Effectiveness of marine protected areas in safeguarding important migratory megafauna habitat

Zhang, Xuelei; Carroll, Emma L.; Constantine, Rochelle; Andrews-Goff, Virginia; Childerhouse, Simon; Cole, Rosalind; Goetz, Kimberly T.; Meyer, Catherine; Ogle, Mike; Harcourt, Robert; Stuck, Esther; Zerbini, Alexandre N.; Riekkola, Leena

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122116

i

Effectiveness of marine protected areas in safeguarding important migratory megafauna habitat

2024
By Zhang, Xuelei ; Carroll, Emma L. ; Constantine, Rochelle ; ...

Details

Journal Title:

Journal of Environmental Management
Personal Author:

Zhang, Xuelei ; Carroll, Emma L. ; Constantine, Rochelle ; Andrews-Goff, Virginia ; Childerhouse, Simon ; Cole, Rosalind ; Goetz, Kimberly T. ; Meyer, Catherine ; Ogle, Mike ; Harcourt, Robert ; Stuck, Esther ; Zerbini, Alexandre N. ; Riekkola, Leena
NOAA Program & Office:

NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service) ; AFSC (Alaska Fisheries Science Center)
Description:

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a commonly used management tool to safeguard marine life from anthropogenic impacts, yet their efficacy often remains untested. Evaluating how highly dynamic marine species use static MPAs is challenging but becoming more feasible with the advancement of telemetry data. Here, we focus on southern right whales (Eubalaena australis, SRWs) in the waters off Aotearoa/New Zealand, which declined from 30,000 whales to fewer than 40 mature females due to whaling. Now numbering in the low thousands, the key socializing and nursery areas for this population in the remote subantarctic islands are under the protection of different types of MPAs. However, the effectiveness of these MPAs in encompassing important whale habitat and protecting the whales from vessel traffic has not been investigated. To address this, we analyzed telemetry data from 29 SRWs tagged at the Auckland Islands between 2009 and 2022. We identified two previously unknown and currently unprotected areas that were used by the whales for important behaviors such as foraging, socializing, or resting. Additionally, by combining whale locations and vessel tracking data (2020–2022) during peak breeding period (June to October), we found high spatiotemporal overlap between whales and vessels within several MPAs, suggesting the whales could still be vulnerable to multiple anthropogenic stressors even when within areas designated for protection. Our results identify areas to be prioritized for future monitoring and investigation to support the ongoing recovery of this SRW population, as well as highlight the overarching importance of assessing MPA effectiveness post-implementation, especially in a changing climate.
Source:

Journal of Environmental Management, 368, 122116
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.122116
ISSN:

0301-4797
Format:

PDF
Publisher:

Elsevier BV
Document Type:

Journal Article
License:

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Rights Information:

CC BY-NC-ND
Compliance:

Submitted
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:d6007dbfa0e798fc3ac936efa8ceb1011bfd1d7e97a48e9fd77337deb4ca723daa2ecc6cca1d5774986f0d5838012b25713ac97d7bb50f2be8c5cc6c86780a8d
Download URL:

https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/61860/noaa_61860_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 3.81 MB ]

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