Incentivizing co-management for impact: mechanisms driving the successful national expansion of Tonga's Special Management Area program

The expansion of coastal marine protected areas can suffer from two key drawbacks: (a) the difficulty of incentivizing local communities to manage areas for conservation when their livelihoods also depend on resource use; and (b) that many protected areas get situated residually, or in locations with limited value for either biodiversity conservation or livelihoods. Here, we discuss and analyze key characteristics of Tonga's Special Management Area (SMA) program, including both the mechanisms that have motivated its successful national expansion and its ability to configure no-take reserves in areas that are considered to have high value to resource users. Granting communities exclusive access zones in exchange for implementing no-take reserves has encouraged conservation actions while fostering long-term relationships with resources. Ensuring no-take reserves occurred within the boundaries of exclusive access zones enabled communities to protect areas of greater extractive values than they would have otherwise. We conclude that the success of this program offers a way forward for achieving targets in the global expansion marine protected areas

A tenuis relationship: traditional taxonomy obscures systematics and biogeography of the ‘Acropora tenuis’ (Scleractinia: Acroporidae) species complex

Molecular phylogenetics has fundamentally altered our understanding of the taxonomy, systematics and biogeography of corals. Recently developed phylogenomic techniques have started to resolve species-level relationships in the diverse and ecologically important genus Acropora, providing a path to resolve the taxonomy of this notoriously problematic group. We used a targeted capture dataset (2032 loci) to investigate systematic relationships within an Acropora clade containing the putatively widespread species Acropora tenuis and its relatives. Using maximum likelihood phylogenies and genetic clustering of single nucleotide polymorphisms from specimens, including topotypes, collected across the Indo-Pacific, we show ≥ 11 distinct lineages in the clade, only four of which correspond to currently accepted species. Based on molecular, morphological and geographical evidence, we describe two new species; Acropora rongoi n. sp. and Acropora tenuissima n. sp. and remove five additional nominal species from synonymy. Systematic relationships revealed by our molecular phylogeny are incongruent with traditional morphological taxonomy and demonstrate that characters traditionally used to delineate species boundaries and infer evolutionary history are homoplasies. Furthermore, we show that species within this clade have much smaller geographical ranges and, consequently, population sizes than currently thought, a finding with profound implications for conservation and management of reef corals

Molecular Identification of Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa (Dinophyceae) from Environmental Samples

Ciguatera Fish Poisoning (CFP) is increasing across the Pacific and the distribution of the causative dinoflagellates appears to be expanding. Subtle differences in thecal plate morphology are used to distinguish dinoflagellate species, which are difficult to determine using light microscopy. For these reasons we sought to develop a Quantitative PCR assay that would detect all species from both Gambierdiscus and Fukuyoa genera in order to rapidly screen environmental samples for potentially toxic species. Additionally, a specific assay for F. paulensis was developed as this species is of concern in New Zealand coastal waters. Using the assays we analyzed 31 samples from three locations around New Zealand and the Kingdom of Tonga. Fourteen samples in total were positive for Gambierdiscus/Fukuyoa and two samples were also positive using the F. paulensis assay. Samples from the Kermadec Islands were further characterized using high-throughput sequencing metabarcoding. The majority of reads corresponded to Gambierdiscus species with three species identified at all sites (G. australes, G. honu and G. polynesiensis). This is the first confirmed identification of G. polynesiensis, a known ciguatoxin producer, in New Zealand waters. Other known toxin-producing genera were also detected, included Alexandrium, Amphidinium, Azadinium, Dinophysis, Ostreopsis, and Prorocentrum

Microsatellite data for Pristipomoides zonatus

Excel file containing microsatellite genotype dat

MtDNA haplotype frequencies of Pristipomoides zonatus

An excel file with mtDNA frequencies and sequences

Incentivizing co‐management for impact: mechanisms driving the successful national expansion of Tonga's Special Management Area program

The expansion of coastal marine protected areas can suffer from two key drawbacks: (a) the difficulty of incentivizing local communities to manage areas for conservation when their livelihoods also depend on resource use; and (b) that many protected areas get situated residually, or in locations with limited value for either biodiversity conservation or livelihoods. Here, we discuss and analyze key characteristics of Tonga's Special Management Area (SMA) program, including both the mechanisms that have motivated its successful national expansion and its ability to configure no-take reserves in areas that are considered to have high value to resource users. Granting communities exclusive access zones in exchange for implementing no-take reserves has encouraged conservation actions while fostering long-term relationships with resources. Ensuring no-take reserves occurred within the boundaries of exclusive access zones enabled communities to protect areas of greater extractive values than they would have otherwise. We conclude that the success of this program offers a way forward for achieving targets in the global expansion marine protected areas

Tongan socio-environmental spatial layers for marine ecosystem management

Environmental conditions and anthropogenic impacts are key influences on ecological processes and associated ecosystem services. Effective management of Tonga's marine ecosystems therefore depends on accurate and up-to-date knowledge of environmental and anthropogenic variables. Although many types of environmental and anthropogenic data are now available in global layers, they are often inaccessible to end users, particularly in developing countries with limited accessibility and analytical training. Furthermore, the resolution of many global layers might not be sufficient to make informed local decisions. While the near-shore marine ecosystem of Tonga is extensive, the resources available for its management are limited and little is known about its current ecological state. Here we provide a marine socio-environmental dataset covering Tonga's near-shore marine ecosystem as compiled from various global layers, remote sensing projects, local ministries, and the 2016 national census. The dataset consists of eleven environmental and six anthropogenic variables summarized in ecologically relevant ways, spatially overlaid across the near-shore marine ecosystem of Tonga. The environmental variables selected include: bathymetry, coral reef density, distance from deep water, distance from land, distance from major terrestrial inputs, habitat, land area, net primary productivity, salinity, sea surface temperature, and wave energy. The anthropogenic variables selected include: fishing pressure, management status, distance to fish markets, distance from villages, population pressure, and a socioeconomic development index based on population density, growth, mean age, mean education level, and unemployment. This extensive and accessible dataset will be an essential tool for future assessment and management of marine ecosystems in Tonga

Variations in life history characteristics of the deep-water giant ruby snapper (Etelis sp.) between the Indian and Pacific Oceans and application of a data-poor assessment

The giant ruby snapper, Etelis sp., attains the largest size of any lutjanid in the Indo-Pacific and is one of the most valuable species harvested from deep-water fisheries along the continental and insular shelf margins throughout its broad geographic distribution. Despite this species supporting important commercial, artisanal and subsistence fisheries, quantitative assessments of the status of stocks have been limited by an absence of biological information, unreliable catch and effort statistics, and until recently, misidentification with a cryptic congener. This study aimed, firstly, to describe and compare the age, growth and reproductive characteristics of Etelis sp. between the eastern Indian and western central Pacific Oceans; and secondly, to provide an age-based assessment of the stock in north-western Australia, the only stock for which available data were sufficient to quantify stock status. Although the growth of Etelis sp. differed significantly between sexes and oceans, longevity was similar with a maximum age of 56 years recorded in the Pacific Ocean. Spawning of this species occurred over five months during the austral summer to mid-autumn (i.e. December to April) in the Indian Ocean, but was not well defined in the Pacific Ocean. The estimated ages at 50 % maturity for females and males in the Indian Ocean were similar (i.e. 4-5 years), whereas lengths at 50 % maturity differed (L-50(mat) = 527 and 456 mm fork length, FL, respectively), but were consistent with corresponding differences in growth between sexes. Estimates of the relative female spawning potential ratio for Etelis sp. in north-western Australia suggest the status of this stock remained relatively unchanged from 1997 to 2011, at around 60 % of the unfished level. This assessment provides an example of the relative sustainable exploitation levels for this stock, and potentially other Eteline snappers that exhibit similar life history characteristics, particularly in locations where monitoring and assessments may be data and/or resource limited