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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 518:255-266 (2015)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11054

Early reserve effects linked to small home ranges of a commercial fish, Diplodus sargus, Sparidae

David Abecasis1,*,**, Bárbara Horta e Costa1,2,**, Pedro Afonso3,4, Emanuel J. Gonçalves2, Karim Erzini1

1Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), University of the Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
2MARE—Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, ISPA—Instituto Universitário, R. Jardim do Tabaco 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal
3Institute of Marine Research, Department of Oceanography and Fisheries, University of the Azores, 9901-862 Horta, Portugal
4LARSyS—Laboratory of Robotics and Systems in Engineering and Science, Avenida Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
*Corresponding author: **These authors contributed equally to this work

ABSTRACT: Studies that combine both the ecological responses of marine species and protection measures with movement patterns and habitat use are of major importance in order to better understand the performance of marine protected areas (MPA) and how species respond to their implementation. However, few studies have assessed MPA performance by relating local individual movement patterns and the observed reserve effects. In this study, we combined acoustic telemetry with abundance estimates to study the early effects of a recently established small coastal MPA on the local populations of white seabream. The results show that even small, recently established coastal MPAs can increase the abundance and biomass of commercial fish species, provided that target species have small home ranges and exhibit high site fidelity.


KEY WORDS: Marine reserve · Monitoring · Acoustic telemetry · Underwater visual census


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Cite this article as: Abecasis D, Horta e Costa B, Afonso P, Gonçalves EJ, Erzini K (2015) Early reserve effects linked to small home ranges of a commercial fish, Diplodus sargus, Sparidae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 518:255-266. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11054

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