Marine Ecology

Predicting the effects of aquaculture development for coastal ecosystems remains challenging, particularly for data-limited systems, and tools that account for complex ecological interactions are needed to support ecosystem approaches to aquaculture. Here, we used qualitative network models (QNMs) to examine the potential community effects of increasing bivalve aquaculture in South Puget Sound, a large estuarine system in Washington, United States. QNMs are formalized conceptual models that require only a qualitative understanding of how variables composing a system interact (that is, the sign of interactions: +, –, and 0) and are therefore well-suited to data-limited systems. Specifically, we examined community-wide responses to scenarios in which bivalve cultivation effort increased for three different bivalve species (Manila clam Venerupis philippinarum, Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas, and geoduck Panopea generosa). Further, we evaluated community-wide responses to the removal of benthic bivalve predators, a future increase in nutrient loadings, and combinations of these scenarios acting simultaneously. The scen- arios enabled identification of potential trade-offs between increased aquaculture and shifts in the abundance of community members and assess- ment of the possible effects of different management actions. We also analysed the QNM to identify key interactions that influence the sign outcome of community responses to press perturbations, highlighting potential points for management intervention and linkages deserving of more focused quantitative study. QNMs are mathematically robust and highly flexible, but remain underutilized. We suggest that they may serve as valuable tools for supporting ecosystem approaches to aquaculture.

Studies concerning marine litter have received great attention over the last several years by the scientific community mainly due to their ecological and economic impacts in marine ecosystems, from coastal waters to the deep ocean seafloor. The distribution, type and abundance of marine litter in Ormonde and Gettysburg, the two seamounts of Gorringe Bank, were analyzed from photo and video imagery obtained during ROV-based surveys carried out at 60–3015 m depths during the E/V Nautilus cruise NA017. Located approximately 125 nm southwest of Portugal, Gorringe Bank lays at the crossroad between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and is therefore characterized by an intense maritime traffic and fishing activities. The high frequency of lost or discarded fishing gear, such as cables, longlines and nets, observed on Gorringe Bank suggests an origin mostly from fishing activities, with a clear turnover in the type of litter (mostly metal, glass and to a much lesser extent, plastic) with increasing depth. Litter was more abundant at the summit of Gorringe Bank (ca. 4 items·km−1), decreasing to less than 1 item·km−1 at the flanks and to ca. 2 items·km−1 at greater depths. Nevertheless, litter abundance appeared to be lower than in continental margin areas. The results presented herein are a contribution to support further actions for the conservation of vulnerable habitats on Gorringe Bank so that they can continue contributing to fishery  productivity in the surrounding region.

The present study aimed to explicitly quantify the link between the attributes of shallow-water gorgonian colonies (Octocorallia: Alcyonacea) and the ecological patterns of associated non-colonial epifaunal invertebrates. Based on multiple regression analysis, we tested the contribution of several attributes (colony height, width, and area, fractal dimension as a measure of colony complexity, lacunarity as a measure of the heterogeneity, and ‘‘colonial’’ epibiont cover) to abundance and taxonomic richness of associated assemblages. The results highlight the variation in the response of epifaunal assemblages to the gorgonian colony characteristics. The nature and intensity of the relationships were gorgonian species-dependent and varied from one taxonomic group to another. For both gorgonian species analyzed, the strongest predictor of species richness and abundance of the epifaunal assemblages was ‘‘colonial’’ epibiont cover, possibly due to a trophic effect (direct or indirect enhancement of food availability) combined with the surface available for colonization (species–area effect). Although structural complexity is usually indicated as the main driver for rich and abundant coral-associated assemblages, no significant relationship was observed between fractal dimension and the community descriptors; lacunarity, which reflects the sizes of the inter-branch spaces, was only linked to taxonomic richness in the assemblages associated with Leptogorgia lusitanica. The validity of the paradigm that structural complexity enhances biodiversity may be scale dependent. In the case of gorgonians, the effect of complexity at the ‘‘garden’’ level may be more relevant than at the individual colony level. This reinforces the need for the conservation of gorgonian aggregation areas as a whole in order to preserve host diversity and size structure.

Bahia de Los Angeles (BLA) in the Gulf of California was declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2007 and it is one of the most important regions for the feeding of marine turtles in México. All sea turtles are listed as threatened or endangered, so their conservation is one of the main objectives of the reserve. By-catch has been a major cause of mortality in the area but is also a main source of economic income and fisheries are a cornerstone to the local culture of Baja California. In light of these facts, managing for the coexistence of fishing and turtle conservation in BLA Is a major challenge. It is well documented that by-catch has a direct negative effect on the marine turtle population status (Oravets 2000 and Lewison et al. 2004b); however, the indirect effects of fishing activities on the entire community are less known. Indirect effects are difficult to measure and can cause counterintuitive responses to disturbances. To assess the role of indirect effects it is important to understand how the ecosystem functions (Botsford et al. 1997; Jennings et al. 2001; & Committee on the Applications of Ecological Theory to Environmental Problems, 1986), and how anthropogenic disturbances such as by-catch indirectly affect different marine communities and trophic structures within. Since one of the objectives of the Reserve is the conservation of key species, we analyzed scenarios that could allow the coexistence of artisanal fishing and turtle conservation in BLA.

Aim
The European Red List is a review of the conservation
status of European species according to IUCN regional
Red Listing guidelines. It identifies those species that are
threatened with extinction at the regional level, so that
appropriate conservation action can be taken to improve
their status. This Red List publication summarises results
for all described native European marine fishes.

Scope
All marine fishes, including all hagfish, cartilaginous
fish and bony fish species native to or naturalised in
Europe before AD 1500 (a total of 1,220 species), have
been assessed in this Red List. The geographic scope
encompasses the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the
Baltic Sea, the North Sea and/or the European part of the
Atlantic Ocean (i.e., the territorial waters and the Exclusive
Economic Zones (EEZs) of all European countries in the
Eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, including the EEZs
of the Macaronesian islands belonging to Portugal and
Spain).

Status assessment
The status of all species was assessed using the IUCN Red
List Categories and Criteria (IUCN 2012a), which are
the world’s most widely accepted system for measuring
extinction risk. All assessments followed the Guidelines
for Application of IUCN Red List Criteria at Regional and
National Levels (IUCN 2012b).

These assessments were compiled based on the data and
knowledge from a network of leading European and
international experts on marine fish. The assessments
were then completed and reviewed at three large
workshops held in Spain, Belgium and the UK, as well
as through email correspondence with relevant experts.
More than 110 experts participated in the assessment and
review process for European marine fishes. Assessments
are available on the European Red List website and
data portal: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/
conservation/species/redlist and http://www.iucnredlist.
org/initiatives/europe.

Studies on the size-scaling of phytoplankton growth rate are usually based on temperature-corrected
growth rates or experiments performed at a fixed temperature, but the effects of differing thermal adaptation
of small and large species have not been considered. We use an extensive dataset of phytoplankton growth
rate responses to temperature and cell size to show that the unimodal size-scaling of phytoplankton growth
depends strongly on temperature, and is not significant at high temperatures where the most common pico-
phytoplankton species grow at their optimum. Furthermore, we show that the unimodality results from the
different growth rate scaling of picophytoplankton, which differs phylogenetically from larger phytoplankton
taxa. Using ribosomal RNA sequences we recalculated the size-scaling allometry with Phylogenetic General-
ized Least Squares regression. After phylogenetic correction, the unimodal relationship is not significant at
any temperature, suggesting that the observed curvature reflects the evolutionary adaptation of picophyto-
plankton to the warm conditions usually encountered in oligotrophic environments.

In this study 14 species of marine leeches (Piscicolidae) are reported. These are divided geographically into  northern and southern species, and ecologically into brackish water and high salinity species. Notice is made of Cape Hatteras as a divide between northern and southern species.

Marine Reserves (MRs) are amongst the most common tools used for marine conservation around the world. New Zealand (NZ) has 34 MRs protecting approximately 7.6% of NZ‘s territorial seas. In NZ the main purpose of MRs is to allow scientific research to be conducted in the absence of human disturbance. The establishment of MRs around the country produces different biological, social and economic effects in the surrounding communities. However, the majority of previous MR studies have evaluated the biological effects of protection and not the social and economic effects. This thesis investigates how established MRs are performing in terms of social, economic, social and biological goals and contributing to society‘s well-being within New Zealand. For this research I conducted research at two MRs. The Taputeranga MR (TMR) was established in 2008, and is the newest MR established in New Zealand. It is located in the Wellington region, on the Wellington south coast, and extends from Princess Bay to Quarry Bay, protecting 8.54 km2 of coastal waters. Kapiti MR (KMR), which is one of the oldest MRs in New Zealand, was established in 1992 in the Wellington region, approximately 50 km north of Wellington city. It is located on the Kapiti coast in front of Paraparaumu beach. The KMR covers 20.90 km2of coastal water, divided into two parts; the largest part is 17.50 km2and the smaller part is 3.4 km2.
In this thesis I am starting to explore the financial cost of the MRs (chapter 2), where I attempted to estimate all of the costs required to establish a MR. The Taputeranga MR was used as a case study along with an analysis of the management costs for four other MRs. I aimed to find predictor variables across these five MRs to explain differences in their management cost. In addition, I also estimated the displacement cost to fishermen. Results showed that the Taputeranga‘s pre-establishment process cost approximately NZ $508,000, and the establishment process cost approximately NZ $ 354,000. In addition, the average management cost across five MRs per year was around NZ $63,000 year -1. With respect to the predictor variables, the Akaike Information Criterion (AICc) analysis showed that MR size best explains cost, where small MRs are more expensive to maintain than big MRs. The displacement cost was estimated as NZ $22,000 approximately per vessel.
I also researched and examined the social impacts of MRs (chapter 3). The aim of this chapter was to explore the human dimensions of the TMR and KMR and a hypothetical MR as a control area. I used a series of questionnaires with five main groups affected by the establishment of the MRs. Results showed that of the people who conducted activities close to the TMR and KMR, nobody selected either area specifically because there was a MR in the vicinity. With respect to MR knowledge, the majority of people at both MRs and at the hypothetical MR believed they knew what a MR was, however, nobody could provide a correct description of the main reasons for MR designation in New Zealand. Most groups surveyed at KMR indicated that its establishment had not personally affected them. At TMR, all groups believed they had experienced direct (personal) and indirect problems since the establishment of the MR. At the hypothetical MR, the majority of respondents perceived that its establishment would not cause any personal or family problems. I found that respondents at both MRs and the hypothetical MR believed that MRs are a good tool for protecting the environment.
I also develop a framework to understand and estimate MR goods and services by using the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment framework (chapter 4). The aim of this study was to identify and determine use and non-use values of the Taputeranga MR and Kapiti MR. At KMR and TMR I identified eight main value-categories: (1) Commercial fishing benefits from MR, (2) Nature-based tourism, (3) Education, (4) Research, (5) Public recreation, (6) Recreational fishing benefit from MR, (7) Ecosystem health, and (8) Existence – Bequest value. The existence-bequest values (non-use values) were estimated based on the public‘s willingness to pay (WTP) and found to have a mean value of NZ $61.54 at the TMR and NZ $31.45 at the KMR per household/year.
After being exploring cost of MRs, social effects of MRs and MR goods and services, I researched the biological effects of MRs. For this I examined the effect of MRs on rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) biomass and abundance (chapter 5). I investigated how rock lobsters (RLs) (Jasus edwardsii) have responded to the protection afforded by the TMR and KMR by comparing rock lobster Catch Per Unit Effort (CPUE) between reserve and nonreserve areas. The average CPUE was higher inside both MRs than outside. Also bigger RLs were caught inside both MRs‘. In addition, the TMR catches were twice as high compared with historical catches, and the KMR compared with historical catches were 1.93 times higher.
By integrating all these different chapters and methodologies I have been able to provide insights that will help in the future of conservation of MRs, by improving the level of information for better decision-making, improving the communication between decision makers and stakeholders and to build better relationships between researchers and non extractive users of MRs. Moreover, I provide recommendations that could be useful to include within the current Marine Protected Area Policy and potentially improve it. These recommendations also attempt to minimize the time and costs involved in MRs from the pre establishment stages, by creating effective and formal alliances between different groups of stakeholders.