Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies IMEDEA (UIB-CSIC), C/ Miquel Marques 21, CP 07190 Esporles, Balearic Islands, Spain.
Institute of Marine Sciences ICM (CSIC), Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
Sci Total Environ. 2020 Sep 1;733:139367. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139367. Epub 2020 May 12.
Ecological connectivity in coastal oceanic waters is mediated by dispersion of the early life stages of marine organisms and conditions the structure of biological communities and the provision of ecosystem services. Integrated management strategies aimed at ensuring long-term service provision to society do not currently consider the importance of dispersal and larval connectivity. A spatial optimization model is introduced to maximise the potential provision of ecosystem services in coastal areas by accounting for the role of dispersal and larval connectivity. The approach combines a validated coastal circulation model that reproduces realistic patterns of larval transport along the coast, which ultimately conditions the biological connectivity and productivity of an area, with additional spatial layers describing potential ecosystem services. The spatial optimization exercise was tested along the coast of Central Chile, a highly productive area dominated by the Humboldt Current. Results show it is unnecessary to relocate existing management areas, as increasing no-take areas by 10% could maximise ecosystem service provision, while improving the spatial representativeness of protected areas and minimizing social conflicts. The location of protected areas was underrepresented in some sections of the study domain, principally due to the restriction of the model to rocky subtidal habitats. Future model developments should encompass the diversity of coastal ecosystems and human activities to inform integrative spatial management. Nevertheless, the spatial optimization model is innovative not only for its integrated ecosystem perspective, but also because it demonstrates that it is possible to incorporate time-varying biophysical connectivity within the optimization problem, thereby linking the dynamics of exploited populations produced by the spatial management regime.
海洋生物早期生命阶段的扩散作用调节了沿海海域的生态连通性，从而影响了生物群落的结构和生态系统服务的提供。旨在确保为社会提供长期服务的综合管理战略目前没有考虑到扩散和幼虫连通性的重要性。引入了一种空间优化模型，通过考虑扩散和幼虫连通性的作用，最大限度地提高沿海地区生态系统服务的潜在提供。该方法结合了一个经过验证的沿海循环模型，该模型再现了幼虫在沿海地区的真实运输模式，最终影响了一个区域的生物连通性和生产力，并结合了描述潜在生态系统服务的其他空间层。空间优化练习沿智利中部沿海地区进行，该地区生产力很高，主要受洪堡海流的影响。结果表明，没有必要重新安置现有的管理区，因为将无捕捞区增加 10%就可以最大限度地提高生态系统服务的提供，同时改善保护区的空间代表性并最小化社会冲突。在研究区域的某些部分，保护区的位置代表性不足，主要是由于模型仅限于岩石潮间带生境。未来的模型开发应包括沿海生态系统和人类活动的多样性，以为综合空间管理提供信息。然而，该空间优化模型不仅因其综合生态系统视角而具有创新性，而且还因为它证明了在优化问题中纳入时变生物物理连通性是可行的，从而将空间管理模式产生的受捕捞种群的动态联系起来。
