Disturbance to a foraging seabird by sea-based tourism: Implications for reserve management in marine protected areas

The provision of recreational opportunities is one of the important human goals of marine protected areas. However, as levels of recreational use increase, human disturbance is likely to cause significant detrimental effects upon wildlife. Here we evaluate the best managing options to mitigate the impact of sea-based tourism on the foraging activity of an endangered population of European shags, Phalacrocorax aristotelis, in a coastal marine protected area (Cíes islands, north-western Iberia). Boat disturbance elicited a characteristic avoidance behavior that resulted in a substantial reduction in foraging activity as levels of boat use increased. Moreover, boats excluded shags from the best feeding areas, resulting in higher densities of foragers in areas of little boat traffic. We used a behavioral model to explore the effects of managing strategies aimed at reducing the impact of boats on the foraging activity of shags. Our model suggested that in low boat disturbance scenarios limiting the number of boats using the reserve would be a better management option than habitat protection (i.e. the establishment of set-aside areas free of boat traffic). On the contrary, when boat disturbance levels are high the protection of habitat is recommendable, even if spatial variation in habitat quality is unknown or poorly assessed. Our study stresses the point that management strategies to minimize disturbance to foraging seabirds may depend on the spatial overlap between sea-based recreational activities and foraging seabirds and the spatial variation in marine habitat quality for seabirds.     

Consequences of adult and juvenile movement for marine protected areas

Adult and juvenile mobility has a considerable influence on the functioning of marine protected areas. It is recognized that adult and juvenile movement reduces the core benefits of protected areas, namely protecting the full age–structure of marine populations, while at the same time perhaps improving fisheries yield over the no-reserve situation through export of individuals from protected areas. Nevertheless, the study of the consequences of movement on protected area functioning is unbalanced. Significant attention has been paid to the influence of certain movement patterns, such as diffusive movement and home ranges, while the impacts of others, such as density-dependent movements and ontogenetic migrations, have been relatively ignored. Here we review the diversity of density-independent and density-dependent movement patterns, as well as what is currently known about their consequences for the conservation and fisheries effects of marine protected areas. We highlight a number of ‘partially addressed’ issues in marine protected area research, such as the effects of reserves targeting specific life phases, and a number of essentially unstudied issues, such as density-dependent movements, nomadism, ontogenetic migrations, behavioral polymorphism and ‘dynamic’ reserves that adjust location as a realtime response to habitat changes. Assessing these issues will be essential to creating effective marine protected area networks for mobile species and accurately assessing reserve impacts on these species.     

Community-based conservation results in the recovery of reef fish spawning aggregations in the Coral Triangle

In the Coral Triangle community-based marine protected areas (MPAs) are being established at a prolific rate. Their establishment can benefit both fisheries and biodiversity, and they provide both a socially and economically acceptable means of managing coral reefs in developing nations. However, because such MPAs are typically small (usually <0.5 km²), they will rarely provide protection to large mobile fishes. An exception to this limitation may exist when community-based MPAs are established to protect small sites where vital processes occur, such as fish spawning aggregations (FSAs). To test the effectiveness of small (0.1–0.2 km²) MPAs for protecting FSAs, we monitored three FSA sites where brown-marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus), camouflage grouper (Epinephelus polyphekadion) and squaretail coralgrouper (Plectropomus areolatus) aggregate to spawn. Sites were monitored during peak reproductive periods (several days prior to each new moon) between January 2005 and November 2009. All three sites are located in New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea, and had been exploited for decades, but in 2004 two sites were protected by the establishment of community-based MPAs. The third site continued to be exploited. Over the monitoring period densities of E. fuscoguttatus and E. polyphekadion increased at both MPAs, but not at the site that remained open to fishing. At one MPA the densities of E. polyphekadion increased tenfold. Our findings demonstrate that community-based MPAs that are appropriately designed and adequately enforced can lead to the recovery of populations of vulnerable species that aggregate to spawn.     

Impacts of lost fishing gear on coral reef sessile invertebrates in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

The Florida Keys coral reef ecosystem supports multimillion-dollar commercial and recreational fisheries. The ecological effects caused by fishing gear that is lost when cut or broken after snagging on the bottom is a growing concern to managers and scientists. Few data exist, however, to assess the impacts of lost fishing gear to benthic organisms and habitat structure. In this study, 63 offshore coral reef and hard-bottom sites were surveyed during 2001 to quantify the impacts of lost fishing gear to coral reef sessile invertebrates. Lost hook-and-line fishing gear accounted for 87% of all debris (N=298 incidences) encountered and was responsible for 84% of the 321 documented impacts to sponges and benthic cnidarians, predominantly consisting of tissue abrasion causing partial individual or colony mortality. Branching gorgonians (Octocorallia) were the most frequently affected (56%), followed by milleporid hydrocorals (19%) and sponges (13%). Factors affecting the impacts of lost fishing gear include sessile invertebrate density, the density of lost fishing gear, and gear length. While lost hook-and-line fishing gear is ubiquitous in the Florida Keys, less than 0.2% of the available milleporid hydrocorals, stony corals, and gorgonians in the habitats studied are adversely affected in terms of colony abrasions and partial mortality.     

At-sea distribution of waved albatrosses and the Galápagos Marine Reserve

Albatross populations worldwide are threatened by incidental takes in longline fishery operations. The recent establishment of the Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) is relevant to the longline bycatch issue, as it prohibits industrial longlining in the vicinity of the major nesting site of waved albatrosses (Phoebastria irrorata). However, the legality of the fishing protections is being challenged, highlighting a need for data on use of the GMR by albatrosses. We used satellite tracking over a total of four breeding seasons to determine the distribution of waved albatrosses inside and outside the GMR, and thereby assess the degree of protection that GMR provisions offer to this species. During the incubation period, breeding adults made commuting trips from the nesting island (Isla Española) to the Peruvian upwelling zone, traveling north, east, and south after leaving the nest. During the brooding period, the distribution contracted markedly, and most satellite fixes were within the GMR. During the rearing period, breeders performed both long trips outside the GMR and short trips within. The southeastern portion of the GMR is used throughout the incubation, brooding, and early rearing periods by breeding waved albatrosses. Indirect information from non-breeding adults indicates that they are likely to use the waters of the GMR extensively.     

紫海胆肠道真菌Aspergillus sp.HDf2产nonadride类次生代谢产物

[目的]对从紫海胆肠道分离得到的曲霉菌(Aspergillus sp.)菌株HDf2进行次生代谢产物研究.[方法]采用液体发酵,运用柱层析方法从培养液中分离、纯化单体化合物.[结果]从乙酸乙酯提取物较高极性段分离得到1个单体化合物,通过波谱解析和与文献对照将其鉴定为nonadride类化合物glauconic acid.[结论]该研究首次报道了海洋来源的真菌产天然界稀有的nonadride类天然化合物glauconic acido.     

海藻研究和成果应用综述

介绍了海藻的分类,综述了海藻在农业、能源、医学、食品保健、环境保护、光合机制机理方面的研究及应用,指出了我国藻研究仍然存在的问题并展望了今后的研究方向。     

不同生境具抑菌作用的海洋真菌筛选

[目的]为了测定海口沿海海域不同生境的海洋真菌抑菌状况。[方法]从海口西海岸沿线、南渡江入海口以及演丰红树林3个生境分离到162株海洋真菌,通过药敏纸片法测定海洋真菌代谢产物对4株病原细菌的抑菌活性。[结果]82.72%的海洋真菌具有不同程度的抑菌作用,其中分离自红树林生境的海洋具有抑菌作用的程度最高,西海岸生境分离的真菌次之,入海口生境分离的海洋真菌具有抑菌作用的概率相对最低。[结论]从不同生境分离到的海洋真菌,其抑菌效果也不一样。因此,当需要筛选某种活性的海洋真菌时,可到具有较易筛选出该活性的生境中筛选。     

海洋捕捞业管理与发展智能系统模式优化设计的研究

主要介绍了海洋捕捞业专家系统的结构、特点和功能，分为4部分：海洋渔业资源系统，海洋捕捞生产系统，海洋捕捞管理服务系统和海洋捕捞辅助系统。每个部分又分为相应的子系统，它们相互结合、相互作用，并结合一些实际情况对主要的3个子系统进行了初步的预报、检验和评估，得出建立海洋捕捞业专家系统的可行性和重要性，同时对今后研究方向提出了建议。