Using reef fish movement to inform marine reserve design

A central tenet of protected area design is that conservation areas must be adequate to ensure the persistence of the features that they aim to conserve. These features might include species, populations, communities and/or environmental processes. Protected area adequacy entails both good design (e.g. size, configuration, replication) and management effectiveness (e.g. level of protection, compliance with regulations). With respect to design, guidelines recommend that protected area size be informed by species’ home ranges, as individuals that move beyond protected area boundaries are exposed to threats and are thus only partially protected (Kramer & Chapman 1999). This is especially important for species that are directly exploited, as are many coral reef-associated fishe

SCUBA Diver User Fees as Sustainable Funding of Coral Reef Based Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have become a popular form of conservation and management for tropical coral reefs; however, the majority of MPAs are not efficiently managed or enforced because of an inability to pay management costs. User fees are one method for funding MPAs through the recovery of use values. A user fee system respects the concept of equity, as tour operators and recreational visitors are not allowed free access, but are charged a fee proportional to the economic or recreational value they gain. This study provides important information about willingness to pay for SCUBA diver user fees throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Results show that divers are willing to pay user fees, but reluctance by MPA managers and tourist operators continues to impede implementation of an effective user fees system. Other obstacles to implementation are discussed through case studies, and recommendations for effective implementation of user fees are given

SCUBA Diver User Fees as Sustainable Funding of Coral Reef Based Marine Protected Areas

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) have become a popular form of conservation and management for tropical coral reefs; however, the majority of MPAs are not efficiently managed or enforced because of an inability to pay management costs. User fees are one method for funding MPAs through the recovery of use values. A user fee system respects the concept of equity, as tour operators and recreational visitors are not allowed free access, but are charged a fee proportional to the economic or recreational value they gain. This study provides important information about willingness to pay for SCUBA diver user fees throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. Results show that divers are willing to pay user fees, but reluctance by MPA managers and tourist operators continues to impede implementation of an effective user fees system. Other obstacles to implementation are discussed through case studies, and recommendations for effective implementation of user fees are given

Inadequate T follicular cell help impairs B cell immunity during HIV infection.

The majority of HIV-infected individuals fail to produce protective antibodies and have diminished responses to new immunizations. We report here that even though there is an expansion of follicular helper T (TFH) cells in HIV-infected individuals, the cells are unable to provide adequate B cell help. We found a higher frequency of programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1)(+) germinal center B cells from lymph nodes of HIV-infected individuals suggesting a potential role for PD-1-PD-L1 interaction in regulating TFH cell function. In fact, we show that engagement of PD-1 on TFH cells leads to a reduction in cell proliferation, activation, inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS) expression and interleukin-21 (IL-21) cytokine secretion. Blocking PD-1 signaling enhances HIV-specific immunoglobulin production in vitro. We further show that at least part of this defect involves IL-21, as addition of this cytokine rescues antibody responses and plasma cell generation in vitro. Our results suggest that deregulation of TFH cell-mediated B cell help diminishes B cell responses during HIV infection and may be related to PD-1 triggering on TFH cells. These results demonstrate a role for TFH cell impairment in HIV pathogenesis and suggest that enhancing their function could have a major impact on the outcome and control of HIV infection, preventing future infections and improving immune responses to vaccinations