Rapid effects of marine reserves via larval dispersal

Richard Cudney Bueno (2009, [Artículo])

Marine reserves have been advocated worldwide as conservation and fishery management tools. It is argued that they can protect ecosystems and also benefit fisheries via density-dependent spillover of adults and enhanced larval dispersal into fishing areas. However, while evidence has shown that marine reserves can meet conservation targets, their effects on fisheries are less understood. In particular, the basic question of if and over what temporal and spatial scales reserves can benefit fished populations via larval dispersal remains unanswered. We tested predictions of a larval transport model for a marine reserve network in the Gulf of California, Mexico, via field oceanography and repeated density counts of recently settled juvenile commercial mollusks before and after reserve establishment. We show that local retention of larvae within a reserve network can take place with enhanced, but spatially-explicit, recruitment to local fisheries. Enhancement occurred rapidly (2 yrs), with up to a three-fold increase in density of juveniles found in fished areas at the downstream edge of the reserve network, but other fishing areas within the network were unaffected. These findings were consistent with our model predictions. Our findings underscore the potential benefits of protecting larval sources and show that enhancement in recruitment can be manifested rapidly. However, benefits can be markedly variable within a local seascape. Hence, effects of marine reserve networks, positive or negative, may be overlooked when only focusing on overall responses and not considering finer spatially-explicit responses within a reserve network and its adjacent fishing grounds. Our results therefore call for future research on marine reserves that addresses this variability in order to help frame appropriate scenarios for the spatial management scales of interest. © 2009 Cudney-Bueno et al.

article, environmental monitoring, fishery, larva, marine environment, marine species, Mexico, mollusc, nonhuman, oceanography, prediction, animal, biology, environmental protection, food industry, geography, growth, development and aging, larva, met CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA

Biodiversity conservation in an anthropized landscape: Trees, not patch size drive, bird community composition in a low-input agroecosystem

ERIC MELLINK BIJTEL (2017, [Artículo])

One of the most typical agro-ecosystems in the Llanos de Ojuelos, a semi-arid region of central Mexico, is that of fruit-production orchards of nopales (prickly pear cacti). This perennial habitat with complex vertical structure provides refuge and food for at least 112 species of birds throughout the year. Nopal orchards vary in their internal structure, size and shrub/ tree composition, yet these factors have unknown effects on the animals that use them. To further understand the conservation potential of this agro-ecosystem, we evaluated the effects of patch-size and the presence of trees on bird community composition, as well as several habitat variables, through an information-theoretical modelling approach. Community composition was obtained through a year of census transects in 12 orchards. The presence of trees in the orchards was the major driver of bird communities followed by seasonality; bird communities are independent of patch size, except for small orchard patches that benefit black-chin sparrows, which are considered a sensitive species. At least 55 species of six trophic guilds (insectivores, granivores, carnivores, nectivores, omnivores, and frugivores) used the orchards. Orchards provide adequate habitat and food resources for several sensitive species of resident and migratory sparrows. The attributes that make orchards important for birds: trees, shrubs, herb seeds, and open patches can be managed to maintain native biodiversity in highly anthropized regions with an urgent need to find convergence between production and biological conservation. © 2017 Mellink et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

agroecosystem, carnivore, chin, conservation biology, driver, frugivore, granivore, habitat, human, insectivore, landscape, nonhuman, omnivore, orchard, resident, seasonal variation, shrub, sparrow, theoretical model, agriculture, animal, biodiversit CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA

High quality diet improves lipid metabolic profile and breeding performance in the blue-footed booby, a long-lived seabird

ERICK GONZALEZ MEDINA (2018, [Artículo])

Understanding the role of diet in the physiological condition of adults during reproduction and hence its effect on reproductive performance is fundamental to understand reproductive strategies in long-lived animals. In birds, little is known about the influence of the quality of food consumed at the beginning of the reproductive period and its short-term effects on reproductive performance. To assess the role of diet in the physiological condition of female blue-footed booby, Sula nebouxii (BFBO), during reproduction we evaluated whether individual differences in diet (assessed by using δ13C and δ15N values of whole blood from female birds and muscle tissue of the principal prey species) prior to egg laying and during incubation influenced their lipid metabolic profile (measured as triglyceride levels and C:N ratio) and their reproductive performance (defined by laying date, clutch size and hatching success). Females with higher δ15N values in their blood during the courtship and incubation periods had a higher lipid metabolic profile, earlier laying date, greater clutch size (2–3 eggs) and higher hatching success. Females that laid earlier and more eggs (2–3 eggs) consumed more Pacific anchoveta (Cetengraulis mysticetus) and Pacific thread herring (Opisthonema libertate) than did other females. These two prey species also had high amounts of lipids (C:N ratio) and caloric content (Kcal/g fresh weight). The quality of food consumed by females at the beginning of reproduction affected their physiological condition, as well as their short-term reproductive performance. Our work emphasizes the importance of determining the influence of food quality during reproduction to understand the reproductive decisions and consequences in long-lived animals. © 2018 González-Medina et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

nitrogen 15, triacylglycerol, lipid, animal experiment, Article, breeding, carbon nitrogen ratio, clutch size, controlled study, courtship, diet, egg laying, female, food intake, hatching, lipid metabolism, muscle tissue, nonhuman, prey, reproduction CIENCIAS FÍSICO MATEMÁTICAS Y CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA CIENCIAS DE LA TIERRA Y DEL ESPACIO OCEANOGRAFÍA OCEANOGRAFÍA