UN Ocean Conference needs transparent and science-based leadership on ocean conservation

The United Nations Ocean conference convened in June 2022. Heads of state, businesses, and civil society organizations met in Lisbon to discuss how to scale up ocean action to achieve SDG 14 goals. In the face of the existential challenges of the climate emergency and species extinction crisis, bold and decisive action on ocean conservation through a shift in the protection paradigm is needed now. Recognizing existing barriers (e.g., political, organizational, social, economic) that operate at various scales (e.g., international, regional and national) and that are precluding achieving a healthy ocean is key and has to be addressed with strong leadership and sound commitments. A roadmap with clear steps and achievements including metrics assessing protection levels, stages of establishment, management effectiveness and equity is now needed to guarantee the success of marine conservation goals. Portugal can and should help lead the way by adopting such a roadmap and approach, but post-2020 decisions need to incorporate, beyond area goals, both the quality and effectiveness of ocean protection through metrics and standards such as those provided by the MPA Guide, Green List and Blue Parks.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A regulation-based classification system for marine protected areas: A response to Dudley et al. [9]

Dudley et al. [9] commented on our paper [11], arguing that the current IUCN objective-based categorization of protected areas, which is also used in marine protected areas (MPAs), should not be abandoned and replaced by the new regulation-based classification system [11]. Here we clarify that we do not advocate replacing the current IUCN categories, but highlight the benefits of using both the objective-based IUCN categories and the new regulation-based classification when applied to MPAs. With an increasing number of MPA types being implemented, most of them multiple-use areas zoned for various purposes, assessing ecological and socio-economic benefits is key for advancing conservation targets and policy objectives. Although the IUCN categories can be used both in terrestrial and marine systems, they were not designed to follow a gradient of impacts and there is often a mismatch between stated objectives and implemented regulations. The new regulation-based classification system addresses these problems by linking impacts of activities in marine systems with MPA and zone classes in a simple and globally applicable way. Applying both the IUCN categories and the regulation based classes will increase transparency when assessing marine conservation goals.ERA-Net BiodivERsA project "BUFFER Partially protected areas as buffers to increase the linked social ecological resilience"; national funders ANR (France); FCT (Portugal); FOR-MAS (Sweden); SEPA (Sweden); RCN (Norway); project BUFFER; Fernand Braudel IFER fellowship (Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme); Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT) [UID/MAR/04292/2013

Guidance on marine protected area protection level assignments when faced with unknown regulatory information

Strong human use regulations are an important precondition for marine protected area (MPA) effectiveness. Distinguishing MPAs based on their protection levels has shown advantages, but the availability of regulatory information about allowed activities is a major roadblock towards completing assessments at scale. Here, using a California case study, we explore assigning MPA protection levels following the regulation-based classification system (RBCS) under different scenarios of incomplete regulatory information. In the first group of scenarios (A), only readily available information was used, i.e., information contained in direct MPA implementing regulations and management plans. In the second group (B), information was limited to the activities in ProtectedSeas' Navigator that matched those in the RBCS. From group A, 99% and 100% correct classification of fully and highly protected areas, respectively, were obtained when treating unknown aquaculture, bottom exploitation, and bottom extraction as 'prohibited' and boating, anchoring, and fishing activities as 'allowed'. High classifi-cation accuracy was also obtained for moderately, poorly, and unprotected areas. From group B, 92% and 94% correct classification of fully and highly protected areas were obtained when using the same assumptions for non -fishing activities but using Navigator's Level of Fishing Protection (LFP) score to guide assumptions about un-known fishing activities. Correct classification rates were poorer with different assumptions. Regulation-based MPA evaluation systems can reliably identify fully and highly protected areas in the face of unknown infor-mation, when assumptions about unknown information are guided by contextual indicators such as generally regulated human activities and/or overall level of fishing restriction.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fisher's perceptions about a marine protected area over time

The perceptions of fishers towards the Arrábida Marine Park, a marine protected area (MPA) in the west coast of Portugal, were studied through face-to-face interviews in two different moments of the MPA life cycle. Fishers' perceptions about the MPA and the impact it had on the fishing activity over time were identified just before the full implementation of the zoning and regulations of the management plan and 10 years later. This study aimed to investigate fishers' knowledge, acceptance and perceptions about the MPA changed with time, if support for the MPA was linked to the impact of the MPA on the fishing activity, and if fishers' perceptions about the impact of the MPA on the fishing activity match with local landings trends. Results show that although knowledge about the marine park significantly improved over time, fishers' acceptance did not. A decrease on fishers' support was not substantial but occurred. Issues such as the disagreement with regulations reinforced concerns raised during the implementation of the marine park, particularly in relation to the top-down decision-making, which commonly confers minor participation, recognition and legitimacy to fishers. Apparently, fisheries benefits were still not perceived by local fishers, though they are central for fishers' support. Further, the perceived negative impacts of the park seemed to be more related to social aspects and individual interests than to impacts on catches. Addressing adequate management, enforcement and participation of local fishers is still possible and are advocated here as to contribute to the expected socioecological outcomes and respective support, leading to the future successful performance of the Arrábida Marine Park. Assessing fishers’ perceptions towards an MPA over time is central and should be included on periodical socioecological monitoring and inform an effective adaptive managementFudação ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Among-individual variation in white seabream (Diplodus sargus) spatial behaviour and protection in a coastal no-take area

Marine protected areas (MPAs), and specially no-take areas (NTAs), play an important role in protecting target populations from fisheries. When developing spatial conservation and management tools, the design has mainly focused on population-level measures of fish home ranges, spawning and feeding areas, and migration routes. Intraspecific differences in fish behaviour, however, are often not accounted for, even though they could influence the level of realized protection. In this study, we investigated the intraspecific variation in spatial behaviour of a harvested fish, Diplodus sargus, and how it impacts the degree of protection granted by a NTA in the south of Portugal. We identified four behavioural types according to their spatial behaviour: residents, commuters, seasonal visitors, and single users. Time at risk (i.e. outside the NTA) greatly varied among the four groups, but also over the year for the seasonal and the single users. Our study shows how acoustic telemetry can assist spatial conservation and fisheries management and provides novel insight regarding the role of individual variation in behaviour to understand protection granted by MPAs to harvested species. It also suggests that incorporating such information into all stages of MPA design and implementation can result in increased resilience of the protected populations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Co-design of a marine protected area zoning and the lessons learned from it

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a tool to safeguard marine natural systems, yet their effectiveness depends on how well they are integrated into the existing socioeconomic context. Stakeholder engagement in MPA design can contribute to increasing integration. This study focuses on the co-design of an MPA between researchers, public administration, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations. The proposed MPA is in Portugal and includes an area that is a hotspot for biodiversity and economic activities. This is the first MPA proposal in mainland Portugal co-designed using a participatory approach. This study highlights the steps of the zoning process and synthesizes the eight main lessons learned, useful for other cases, particularly for relatively small coastal MPAs with multiple socioeconomic activities. Three zoning proposals were developed and discussed within the participatory process. The proposals considered the best scientific and local knowledge available and were defined using ecological, socioeconomic, and shape-area guiding principles. In an iterative manner and following a participatory approach, compromises with stakeholders were achieved, and a final proposal, scientifically sound and socially accepted by most stakeholders, was delivered to the government. The final zoning plan will achieve ambitious conservation goals, including the largest fully protected area to be declared in mainland Portugal, while minimizing the impacts on the existing economic activities and promoting its sustainability. This process resulted in valuable lessons that may be applied elsewhere and guide future MPA implementation or rezoning of existing ones. These transdisciplinary and participatory processes can be time and resource-consuming but are vital for ensuring MPA effectiveness.Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCTinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Setting performance indicators for coastal marine protected areas: An expert-based methodology

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) require effective indicators to assess their performance, in compliance with the goals of relevant national and international commitments. Achieving and prioritizing shortlists of multidisciplinary indicators demands a significant effort from specialists to depict the multiple conservation and socioeconomic interests, and the large complexity of natural systems. The present paper describes a structured expert-based methodology (process and outputs) to co-define a list of multidisciplinary MPA performance indicators. This work was promoted by the management authority of coastal MPAs in mainland Portugal to gather a consensual and feasible list of indicators that would guide the design of a future national monitoring program. Hence, Portuguese coastal MPAs served as a case study to develop such a process between 2019 and 2020. In the end, participants (1) agreed on a shortlist of prioritized indicators (i.e., environmental, governance, and socioeconomic indicators) and (2) defined minimum monitoring frequencies for the indicators in this list, compatible with the potential replicability of the associated survey methods. The present approach recommends that management plans incorporate monitoring procedures and survey methods, with a validated list of indicators and associated monitoring periodicity, agreed among researchers, MPA managers and governance experts. The proposed methodology, and the lessons learned from it, can support future processes aiming to define and prioritize MPA performance indicatorsFundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia - FCT, European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

MAMMALS IN PORTUGAL : A data set of terrestrial, volant, and marine mammal occurrences in P ortugal

Mammals are threatened worldwide, with 26% of all species being includedin the IUCN threatened categories. This overall pattern is primarily associatedwith habitat loss or degradation, and human persecution for terrestrial mam-mals, and pollution, open net fishing, climate change, and prey depletion formarine mammals. Mammals play a key role in maintaining ecosystems func-tionality and resilience, and therefore information on their distribution is cru-cial to delineate and support conservation actions. MAMMALS INPORTUGAL is a publicly available data set compiling unpublishedgeoreferenced occurrence records of 92 terrestrial, volant, and marine mam-mals in mainland Portugal and archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira thatincludes 105,026 data entries between 1873 and 2021 (72% of the data occur-ring in 2000 and 2021). The methods used to collect the data were: live obser-vations/captures (43%), sign surveys (35%), camera trapping (16%),bioacoustics surveys (4%) and radiotracking, and inquiries that represent lessthan 1% of the records. The data set includes 13 types of records: (1) burrowsjsoil moundsjtunnel, (2) capture, (3) colony, (4) dead animaljhairjskullsjjaws, (5) genetic confirmation, (6) inquiries, (7) observation of live animal (8),observation in shelters, (9) photo trappingjvideo, (10) predators dietjpelletsjpine cones/nuts, (11) scatjtrackjditch, (12) telemetry and (13) vocalizationjecholocation. The spatial uncertainty of most records ranges between 0 and100 m (76%). Rodentia (n=31,573) has the highest number of records followedby Chiroptera (n=18,857), Carnivora (n=18,594), Lagomorpha (n=17,496),Cetartiodactyla (n=11,568) and Eulipotyphla (n=7008). The data setincludes records of species classified by the IUCN as threatened(e.g.,Oryctolagus cuniculus[n=12,159],Monachus monachus[n=1,512],andLynx pardinus[n=197]). We believe that this data set may stimulate thepublication of other European countries data sets that would certainly contrib-ute to ecology and conservation-related research, and therefore assisting onthe development of more accurate and tailored conservation managementstrategies for each species. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite thisdata paper when the data are used in publications.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Early life child micronutrient status, maternal reasoning, and a nurturing household environment have persistent influences on child cognitive development at age 5 years: Results from MAL-ED

Background: Child cognitive development is influenced by early-life insults and protective factors. To what extent these factors have a long-term legacy on child development and hence fulfillment of cognitive potential is unknown. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the relation between early-life factors (birth to 2 y) and cognitive development at 5 y. Methods: Observational follow-up visits were made of children at 5 y, previously enrolled in the community-based MAL-ED longitudinal cohort. The burden of enteropathogens, prevalence of illness, complementary diet intake, micronutrient status, and household and maternal factors from birth to 2 y were extensively measured and their relation with the Wechsler Preschool Primary Scales of Intelligence at 5 y was examined through use of linear regression. Results: Cognitive T-scores from 813 of 1198 (68%) children were examined and 5 variables had significant associations in multivariable models: mean child plasma transferrin receptor concentration (β: −1.81, 95% CI: −2.75, −0.86), number of years of maternal education (β: 0.27, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.45), maternal cognitive reasoning score (β: 0.09, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.15), household assets score (β: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.24, 1.04), and HOME child cleanliness factor (β: 0.60, 95% CI: 0.05, 1.15). In multivariable models, the mean rate of enteropathogen detections, burden of illness, and complementary food intakes between birth and 2 y were not significantly related to 5-y cognition. Conclusions: A nurturing home context in terms of a healthy/clean environment and household wealth, provision of adequate micronutrients, maternal education, and cognitive reasoning have a strong and persistent influence on child cognitive development. Efforts addressing aspects of poverty around micronutrient status, nurturing caregiving, and enabling home environments are likely to have lasting positive impacts on child cognitive development.publishedVersio

The 16th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys : First Release from the APOGEE-2 Southern Survey and Full Release of eBOSS Spectra

This paper documents the 16th data release (DR16) from the Sloan Digital Sky Surveys (SDSS), the fourth and penultimate from the fourth phase (SDSS-IV). This is the first release of data from the Southern Hemisphere survey of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment 2 (APOGEE-2); new data from APOGEE-2 North are also included. DR16 is also notable as the final data release for the main cosmological program of the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS), and all raw and reduced spectra from that project are released here. DR16 also includes all the data from the Time Domain Spectroscopic Survey and new data from the SPectroscopic IDentification of ERosita Survey programs, both of which were co-observed on eBOSS plates. DR16 has no new data from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey (or the MaNGA Stellar Library "MaStar"). We also preview future SDSS-V operations (due to start in 2020), and summarize plans for the final SDSS-IV data release (DR17).Peer reviewe