Limited human access is linked to higher effectiveness in a marine sanctuary

Helder C Guabiroba; Ciro C Vilar; Hudson T Pinheiro; Jean-Christophe Joyeux

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114838

Limited human access is linked to higher effectiveness in a marine sanctuary

J Environ Manage. 2022 Mar 10:311:114838. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114838. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Helder C Guabiroba¹, Ciro C Vilar², Hudson T Pinheiro³, Jean-Christophe Joyeux⁴

Affiliations

¹ Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29075- 910, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Biologia Animal (PPGBAN), Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29075- 910, Brazil. Electronic address: helder.oceano@yahoo.com.br.
² Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29075- 910, Brazil.
³ Center for Marine Biology, University of São Paulo, São Sebastião, São Paulo, 11612-109, Brazil; California Academy of Sciences, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA, 94118, USA; A.A. Voz da Natureza, Av. Jeronimo Monteiro, 240, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29010-002, Brazil.
⁴ Laboratório de Ictiologia, Departamento de Oceanografia e Ecologia, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29075- 910, Brazil; Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Biologia Animal (PPGBAN), Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Av. Fernando Ferrari, 514, Goiabeiras, Vitória, Espírito Santo, 29075- 910, Brazil.

PMID: 35279488
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114838

Abstract

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a widely used tool for coral reefs conservation, but massive tourism activities inside MPAs worldwide can challenge their effectiveness. This study investigated the role of different levels of protection strictness (no-entry, low and high tourism-allowed zones) set for a marine sanctuary in shaping benthic cover and reef fish community structure in the richest and largest coral reef system of the Southwestern Atlantic. Reef fish community structure and benthic cover differed between protection levels. No-entry zones showed significant higher coral coverage and biomass of piscivores and herbivores than tourism-allowed zones. Highest differences were found between no-entry and high tourism intensity zones. Despite the fact that protection from fishing by itself can ensure conservation benefits, we show here that the establishment of no-entry zones improve MPAs effectiveness.

Keywords: Abrolhos; Brazilian province; Marine protected areas; No-entry zones; Piscivores; Reef fishes; Sanctuary; Tourism.