Benthic habitat modelling and mapping as a conservation tool for marine protected areas: A seamount in the western Mediterranean

1. An ecologically representative, well‐connected, and effectively managed system of marine protected areas (MPAs) has positive ecological and environmental effects as well as social and economic benefits. Although progress in expanding the coverage of MPAs has been made, the application of management tools has not yet been implemented in most of these areas. 2. In this work, distribution models were applied to nine benthic habitats on a Mediterranean seamount within an MPA for conservation purposes. Benthic habitat occurrences were identified from 55 remotely operated vehicle (ROV) transects, at depths from 76 to 700 m, and data derived from multibeam bathymetry. Generalized additive models (GAMs) were applied to link the presence of each benthic habitat to local environmental proxies (depth, slope, backscatter, aspect, and bathymetric position index, BPI). 3. The main environmental drivers of habitat distribution were depth, slope, and BPI. Based on this result, five different geomorphological areas were distinguished. A full coverage map indicating the potential benthic habitat distribution on the seamount was obtained to inform spatial management. 4. The distribution of those habitats identified as vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) was used to make recommendations on zonation for developing the management plan of the MPA. This process reveals itself as an appropriate methodological approach that can be developed in other areas of the Natura 2000 marine networkEn prensa1,92

Population assessment and impact of trade on the Asian Water Dragon (Physignathus cocincinus Cuvier, 1829) in Vietnam

Physignathus cocincinus has been harvested in Vietnam for the local food market as well as for the international pet trade since at least 20 years. However, comprehensive knowledge about its global conservation status is lacking so far. Our study was conducted to evaluate potential impacts of harvest and trade on wild populations by providing an overview of the international and domestic trade in P. cocincinus in Vietnam. To assess the level of anthropogenic impacts on wild populations, we compared population densities and sizes of an undisturbed and several disturbed sites in northern Vietnam between 2014 and 2016 by using a mark-recapture method. The results indicate that mean densities are smaller in disturbed populations than in the reference population. Imports of 1.47 million individuals, mainly of wild origin from Vietnam, into the EU and US were documented in the last 20 years. Regarding national pet trade, a total of 51 domestic dealers and nine online pet shops trading P. cocincinus were documented in Vietnam since 2015. Our study also highlights a considerable harvest for the national use, viz. pet trade and food consumption, in Asian range states. We assume that the long-term viability of P. cocincinus in the Indo-China region, at least in the North of Vietnam, is at risk due to the considerable extent of harvest and ongoing habitat degradation. Thus, we suggest stringent conservation measures to protect wild populations more efficiently and improve habitat conservation. (C) 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V

Effectiveness of marine protected areas in the Philippines for biodiversity conservation

Quantifying the extent to which existing reserves meet conservation objectives and identifying gaps in coverage are vital to developing systematic protected-area networks. Despite widespread recognition of the Philippines as a global priority for marine conservation, limited work has been undertaken to evaluate the conservation effectiveness of existing marine protected areas (MPAs). Targets for MPA coverage in the Philippines have been specified in the 1998 Fisheries Code legislation, which calls for 15% of coastal\ud municipal waters (within 15 km of the coastline) to be protected within no-take MPAs, and the Philippine Marine Sanctuary Strategy (2004), which aims to protect 10% of coral reef area in no-take MPAs by 2020. We used a newly compiled database of nearly 1000 MPAs to measure progress toward these targets. We evaluated conservation effectiveness of MPAs in two ways. First, we determined the degree to which marine bioregions and conservation priority areas are represented within existing MPAs. Second, we assessed the size and spacing patterns of reserves in terms of best-practice recommendations. We found that the current\ud extent and distribution of MPAs does not adequately represent biodiversity. At present just 0.5% of municipal\ud waters and 2.7–3.4% of coral reef area in the Philippines are protected in no-take MPAs. Moreover, 85% of no-take area is in just two sites; 90% of MPAs are <1 km2. Nevertheless, distances between existing MPAs should ensure larval connectivity between them, providing opportunities to develop regional-scale MPA networks. Despite the considerable success of community-based approaches to MPA implementation in the Philippines, this strategy will not be sufficient to meet conservation targets, even under a best-case scenario for future MPA establishment. We recommend that implementation of community-based MPAs be\ud supplemented by designation of additional large no-take areas specifically located to address conservation targets