Ecosystem-Based Analysis of a Marine Protected Area Where Fisheries and Protected Species Coexist |
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Authors: | Alejandro Espinoza-Tenorio Gabriela Montaño-Moctezuma Ileana Espejel |
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Institution: | 1. Facultad de Ciencias Marinas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Km 110 Carr, Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, B.C., Mexico 2. Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Ecology, Fahrenheitstrasse 6, 28359, Bremen, Br, Germany 3. Instituto de Investigaciones Oceanológicas, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Km 110 Carr, Apartado Postal 453, 22830, Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, B.C., Mexico 4. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Km 110 Carr, Tijuana-Ensenada, Ensenada, B.C., Mexico
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Abstract: | The Gulf of California Biosphere Reserve (UGC&CRDBR) is a Marine Protected Area that was established in 1993 with the aim
of preserving biodiversity and remediating environmental impacts. Because remaining vigilant is hard and because regulatory
measures are difficult to enforce, harvesting has been allowed to diminish poaching. Useful management strategies have not
been implemented, however, and conflicts remain between conservation legislation and the fisheries. We developed a transdisciplinary
methodological scheme (pressure-state-response, loop analysis, and Geographic Information System) that includes both protected
species and fisheries modeled together in a spatially represented marine ecosystem. We analyzed the response of this marine
ecosystem supposing that conservation strategies were successful and that the abundance of protected species had increased.
The final aim of this study was to identify ecosystem-level management alternatives capable of diminishing the conflict between
conservation measures and fisheries. This methodological integration aimed to understand the functioning of the UGC&CRDBR
community as well as to identify implications of conservation strategies such as the recovery of protected species. Our results
suggest research hypotheses related to key species that should be protected within the ecosystem, and they point out the importance
of considering spatial management strategies. Counterintuitive findings underline the importance of understanding how the
community responds to disturbances and the effect of indirect pathways on the abundance of ecosystem constituents. Insights
from this research are valuable in defining policies in marine reserves where fisheries and protected species coexist. |
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