Preprint volume - SIBM

Pre-print Volume –Lecture
Topic 1: BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION SCIENCE: CONTRIBUTING TO MANAGEMENT
O. LANGMEAD, E. JACKSON
Marine Biological Association, The Laboratory, Plymouth PL1 2PB, UK.
olangmead@mba.ac.uk, ejackson@mba.ac.uk
LARGE SCALE PATTERNS OF MARINE BIODIVERSITY:
AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH
FOR PRIORITISING AREAS FOR PROTECTION
MODELLI SU GRANDE SCALA SPAZIALE DELLA BIODIVERSITÀ
MARINA: UN APPROCCIO BASATO SULLE EVIDENZE
PER DETERMINARE LA PRIORITÀ
DELLE AREE DA SOTTOPORRE A PROTEZIONE
Abstract - Areas of high biodiversity may be more resilient to change and protecting these sites can help
maintain the structure and functioning of the ecosystem. Additionally, identifying areas with high diversity
may also improve the efficiency of an MPA network by capturing greater numbers of species and habitats
of conservation importance within individual sites. We present a critical review of approaches to identify
large scale patterns in marine biodiversity and discuss how these can be used to inform the selection of
MPAs with reference to new national designations in UK waters.
Key-words: marine protected areas, biodiversity, conservation, large scale patterns.
Introduction - MPAs are a valuable tool to protect rare and threatened species and
communities and the integrity and functioning of habitats. The UK is committed to the
establishment of a network of marine protected areas (MPAs) to conserve marine
ecosystems and biodiversity under international conventions (OSPAR convention,
World Summit on Sustainable Development, Convention on Biological Diversity) and
in achieving the objectives of European Directives (Marine Strategy Framework
Directive, Habitats Directive, Birds Directive). MPAs are also a mechanism for
implementing the Ecosystem Approach to management, central to which is the
integrity of marine systems to ensure the sustained delivery of ecosystem goods and
services that benefit human society.
It is fundamental that the best available information is available to those responsible for
selecting sites and the ability to identify areas of ecological importance is a key
element, alongside the MPA design principles. Areas of high biodiversity may be more
resilient to change (Loreau et al., 2001) and species invasions (Stachowicz et al.,
1999), and protecting these sites can help maintain the structure and functioning of the
ecosystem. Additionally, identifying areas with high diversity may also improve the
efficiency of an MPA network by capturing greater numbers of species and habitats of
conservation importance within individual sites. Here we present a critical review of
approaches to identify large scale patterns in marine biodiversity and discuss how these
can be used to inform the selection of MPAs.
Measures of biodiversity - Arguably the most widely accepted definition of
biodiversity is "the variability among living organisms from all sources, including,
inter alia terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological
complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between
species and of ecosystems" (defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity). From
a practical point-of-view, protection is often reduced to species and habitats, since
these provide measurable units for analyses and are most frequently recorded.
41 st S.I.B.M. CONGRESS Rapallo (GE), 7-11 June 2010
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