Topic: Marine Protected Areas

POLICY AND OUTREACH

topic: marine protected areas

Interest in marine protected areas (MPAs) has escalated rapidly as state, federal and international management agencies and NGO’s consider their application for ecosystem-based management and conservation. PISCO scientists and policy coordinators have engaged in a wide variety of activities to help inform these processes.

The Science of MPAs

PISCO scientists and policy coordinators have been engaged in studies and working groups to develop a better understanding of the roles and design of MPAs for ecosystem-based management and conservation. Activities include working groups at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), which have spawned a number of publications in the scientific and policy literature (see list of publications below).

Policy and Advising

PISCO is committed to connecting the science of marine reserves and protected areas to the public, managers, and policy makers in an active, two-way dialog. We work to inform decision making with accurate science and do not advocate for particular policy and management outcomes. PISCO scientists regularly participate as science advisors to local, state, federal and international processes. Examples include California's Marine Life Protection Act, Oregon's Ocean Policy Advisory Council, the National Marine Sanctuaries, the Federal Center for Marine Protected Areas, Pew Oceans Commission, and others.

Monitoring and Evaluation

PISCO scientists are involved in the design and implementation of studies to monitor and evaluate the effects of establishing MPAs. In April 2003, the State of California established a network of marine protected areas within the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS). PISCO is working with the California Department of Fish and Game, Channel Islands National Park Service and others to develop, implement, and evaluate the ecological monitoring program for these MPAs. Because PISCO had established monitoring sites throughout the Channel Islands prior to the implementation of these MPAs, PISCO’s program has been critical in providing continuity and expanding the monitoring network.

Similarly, our monitoring studies along the central coast of California include existing MPAs and sites inside and outside recently proposed MPAs by California’s Marine Life Protection Act. The baseline created by these monitoring studies, also in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Game and Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, provide the foundation for an expanded monitoring program for the MLPA’s MPA network on the central coast.

Selected PISCO Publications and Resources

The Science of Marine Reserves (video, booklet)

Fact sheets on Channel Islands Reserves (created by COMPASS and PISCO):

"Monitoring MPAs in the Channel Islands" download pdf
"Ecosystem Responses at Anacapa Ecological Reserve" download pdf
"Socioeconomic Monitoring" download pdf
"Ecosystem Responses in Marine Reserves" download pdf
"How long will it take to see effects of reserves?" download pdf

Peer Reviewed Papers

Airamé, S., J. E. Dugan, K. D. Lafferty, H. M. Leslie, D. A. McArdle, and R. R. Warner. 2003. Applying ecological criteria to marine reserve design: a case study from the California Channel Islands. Ecological Applications 13:S170-184.
Airamé, S. 2005. Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary: Advancing the Science and Policy of Marine Protected Areas. In Wright, D. and A. Scholtz (eds). Place Matters: Geospatial Tools for Marine Science, Conservation, and Management in the Pacific Northwest. Oregon State University Press. Corvallis, Oregon. Pp. 91-124.
Allison, G., Lubchenco, J. and Carr, M.H. 1998. Marine reserves are necessary but not sufficient for marine conservation. Ecological Applications 8(1) Supplement:S79-592.
Allison, G. W., S. D. Gaines, J. Lubchenco, and H. P. Possingham. 2003. Ensuring persistence of marine reserves: Catastrophes require adopting an insurance factor. Ecological Applications 13:S8-24.
Baskett, M. L., S. A. Levin, S. D. Gaines, and J. Dushoff. 2005. Marine reserve design and the evolution of size at maturation in harvested fish. Ecological Applications. 15:882-901.
Bergen, L. K., and M. H. Carr. 2003. Establishing Marine Reserves: How Can Science Best Inform Policy?Environment 45:8-19.
Bergen, L. and Carr, M.H. 2004. Designing the Channel Islands marine reserves: a case study of science-based reserve design. Current: The Journal of Marine Education 20:13-16.
Botsford, L. W., A. Hastings, and S. D. Gaines. 2001. Dependence of sustainability on the configuration of marine reserves and larval dispersal distance. Ecology Letters 4:144-150.
Carr, M. H., and P. T. Raimondi. 1999. Marine protected areas as a precautionary approach to management.California Cooperative Oceans Fisheries Investigations Reports 40:1-6.
Carr, M. H. 2000. Marine protected areas: challenges and opportunities for understanding and conserving coastal marine ecosystems. Environmental Conservation 27:106-109.
Carr, M. H., J. Neigel, S. Andelman, J. Estes, J. Lagier, and R. R. Warner. 2003. Environmental and ecological differences between terrestrial and marine systems: implications for the objectives and design of protected areas. Ecological Applications 13:S90-107.
Caselle, J. E., S. L. Hamilton, and R. R. Warner. 2003. The interaction of retention, recruitment and density-dependent mortality in the spatial placement of marine reserves. Gulf and Caribbean Research Supplement 14:107-118.
Cole, R.G., C. Syms, N. K. Davey, N. Gust, P. Notman, R. Stewart, C. Radford, G. Carbines, M.H. Carr and A. G. Jeffs. In press. Does breathing apparatus affect fish counts and observations? A comparison at three New Zealand fished and protected areas. Marine Biology.
Gaines, S. D., B. Gaylord, and J. L. Largier. 2003. Avoiding current oversights in marine reserve design. Ecological Applications 13:S32-46.
Gaylord, B., S.D. Gaines, D.A. Siegel, and M. H. Carr. 2005. Marine reserves can exploit life history and population structure to potentially increase fisheries yields. Ecological Applications 15:2180 2191
Gerber, L. R., S. J. Andelman, L. W. Botsford, S. D. Gaines, A. Hastings, S. R. Palumbi, and H. P. Possingham.2003. Population models for marine reserve design: A retrospective and prospective synthesis. Ecological Applications 13:S47-64.
Guichard, F., S. A. Levin, A. Hastings, and D. Siegel. 2004. Toward a dynamic metacommunity approach to marine reserve theory. Bioscience 54:1003-1011
Halpern B., and R. R. Warner. 2003. Matching marine reserve design to reserve objectives. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 270:1871-1878
Halpern, B S. 2003. The impact of marine reserves: do reserves work and does reserve size matter? Ecological Applications 13:S117-137
Halpern, B. S., and R. R. Warner. 2002. Marine reserves have rapid and lasting effects. Ecology Letters 5:361-367.
Halpern, B., S. D. Gaines, and R. R. Warner. 2004. Confounding effects of the export of production and the displacement of fishing effort from marine reserves. Ecological Applications 14:1248-1256
Leslie H., M. H. Ruckelshaus, I. R. Ball, and S. Andelman. 2003. Using siting algorithms in the design of marine reserve networks. Ecological Applications 13:S185-198.
Lubchenco, J., R. Davis-Born, and B. Simler. 2002. Lessons from land for protection in the sea: The need for a new ocean ethic. Open Spaces 5:1.
Lubchenco, J., S. D. Gaines, R. R. Warner, S. Airame, and B. Simler. 2002. The Science of Marine Reserves. Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans.
Lubchenco, J., S.R. Palumbi, S.D. Gaines, and S. Andelman (eds). 2003. The Science of Marine Reserves. Special Issue of Ecological Applications 13: S 1-228.
Lubchenco, J., S. R. Palumbi, S. D. Gaines, and S. Andelman. 2003. Plugging a hole in the ocean: The emerging science of marine reserves. Ecological Applications 13:S3-7.
Murray, S.N., Ambrose, R.F.Bohnsack, J.A., Botsford, L.W., Carr, M.H., Davis,G.E., Dayton, P.K., Gotshall, D., Gunderson, D.R., Hixon, M.A., Lubchenco, J., Mangel, M., MacCall, A., McArdle, D.A., Ogden, J.C., Roughgarden, J., Starr, R.M., Tegner, M.J. and Yoklavich, M.M. 1999. No-take reserve networks: sustaining fishery populations and marine ecosystems. Fisheries 24:11-25.
Roberts, C., S. Andelman, G. Branch, R. Bustamante, J. C. Castilla, J. Dugan, B. Halpern, H. Leslie, K. Lafferty, J. Lubchenco, D. McArdle, H. Possingham, M. Ruckelshaus, and R. R. Warner. 2003. Ecological criteria for evaluating candidate sites for marine reserves. Ecological Applications 13:S199-214.
Roberts, C., G. Branch, R. Bustamante, J. C. Castilla, J. Dugan, B. Halpern, H. Leslie, K. Lafferty, J. Lubchenco, D. McArdle, M. Ruckelshaus, and R. R. Warner. 2003. Application of ecological criteria in selecting marine reserves and developing reserve networks. Ecological Applications 13:S215-228.
Roberts, C. M., B. Halpern, S. R. Palumbi, and R. R. Warner. 2001. Designing marine reserve networks: why small, isolated protected areas are not enough. Conservation Biology in Practice 2:11-17.
Shanks, A. L., B. Grantham, and M. H. Carr. 2003. Propagule dispersal distance and the size and spacing of marine reserves. Ecological Applications 13:S159-169.
Stoms, D.M., Davis, F.W., Andelman, S.J., Carr, M.H, Gaines, S.D., Halpern, B.S., Hoenicke, R., Leibowitz, S.G., Leydecker, A., Madin, E.M.P., Tallis, H., and Warner, R.R. 2005. Integrated coastal reserve planning: making the land-sea connection. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 3:429-436.
Warner, R. R., S. E. Swearer, and J. E. Caselle. 2000. Larval accumulation and retention: implications for the design of marine reserves and essential fish habitat. Bulletin of Marine Science 66:821-830.

→ See Master Citation List for all PISCO Scientists

Technical Reports

International clearinghouse for MPA effectiveness measures: A conceptual design, Syms and Carr, 2002. Prepared for the Commission on Environmental Cooperation as a template for information compilation and dissemination to resource managers. download pdf.

Marine Protected Areas: Evaluating MPA effectiveness in an uncertain world, Syms and Carr, 2001. Prepared for a workshop sponsored by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, held May 2001 in Monterey, CA.

A review of the ecological effectiveness of subtidal marine reserves in Central California. Part I: Synopsis of scientific investigations. Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series MSD-04-2. NOAA Marine Sanctuaries Division, Silver Spring, MD. 128 p.
Available from the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) Conservation Series at: http://www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/conservation/starr1.html

A review of the ecological effectiveness of subtidal marine reserves in Central California. Part 2: Summary of Existing Marine Reserves in Central California and their Potential Benefits. Marine Sanctuaries Conservation Series MSD-04-2. NOAA Marine Sanctuaries Division, Silver Spring, MD. 12 p.
Available from the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) Conservation Series at: http://www.sanctuaries.noaa.gov/science/conservation/starr1.html

Movement Patterns of Nearshore Marine Fishes in the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. Caselle, J.E. 2003. Final Report to the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Foundation Fishermen-Scientist Collaborative Project. download .pdf

MPA links

Locations and regulations for the Channel Islands MPAs (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/channel_islands/index.html)

California's Marine Life Protection Act (http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/mlpa/index.html)

Oregon's Ocean Policy Advisory Council (http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/OPAC/)

National Marine Sanctuaries (http://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/)

Federal Center for Marine Protected Areas (http://mpa.gov/)

Pew Oceans Commission (http://www.pewtrusts.org/)