Abstract
Coral reef managers currently face the challenge of mitigating global stressors by enhancing local ecological resilience in the face of a changing climate. Effective herbivore management is one tool that managers can use in order to maintain resilience in the midst of severe and frequent bleaching events. One recommended approach is to establish networks of Herbivore Management Areas (HMAs), which prohibit the take of herbivorous reef fishes. However, there is a need to develop design principles to guide planning and implementation of these HMAs as a resilience-building tool. We refine available guidance from fully protected Marine Protected Area (MPA) networks and developed a set of 11 biophysical design principles specifically for HMAs. We then provide a case study of how to apply these principles using the main Hawaiian Islands. We address site-specific considerations in terms of protecting habitats, including ecologically critical areas, incorporating connectivity, and addressing climate and local threats. This synthesis integrates core marine spatial planning concepts with resilience-based management and provides actionable guidance on the design of HMAs. When combined with social considerations, these principles will support spatial planning in Hawai‘i and could guide the future design of HMA networks globally.
Highlights
Coral reefs are among the most diverse and complex ecosystems in the world and provide ecosystem services to millions of coastal residents in nearly 100 nations (Moberg and Folke, 1999), yet are the marine ecosystem most vulnerable to climate change (Hughes et al, 2017b)
marine protected area (MPA) networks are designed using two types of design principles: biophysical principles aimed at achieving ecological objectives by taking key biological and physical processes into account; and socioeconomic, cultural and governance (SECG) principles aimed at maximizing benefits and minimizing costs to local communities and industries and aligning with legal, political and institutional requirements
We developed 11 biophysical principles across five categories to design a network of herbivore management areas (HMAs) to maintain and increase coral reef resilience by maintaining and/or increasing herbivore biomass, abundance, and functional diversity (Table 1)
Summary
Coral reefs are among the most diverse and complex ecosystems in the world and provide ecosystem services to millions of coastal residents in nearly 100 nations (Moberg and Folke, 1999), yet are the marine ecosystem most vulnerable to climate change (Hughes et al, 2017b). Climate change is adversely affecting coral reefs in multiple ways including sea level rise, acidification, and ocean warming, which can act in concert with local stressors. Climate-induced coral bleaching events together with local stressors (e.g., overfishing, landbased pollution, and coastal development) can result in potential for regime shifts from. Enhancing the ecological resilience of coral reefs has become a central focus for managers worldwide as the frequency and severity of climate-induced impacts increases (Baker et al, 2008; Van Hooidonk et al, 2016; Hughes et al, 2017a). To achieve increased resilience through conservation planning, managers must reduce local stressors while fostering key resilience processes throughout their jurisdiction, known as resilience-based management (Graham et al, 2013; Anthony et al, 2015)
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