![Location of sampling sites. A) Sites surveyed by Sala et al. in 1999 [35], and resurveyed here in 2009. Dots inside the circle represent sites surveyed in Cabo Pulmo National Park in 1999. Dots inside squares represent sites in core zones (no-take areas) of other marine protected areas; the rest represent open access sites. B) Map of 11 sites surveyed at Cabo Pulmo National Park in 2009. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0023601.g001](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/E-Ezcurra/publication/51586991/figure/fig1/AS:305899374694400@1449943502056/Location-of-sampling-sites-A-Sites-surveyed-by-Sala-et-al-in-1999-35-and-resurveyed_Q320.jpg)
![Location of sampling sites.
A) Sites surveyed by Sala et al. in 1999 [35], and resurveyed here in 2009. Dots inside the circle represent sites surveyed in Cabo Pulmo National Park in 1999. Dots inside squares represent sites in core zones (no-take areas) of other marine protected areas; the rest represent open access sites. B) Map of 11 sites surveyed at Cabo Pulmo National Park in 2009.](https://www.researchgate.net/profile/E-Ezcurra/publication/51586991/figure/fig7/AS:341455177568290@1458420666929/Location-of-sampling-sites-A-Sites-surveyed-by-Sala-et-al-in-1999-35-and-resurveyed_Q320.jpg)
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Large Recovery of Fish Biomass in a No-Take Marine Reserve
PLOS One
Abstract and Figures
No-take marine reserves are effective management tools used to restore fish biomass and community structure in areas depleted by overfishing. Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) was created in 1995 and is the only well enforced no-take area in the Gulf of California, Mexico, mostly because of widespread support from the local community. In 1999, four years after the establishment of the reserve, there were no significant differences in fish biomass between CPNP (0.75 t ha(-1) on average) and other marine protected areas or open access areas in the Gulf of California. By 2009, total fish biomass at CPNP had increased to 4.24 t ha(-1) (absolute biomass increase of 3.49 t ha(-1), or 463%), and the biomass of top predators and carnivores increased by 11 and 4 times, respectively. However, fish biomass did not change significantly in other marine protected areas or open access areas over the same time period. The absolute increase in fish biomass at CPNP within a decade is the largest measured in a marine reserve worldwide, and it is likely due to a combination of social (strong community leadership, social cohesion, effective enforcement) and ecological factors. The recovery of fish biomass inside CPNP has resulted in significant economic benefits, indicating that community-managed marine reserves are a viable solution to unsustainable coastal development and fisheries collapse in the Gulf of California and elsewhere.
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Data
August 2011
... Zooplankton time series enable researchers to analyze and quantify temporal variations in larval fish abundance and species richness-indicators of spawning activity-in response to climatic and oceanographic conditions across multiple time scales (Hernandez Jr. et al., 2010;Harada et al., 2015;Ahern et al., 2018). High-frequency (weekly) zooplankton surveys capture short-term variability and provide valuable ecological data that are difficult to obtain through other methods, such as fisheries catch statistics and visual surveys (Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011Olivier et al., 2022;Ramírez-Ortiz et al., 2022). These time series are increasingly important for generating fisheryindependent data to improve estimates of gamma diversity, assess fishery stock sizes and better understand population dynamics (Smith and Richardson, 1977;Moser and Smith, 1993;Hsieh et al., 2006). ...
... Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP), located in the southwest region of the Gulf of California, was designated a no-take marine protected area in 1995. This protection has resulted in exceptionally high fish biomass and a diverse presence of top predators including sharks, mantas and sea mammalsspecies rarely observed in other parts of the Gulf of California (Álvarez-Filip et al., 2006;Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011Olivier et al., 2022;Ramírez-Ortiz et al., 2022). The first study to assess ichthyoplankton species richness and spawning periods in CPNP was conducted using molecular methods by Ahern et al. (2018). ...
... The study, based on weekly sampling in 2014, identified two distinct seasonal spawning patterns: (i) the highest ichthyoplankton abundance occurred in the spring, and (ii) species richness peaked in the summer. The study revealed a highly diverse species assemblage, with 157 species identified-47 of which had not been previously recorded in systematic diver-conducted monitoring surveys (Álvarez-Filip et al., 2006;Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011. ...
This study analyzed seasonal and interannual variations in larval fish abundance in Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) from January 2015 to November 2017, encompassing the 2015–2016 El Niño and subsequent thermal relaxation, to examine the impacts of climate-driven events on larval fish abundance, diversity, and species richness in a no-take marine protected area. A total of 166 larval fish taxa were identified, spanning 59 families, 94 genera and 98 species. Dactyloscopidae spp. (relative frequency: 41.7%; abundance: 9.9%), Auxis spp. (32.3%, 7.3%), Abudefduf troschelii (24%, 4.7%), Syacium spp. (17.7%, 3.9%) and Tripterygiidae spp. (12.5%, 2.8%) were the most frequent and numerically dominant taxa, after excluding 13 mesopelagic and bathypelagic species not typically found in CPNP’s shallow waters as adults. Although larval fish assemblages responded to short-term seasonal fluctuations (quarterly and semi-annual), we found that fish larvae abundance, diversity and species richness (independently of their biogeographic and habitat affinity) declined during the 2015–2016 El Niño compared to both the period before El Niño and the subsequent thermal relaxation (June 2016–November 2017). These findings highlight their vulnerability to El Niño-driven oceanographic changes, with implications for the resilience of these populations in the context of a changing climate.
... We used 38 years of estimates of kelp area based on remote sensing from the Santa Barbara Coastal LTER time series dataset (Bell 2023) to estimate the resilience of kelp forests. The dataset contains quarterly estimates of kelp canopy area in m 2 (referred to as kelp area from now on) from three Landsat sensors: Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper (1984-2011), Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper+ (1999, and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (2013-present). Each Landsat sensor has 30-m resolution and does not distinguish between giant and bull kelp. ...
... Additional research is required to assess the generality of our findings, but they provide a strong motivation to carefully manage fishing pressure in the coastal zone as climate extremes become more frequent and intense (Oliver et al. 2018;Schoeman, Bolin, and Cooley 2023). MPAs offer many benefits from preventing continued destruction of habitats (including blue carbon ecosystems such as seagrass and mangroves), increasing food security, and increasing resilience to climate shocks and environmental variability, ultimately increasing overall ecosystem resilience (Aburto-Oropeza et al. 2011;Jacquemont et al. 2022;Miteva, Murray, and Pattanayak 2015;Selig and Bruno 2010). However, MPAs are not a panacea to the ongoing and projected impacts of climate change. ...
Under accelerating threats from climate-change impacts, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been proposed as climate-adaptation tools to enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems. Yet, debate persists as to whether and how MPAs may promote resilience to climate shocks. Here, we use 38 years of satellite-derived kelp cover to empirically test whether a network of 58 temperate coastal MPAs in Central and Southern California enhances the resistance of kelp forest ecosystems to, and their recovery from, the unprecedented 2014–2016 marine heatwave regime that occurred in the region. We also leverage a 22-year time series of subtidal community surveys to mechanistically understand whether trophic cascades explain emergent patterns in kelp forest resilience within MPAs. We find that fully protected MPAs significantly enhance kelp forests' resistance to and recovery from marine heatwaves in Southern California, but not in Central California. Differences in regional responses to the heatwaves are partly explained by three-level trophic interactions comprising kelp, urchins, and predators of urchins. Urchin densities in Southern California MPAs are lower within fully protected MPAs during and after the heatwave, while the abundances of their main predators—lobster and sheephead—are higher. In Central California, a region without lobster or sheephead, there is no significant difference in urchin or kelp densities within MPAs as the current urchin predator, the sea otter, is protected statewide. Our analyses show that fully protected MPAs can be effective climate-adaptation tools, but their ability to enhance resilience to extreme climate events depends upon region-specific environmental and trophic interactions. As nations progress to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, scientists and managers should consider whether protection will increase resilience to climate-change impacts given their local ecological contexts, and what additional measures may be needed.
... Given that the intention of this research was to gather baseline information on ecotourism with charismatic species at Baja California Sur and therefore included a variety of companies and approaches, it is needed to evaluate the effect of one directed interpretation program applied by one particularly chosen company to measure effectiveness percentages (Powell and Ham, 2008) so that it could act as a role model for sustainability as it occurs with places such as Cabo Pulmo (Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011;Gámez, 2008;Pérez et al., 2019). ...
Nature-based tourism, such as whale watching and swimming with whale sharks, is rapidly growing worldwide. Although there is no clear classification, whale watching is often referred to as ecotourism or sustainable tourism. However, one of the key principles of true ecotourism is that it promotes, among other things, the generation of environmental education and awareness. The purpose of this research was to evaluate the effect of tourism activities with charismatic species in tourists’ environmental consciousness. The study was carried out in three stages via surveys to participants of two main activities (snorkeling with whale sharks and gray whale watching) in Baja California Sur, Mexico: 1) one before the activity where socio-demographic, circumstantial variables, and initial environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior were measured; 2) one immediately after, evaluating aspects of the experience and awareness in the short term, and, 3) Four months later via e-mail to evaluate environmental consciousness in the long term. A total of 542 surveys were obtained in the first two stages, and 200 surveys in the third stage. A Structural Equation Model analysis was performed to test causal relationships between the activities and environmental consciousness. Our results show that the experience with a charismatic species had a significant and positive effect on short-term environmental awareness. However, there was no significant effect of the experience on their long-term environmental consciousness. Implications for the actors involved in nature-based tourism activities are discussed, highlighting the need to implement globally used strategies but applying them in the local context.
... MPAs may also be called marine reserves or sanctuaries. Within MPAs, commercially harvested species recover density, biomass, and size when well enforced (Halpern, 2003;Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011); however, the direct benefit to commercial fisheries is achieved through spillover effects (Jennings, 2000;Burgess et al., 2014;Di Lorenzo et al., 2016). Ecological spillover is the net export of larvae, juvenile, and adult biomass from an MPA into surrounding areas, whereas fishery spillover is the portion of exported biomass available to a fishery and is dependent upon fishing regulations (Di Lorenzo et al., 2016). ...
... The length-weight (LWR) and length-length relationships (LLR) are also useful for calculation of fish stocks and provide information on growth patterns and the condition of fish (Ricker, 1968) [17] . Moreover, LWRs and LLRs are also useful for conversion purposes when comparisons are made with literature values and consequently to estimate fish biomass (Ault et al., 2005; Aburto-Oropeza et al., 2011) [2,1] . In addition, condition factor (K) is calculated from the relationship between the weight of a fish and its length, with the intention of describing the "condition" of that individual fish (Froese, 2006) [6] . ...
The present work reports the length-weight (LWR), length-length (LLR) and condition factor relationships for Labeo gonius collected from Taunsa Barrage, River Indus, Pakistan. The results of LWR (W = a TL b) indicated W =-2.4032 TL 3.29 , for L. gonius, representing positive allometric growth pattern. All LWRs and LLRs and condition factor relationships were found significantly correlated. Fork length and eye diameter showed isometric growth pattern with both total length and body weight; standard length, pelvic fin length and caudal fin width showed the same pattern only with TL; while head width and caudal fin length grew isometrically with an increase in body weight of the L. gonius. On the other hand, head length, snout length, mouth gap, body girth, dorsal fin length, pectoral fin length and anal fin length showed allometric growth with the increase in size of wild captured L. gonius. Mean condition factor (K) value was found 0.98±0.06 in this study. The results also showed significant correlations of wet body weight and all studied lengths of L. gonius with condition factor. Length-length relationships for Labeo gonius were unknown to Fish Base. The results of this work would be beneficial for sustainable management as well as fishery managers.
... Since their implementation, some MPAs have been more successful than others. For example, in the Gulf of California,~23,300 km 2 have been decreed as MPAs, but only the national park known as Cabo Pulmo has met conservation and sustainability goals [82]; it has experienced a great recovery in the biomass of fish and top predators [83]. ...
In Mexico, marine acoustics research still faces technical and scientific challenges. For the past decade, the country has made a sustained effort to implement acoustic techniques to generate time series of standardized information; however, these data have been underutilized. Marine acoustics research has been used mainly for small pelagic species and has contributed to improving fishery management and to advising stakeholders. The Mexican scientific community has perceived marine acoustic techniques as expensive tools that are only used for industrial fishing purposes. Marine acoustics can provide information on the variability and interactions between species, their physical environment, and other communities of species, but this approach has not yet been integrated into interdisciplinary research programs or ecosystem models. Additionally, acoustic data provide estimates of biomass and indices of relative abundance, and they have suitable statistical properties for use in integrated catch-at-age models. In summary, to consolidate marine acoustic techniques in Mexico, it is necessary, at a minimum, to maintain the current infrastructure for acoustic studies, to increase the budget for the development of monitoring programs that collect ecosystem indicator data, to promote the training of human resources, and to encourage peer review of the information generated and reported in gray literature.
Mechanisms for marine ecological protection and recovery, including area-based conservation tools like ‘Marine Protected Areas’ (MPAs) are necessary tools to reach the Aichi Target or the forthcoming 30x30 target set by the Kunming-Montreal Biodiversity Framework. However, full ecosystem recovery takes years to manifest and the idea that MPA protection alone will foster human well-being is frequently contradicted by socio-economic evidence. Therefore, a new framework for marine area-based conservation and ecosystem restoration that reconciles the discrepancies between ecological recovery and socio-economic growth timelines is needed to effectively meet global biodiversity conservation targets. We introduce the concept of ‘Marine Prosperity Areas,’ (MPpA) an area-based conservation tool that prioritizes human prosperity as opposed to passively relying on ecosystem recovery to catalyze social change and economic growth. This concept leverages a suite of tried-and-true community-based intervention and investment strategies to strengthen and expand access to environmental science, social goods and services, and the financial perks of the blue economy. This data-driven framework may be of interest to stakeholders who support traditional area-based conservation models, but also to those who have been historically opposed to MPAs or have been excluded from past conservation processes.
El estudio realizado en el Parque Nacional Revillagigedo en 2023 tuvo como objetivo establecer una línea base de biodiversidad marina utilizando ADN ambiental (eDNA). Se muestrearon 17 sitios en cuatro islas principales: San Benedicto, Roca Partida, Socorro y Clarión, recolectando 39 muestras de agua de mar. Los sitios someros (10-25 m de profundidad) y los sitios profundos (80-280 m) se analizaron bajo condiciones controladas para evitar contaminación.
El análisis genómico incluyó la amplificación de genes ribosomales 18S y 12S para eucariotas y peces, respectivamente, y las secuencias obtenidas (~10 millones) fueron sometidas a estrictos filtros de calidad. Se identificaron 9,889 OTUs de eucariotas y 539 OTUs de peces después de eliminar contaminantes y secuencias no marinas. Sin embargo, más del 20% de las secuencias no pudieron asignarse taxonómicamente debido a la limitada representación en bases de datos globales.
Los resultados revelaron una gran diversidad marina, incluyendo 41 phyla, 98 clases y 523 especies. Los grupos dominantes incluyeron dinoflagelados, ciliados, diatomeas, y crustáceos. A pesar de las limitaciones en la asignación taxonómica, este estudio proporciona una valiosa línea base para el monitoreo de biodiversidad marina en una región con escaso conocimiento previo y destaca la importancia de bases de datos más completas para mejorar futuras investigaciones.
Overfishing, pollution, habitat destruction, and climate change threaten marine ecosystems unprecedentedly. As these pressures continue to mount, marine ecosystems become more vulnerable to collapse, which could have disastrous effects on the millions of people who depend on them for their food, livelihoods, and cultural identity. In this context, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established as a promising tool for conserving biodiversity, supporting sustainable fisheries, and building resilience to the impacts of climate change. In this chapter, we explore how MPAs can enhance resilience to climate change, review the research articles supporting this role, and provide examples from real-world case studies. It is worth mentioning that using MPAs as a strategy for coping with climate change has challenges and opportunities addressed in this chapter. Suggestions for future research and management initiatives were also provided. Ultimately, this book chapter aims to contribute to a better understanding of the crucial role that MPAs can play in constructing climate resilience and hitting the 30 × 30 target for biodiversity.
One of the most storied biological expeditions is the 1940 trip to the Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California) by author John Steinbeck and his close friend Edward F Ricketts, a professional biologist. Steinbeck and Ricketts visited intertidal sites around the Gulf and made extensive collections, taking notes on fauna and natural history. In 2004, we retraced the Steinbeck and Ricketts voyage, visiting the same intertidal sites during the same season and using the authors' extensive natural history notes as a baseline for comparison. Although we found many of the same species as they did, populations were, in many cases, not as geographically widespread, and individuals were fewer in number and smaller in size. In particular, echinoderms and large gastropods showed declines, as did most large pelagic vertebrate species. One of the most remarkable changes in the pelagic community is the present abundance of jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas, a species not reported in 1940. Although Steinbeck and Ricketts, by their own admission, "could not yet relate the microcosm of the Gulf with the macrocosm of the sea", the changes we observed with historical perspective are in agreement with documented changes in ocean and coastal ecosystems around the world.
Erisman, B. E., Paredes, G. A., Plomozo-Lugo, T., Cota-Nieto, J. J., Hastings, P. A., and Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2011. Spatial structure of commercial marine fisheries in Northwest Mexico. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: .
The spatial structure of commercial marine fisheries in Northwest (NW) Mexico was investigated using official landings data from 39 local fisheries offices in the region. Multivariate analyses revealed a clear spatial pattern in fishing activities, in which there was a positive linear relationship between the species composition of fisheries offices and both latitude and longitude. Fisheries offices formed eight distinct clusters organized by similarities in geographic location, species-group composition, and coastal habitat type. Five of the eight clusters comprised offices from the same geographic region and coastal ecosystem, and the other three clusters contained the largest industrial fishing ports in NW Mexico. The results of this study suggest that NW Mexico would benefit from an ecosystem-based management framework that focuses on the direct, spatial connection that exists between coastal habitats, harvested species groups, and fishing activities within each region. Subdivision into five separate regions is proposed, with management attention paid specially to the few industrialized ports whose fishing capacities and geographic ranges of fishing far exceed the other areas.
We conducted in situ diver surveys describing the spatial structure of reef fish assemblages at Kingman Reef, an unexploited and remote atoll in the central North Pacific. Structural patterns reflect natural ecological processes that are not influenced by fishing or other anthropogenic factors. The most striking feature of this assemblage is an inverted biomass pyramid dominated by apex predators, primarily sharks and large snappers, across all depth and habitat strata examined. This pattern is most pronounced at greater depths (20 m) on the fore reef. Apex predators dominated to lesser extents in back-reef, patch-reef, and shallow fore-reef habitats. Prey assemblage size spectra showed fewer large prey and greater numbers of prey from small size classes at locations with greater piscivore biomass. Other patterns of prey abundance generally conformed to those previously observed at more commonly encountered, human-altered reefs (e. g. highest herbivore abundance on back reefs and shallower depths on the fore reefs; greater planktivore prevalence deeper on the fore reef). The latter patterns, however, inadvertently miss the less obvious differences in assemblage dynamics that result from alterations in the size structures of prey fish populations where apex predators have been heavily exploited or extirpated. The present study of a fully intact coral reef suggests that (1) piscivores are common across all habitats and depths, (2) the presence of predators does not lead to appreciable reductions in the biomass of other guilds, and (3) predators alter the size structure and therefore the potential productivity and energy flow of the ecosystem.
Coral reefs are the most complex ecosystems in the seas as fish communities reach their highest degree of diversity in these ecosystems, and differ enormously within and between reefs in the same area and between geographic regions. The high level of diversity supported by coral reefs is as a result of various processes operating on different scales in space and time. At the local scale, the diversity observed in local fish assemblages is explained by both deterministic and stochastic ecological processes. On the regional scale, the diversity of extant faunas of reef fishes is explained mainly by interactions of historical hydrodynamic and geological processes with each species' life cycle characteristics, particularly larval dispersal ability. This chapter demonstrates how the high diversity of fishes observed on present day coral reefs is partly related to the sustained higher temperatures in the tropics over geological time, and to the more efficient use and transfer of energy permitted by long-term temperature stability. The mechanisms proposed to support this hypothesis are illustrated by the comparison in feeding behaviors of fishes within and between families from different regions with recently acquired data on reef fish phylogeny and biogeography. Tropical organisms generally have narrower microhabitat requirements and environmental tolerances compared to temperate organisms, and reef fish species generally exhibit a finer distribution in space.