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Reserve sizes needed to protect coral reef fishes

journal contribution
posted on 2018-05-01, 00:00 authored by N C Krueck, C Legrand, G N Ahmadia, Estradivari, A Green, G P Jones, C Riginos, Eric Treml, P J Mumby
Marine reserves are a commonly applied conservation tool, but their size is often chosen based on considerations of socioeconomic rather than ecological impact. Here, we use a simple individual-based model together with the latest empirical information on home ranges, densities and schooling behaviour in 66 coral reef fishes to quantify the conservation effectiveness of various reserve sizes. We find that standard reserves with a diameter of 1-2 km can achieve partial protection (≥50% of the maximum number of individuals) of 56% of all simulated species. Partial protection of the most important fishery species, and of species with diverse functional roles, required 2-10 km wide reserves. Full protection of nearly all simulated species required 100 km wide reserves. Linear regressions based on the mean home range and density, and even just the maximum length, of fish species approximated these results reliably, and can therefore be used to support locally effective decision making.

History

Journal

Conservation letters

Volume

11

Issue

3

Season

May/June

Pagination

1 - 9

Publisher

John Wiley & Sons

Location

Chichester, Eng.

ISSN

1755-263X

eISSN

1755-263X

Language

eng

Publication classification

C Journal article; C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2017, The Authors