Dr Jennifer Caselle1, Dr Barbara Spiecker1, Mr. Dan Malone2, Mr. Avrey Parsons-Field1, Prof. Mark Carr2
1Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, USA, 2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, USA
Between 2005 and 2013, California (USA) implemented a scientifically-designed network of Marine Protected Areas, placing approximately 17% of coastal waters into protection. We conducted SCUBA surveys across 1350km of coastline in California to monitor kelp forest ecosystems at MPAs and reference sites since 2000. Two major disturbances occurred during the time series (a mass mortality event of seastars, including the predatory Pycnopodia helanthoides, and marine heatwave). We investigated the responses of MPAs for key kelp forest species using a framework to test for MPA effects that takes into account the trajectories of species that are expected to be affected by cessation of fishing (Targeted species) and those not expected to be directly influenced (Non-targeted species). Using this framework, we can test the effects of cessation of fishing, while controlling for changing environmental conditions independent of MPA effects. We found that MPA effects vary across species, biogeographic regions, individual MPAs, and time periods and that analyses at and across regional scales proved more insightful than combined network-wide analyses. We did not detect any influence of MPA design attributes (e.g. level of protection, MPA size, MPA age, habitat diversity) on the response of fishes targeted by fishing when measured across the entire statewide network. The strongest population responses occurred in MPAs in the Northern Channel Islands and South Coast (areas of heaviest fishing pressure) and the weakest in Northern California (area of low fishing pressure). The results of this large-scale, long-term MPA assessment program have been used to inform statewide MPA management and recommendations on future monitoring.
Presentation Slides – Jennifer Caselle
Biography:
Dr. Jenn Caselle is a Research Professor with the Marine Science Institute at UC Santa Barbara. Jenn’s research is broadly focused on the ecology of coastal marine organisms, their role in nearshore ecosystems, and the response of these ecosystems to environmental change and human impacts. She works in both coral reef and kelp forest ecosystems studying community dynamics. She has been closely involved in design and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas. Dr. Caselle designed and manages a large-scale, kelp forest monitoring program in the California current ecosystem with goals of assessing long-term changes due to climate and anthropogenic impacts.
