado en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, MexicoDepartamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal, Chetumal, MexicoDepartamento de Sistemática y Ecología Acuática, El Colegio de la Frontera Sur, Unidad Chetumal, Chetumal, MexicoDepartamento de Biología Marina, Campus de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, MexicoScripps Institution of Oceanography, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, United StatesIsolated reefs suffered from overfishing to a lesser extent than coastal reefs systems. Nevertheless, the exploitation of coastal areas forced fishers to move offshore to compensate for their decreasing catches, helped by an overall increase in their technological capabilities. Thus, these once pristine isolated areas are under increasing threat and should be considered a protection priority. Here, we compared the fish and epibenthic community of two isolated coral reefs in the southern Gulf of Mexico: one is the Alacranes reefs a Marine Protected Area (MPA) with two No-Take Zones (NTZs) and the other is Bajos del Norte an Open Area (OA). Alacranes reef is ∼135 km off the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula while Bajos del Norte ∼160 km. Our results show that despite being isolated, the OA reefs never reach the same biomass levels of MPA or NTZ reefs which in some cases exceeded 1 ton/ha. Furthermore, 70% of the reefs within NTZ and MPA had a large predatory fish (e.g., sharks, jackfish, groupers) biomass relative contribution larger than 25%, while only two reefs in the OA had a relative piscivore contribution of more than 25%. Large predatory fish have a larger contribution to overall biomass within NTZs than MPAs reefs, even at low biomass values, suggesting that NTZ is more effective in protecting large predators. NTZ and MPA reefs also showed from 5 to 10% higher coral cover than OA which had a higher erect algae cover (∼22.9%). Indicating that the disruption of the trophic pyramid caused by the fishing pressure in OA reefs is reflecting on the trophic cascades controlling the benthic communities balance. These isolated areas represent the last pillars of natural diversity and are under such an increasing anthropogenic pressure that just being isolated is not enough anymore to guarantee a safe zone from detrimental activities like overfishing. Immediate establishment of protective NTZ is needed to maintain the role they play as a natural wilderness capital.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.583056/fullno-take areasoverfishingfishing downtrophic pyramidstrophic cascades |
| spellingShingle | Fabio Favoretto Fabio Favoretto Ismael Mascareñas-Osorio Lorena León-Deniz Carlos González-Salas Horacio Pérez-España Mariana Rivera-Higueras Miguel-Ángel Ruiz-Zárate Alejandro Vega-Zepeda Harold Villegas-Hernández Octavio Aburto-Oropeza Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico Frontiers in Marine Science no-take areas overfishing fishing down trophic pyramids trophic cascades |
| title | Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico |
| title_full | Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico |
| title_short | Being Isolated and Protected Is Better Than Just Being Isolated: A Case Study From the Alacranes Reef, Mexico |
| title_sort | being isolated and protected is better than just being isolated a case study from the alacranes reef mexico |
| topic | no-take areas overfishing fishing down trophic pyramids trophic cascades |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.583056/full |
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