Support for UNRWA's survival

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) provides life-saving humanitarian aid for 5·4 million Palestine refugees now entering their eighth decade of statelessness and conflict. About a third of Palestine refugees still live in 58 recognised camps. UNRWA operates 702 schools and 144 health centres, some of which are affected by the ongoing humanitarian disasters in Syria and the Gaza Strip. It has dramatically reduced the prevalence of infectious diseases, mortality, and illiteracy. Its social services include rebuilding infrastructure and homes that have been destroyed by conflict and providing cash assistance and micro-finance loans for Palestinians whose rights are curtailed and who are denied the right of return to their homeland

Patterns of Fish Connectivity between a Marine Protected Area and Surrounding Fished Areas.

Patterns of connectivity and self-recruitment are recognized as key factors shaping the dynamics of marine populations. Connectivity is also essential for maintaining and restoring natural ecological processes with genetic diversity contributing to the adaptation and persistence of any species in the face of global disturbances. Estimates of connectivity are crucial to inform the design of both marine protected areas (MPAs) and MPA networks. Among several approaches, genetic structure is frequently used as a proxy for patterns of connectivity. Using 8 microsatellite loci, we investigated genetic structure of the two-banded sea bream Diplodus vulgaris, a coastal fish that is both commercially and ecologically important. Adults were sampled in 7 locations (stretches of coastline approximately 8 km long) and juveniles in 14 sites (~100 to 200 m of coastline) along 200 km of the Apulian Adriatic coast (SW Adriatic Sea), within and outside an MPA (Torre Guaceto MPA, Italy). Our study found similar genetic diversity indices for both the MPA and the surrounding fished areas. An overall lack of genetic structure among samples suggests high gene flow (i.e. connectivity) across a scale of at least 200 km. However, some local genetic divergences found in two locations demonstrate some heterogeneity in processes renewing the population along the Apulian Adriatic coast. Furthermore, two sites appeared genetically divergent, reinforcing our observations within the genetic makeup of adults and confirming heterogeneity in early stage genetics that can come from either different supply populations or from chaotic genetic patchiness occurring under temporal variation in recruitment and in the reproductive success. While the specific role of the MPA is not entirely known in this case, these results confirm the presence of regional processes and the key role of connectivity in maintaining the local population supply

Study area with sampling locations and sites: Locations: BA = Bari, M = Monopoli, HLD = Hotel La Darsena, TGMPA = Torre Guaceto MPA, PP = Punta Penna, CAS = Casalabate, SA = San Andrea.

<p>Sites: SG = San Giorgio, TAM = Torre A Mare, PM = Porto Marzano, TI = Torre Incina, HLD = Hotel La Darsena, TP = Torre Pozzella, PPG = Punta Penna Grossa, TB = Terza Baia, TRM = Torre Rossa Mossa, PP = Punta Penne, CAS = Casalabate, TR = Torre Rinalda, SF = San Foca, SA = San Andrea. “Public domain source of backgrounds maps: OpenStreetMap contributors, available under ODbL licence at <a href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/" target="_blank">http://www.openstreetmap.org/</a>”.</p

Results of assignment analysis with GENECLASS2.

<p>Juveniles were assigned to one of the seven possible adult populations if the likelihood of their genotype occurring in that population was greater than 0.05, when compared to a distribution of 10⁴ simulated genotypes from that population. Juveniles that had a likelihood superior than 0.05 were considered to have being originated from one of the adult populations. If a juvenile was assigned to more than one population with likelihood greater than 0.5 it was left unassigned. Juveniles with likelihood less than 0.05 in all populations were assumed to be immigrants. The results of the test in TGMPA are in bold. See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0167441#pone.0167441.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> for legends.</p

Matrix of pairwise <i>F</i>st between adult samples.

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0167441#pone.0167441.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> for legends.</p

Multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot of pairwise <i>F</i>st distances between adult samples.

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0167441#pone.0167441.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> for legends.</p

The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach

17 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368.-- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Daniel Vilas, Marta Coll, Xavier Corrales, Jeroen Steenbeek, Chiara Piroddi, Antonio Calò, Antonio Di Franco, Toni Font, Paolo Guidetti, Alessandro Ligas, Josep Lloret, Giulia Prato, Rita Sahyoun, Paolo Sartor, Joachim Claudet, The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach, Aquatic Conservation - Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 30(10):1885-1901(2020), which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsThe overexploitation of many marine resources and ecosystems calls for the development and implementation of measures to support their recovery and conservation. The potential contributions to support fisheries and ecosystem recovery were assessed at the local level of the three multiple-use marine protected areas (MPAs) of Cerbère-Banyuls, Medes Islands, and Cap de Creus, located in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. For each MPA, a food-web model accounting for each protection level (PL) was developed: the fully protected area (FPA), the partially protected area (PPA) and the unprotected area (UPA) surrounding the MPA. Using the resulting nine food-web models, the ecosystem structure and functioning of each PL were compared and characterized, differences and similarities within and among the three MPAs were assessed, and ecosystem response to full protection was evaluated for the three MPAs. Differences in terms of ecosystem structure and functioning were found among PLs. Overall, FPAs presented the most positive effect of protection in terms of ecosystem structure and functioning, followed by PPAs. However, the effects of protection on neighbouring UPAs were hardly noticeable. Similarities between Cerbère-Banyuls and Medes Islands MPAs were observed, while Cap de Creus MPA showed the least benefits from protection overall. These results are likely to be due to similarities in the configuration of the protected areas, the levels of enforcement and compliance, and the impact of recreational and small-scale fisheries allowed in the PPAs and UPAs. This study illustrates that well-enforced Mediterranean MPAs, even when small, can yield local positive impacts on the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems that can contribute to support local fisheriesThis work was funded by EU Research Project SAFENET project (“Sustainable Fisheries in EU Mediterranean Waters through Network of MPAs.” Call for proposals MARE/2014/41, Grant Agreement n. 721708). D. Vilas benefited from a Short Term Scientific Mission by the COST Action MarCons (CA15121)With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI

The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach

17 pages, 11 figures, 1 table, supporting information https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368.-- This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Daniel Vilas, Marta Coll, Xavier Corrales, Jeroen Steenbeek, Chiara Piroddi, Antonio Calò, Antonio Di Franco, Toni Font, Paolo Guidetti, Alessandro Ligas, Josep Lloret, Giulia Prato, Rita Sahyoun, Paolo Sartor, Joachim Claudet, The effects of marine protected areas on ecosystem recovery and fisheries using a comparative modelling approach, Aquatic Conservation - Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 30(10):1885-1901(2020), which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3368. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived VersionsThe overexploitation of many marine resources and ecosystems calls for the development and implementation of measures to support their recovery and conservation. The potential contributions to support fisheries and ecosystem recovery were assessed at the local level of the three multiple-use marine protected areas (MPAs) of Cerbère-Banyuls, Medes Islands, and Cap de Creus, located in the north-western Mediterranean Sea. For each MPA, a food-web model accounting for each protection level (PL) was developed: the fully protected area (FPA), the partially protected area (PPA) and the unprotected area (UPA) surrounding the MPA. Using the resulting nine food-web models, the ecosystem structure and functioning of each PL were compared and characterized, differences and similarities within and among the three MPAs were assessed, and ecosystem response to full protection was evaluated for the three MPAs. Differences in terms of ecosystem structure and functioning were found among PLs. Overall, FPAs presented the most positive effect of protection in terms of ecosystem structure and functioning, followed by PPAs. However, the effects of protection on neighbouring UPAs were hardly noticeable. Similarities between Cerbère-Banyuls and Medes Islands MPAs were observed, while Cap de Creus MPA showed the least benefits from protection overall. These results are likely to be due to similarities in the configuration of the protected areas, the levels of enforcement and compliance, and the impact of recreational and small-scale fisheries allowed in the PPAs and UPAs. This study illustrates that well-enforced Mediterranean MPAs, even when small, can yield local positive impacts on the structure and functioning of marine ecosystems that can contribute to support local fisheriesThis work was funded by EU Research Project SAFENET project (“Sustainable Fisheries in EU Mediterranean Waters through Network of MPAs.” Call for proposals MARE/2014/41, Grant Agreement n. 721708). D. Vilas benefited from a Short Term Scientific Mission by the COST Action MarCons (CA15121)With the funding support of the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S), of the Spanish Research Agency (AEI