Effectiveness of two western Iberian Peninsula marine protected areas in reducing the risk of macroalgae invasion

This work was supported by the European Union through EASME Blue Labs project AMALIA - Algae-to-MArket Lab IdeAs (EASME/EMFF/2016/1.2.1.4/03/SI2.750419). Further support was provided by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through the Strategic Project UID/MAR/04292/2013 and project MARINE INVADERS – The impact and mechanisms of success of the invasive seaweed Asparagopsis armata on coastal environments (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-031144). The project was also partly funded by the Integrated Programme of SR&TD “SmartBioR” (reference Centro-01-0145-FEDER-000018) cofunded by Centro 2020 program, Portugal2020, European Union, through the European Regional Development Fund, and Operational Programme MAR2020 through project MACAU (MAR-04.03.01-FEAMP-0128). These funding bodies were not directly involved in the development of the current study. Data on the number of licences and people landing in the Berlengas Natural Park were provided by Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas and Life Berlengas, LIFE13/NAT/PT/000458, funded by LIFE program. The authors thank J. Pascual for assistance during SCUBA diving fieldwork, A. R. Larrinaga for developing the distribution maps, and E. Pérez and A. Fuentes for their assistance in laboratory sampling

Marine ecosystems are facing major anthropogenic disturbances, including loss of biodiversity, eutrophication, and biological invasions. Thus, attention has raised on marine conservation actions to preserve habitat resilience and biodiversity. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) play an essential role in marine conservation as they are usually designated to provide marine ecosystem resilience of native communities to human-induced impacts (including non-native introductions) while contributing with positive effects on other ecosystem services. The introduction of a new species in novel marine habitats has been attributed to biotic, abiotic, and anthropogenic factors. In the present study, the effects of native functional diversity, wave exposure were studied, and for the first time, marine protection was addressed concerning the invasion success of six macroalgae in two MPAs in the NW Iberian Peninsula. The correlation between the presence/absence of some native functional groups and the invasion success of some invasive species highlighted the importance of conserving native canopy-formers. Despite local differences, wave exposure did not affect invasion success. The protection provided by both MPAs was very limited to prevent the establishment and spread of the most abundant invasive macroalgae. Therefore, stricter management plans should be implemented to ensure native ecosystem resilience within the MPAs.

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