To help stem the precipitous decline of coral reef ecosystems world-wide, conservation efforts are focused on establishing interconnected reserve networks to protect threatened populations. Because many coral reef organisms have a planktonic or pelagic larval dispersal phase, it is critical to understand the patterns of ecological connectivity between reserve populations that result from larval...

The extent of die-back of the kelp Ecklonia radiata in the Cape Rodney to Okakari Point Marine Reserve. Summary The kelp Ecklonia radiata has undergone high rates of mortality in a region of northeastern New Zealand stretching from Whangarei Heads south to Cape Rodney and east to Great Barrier Island. Die-back of this kelp began in late 1991 and continued up to May 1993, with mortathy of over 9...

In the face of accelerated climate change, monitoring biodiversity has become a critical task for ecologists. Habitat loss is occurring at an alarming rate both in terrestrial and marine ecosystems, resulting in endangerment and extinction of species up to 1,000 times faster than natural rates. However, traditional biodiversity measurements are logistically and financially difficult, making bio...

We explore the idea that a sensitivity analysis conducted on stage-specific demographic rates can be used to improve our ability to determine the efficacy of conservation plans that are designed to enhance the recovery of individual marine species. Because a given reserve may not be able to protect all life stages and habitats for wide-ranging marine organisms, reserves should target life histo...

A new study of the Great Barrier Reef proves a 100-year old conjecture correct: marine reserves do replenish populations in surrounding fishing grounds, while modern reserve networking theory is validated by exchange of offspring of animals among protected areas.

No-take marine reserves are effective management tools used to restore fish biomass and community structure in areas depleted by overfishing. Cabo Pulmo National Park (CPNP) was created in 1995 and is the only well enforced no-take area in the Gulf of California, Mexico, mostly because of widespread support from the local community. In 1999, four years after the establishment of the reserve, th...

Different human expectations and environmental ethics are key factors preventing the creation of marine reserve networks. People are skeptical about the benefits of no-take marine reserves because they have adjusted to scarcity and have low expectations about the productive capability of marine ecosystems. Pauly (1995) described this as a shifting baseline in which each generation sets its expe...

Marine reserves are a spatial approach to marine management and conservation aimed at protecting and restoring multispecies assemblages and the structure and function of marine ecosystems. We used meta-analyses of published data to address the questions of how and over what time frames marine assemblages change within no-take marine reserves as they recover from fishing and other human uses. We...

a Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA b Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, Imperial Beach, CA 91932, USA c Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Carretera Transpeninsular Ensenada – Tijuana, No. 3917, Colonia Playitas, C.P. 22860 Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico d Leigh Marine Labo...