QUANTIFICAZIONE DEGLI EFFETTI DELLA PROTEZIONE SUL BENTHOS DI SUBSTRATO DURO: RISULTATI DI UN ESPERIMENTO CONDOTTO IN 15 AREE MARINE PROTETTE (AMP) ITALIANE

Despite the increasing number of monitoring programs and local-scale experiments evaluating the efficacy of conservation interventions, there is still a lack of conclusive evidence about whether spatial approaches to marine management and conservation are effective in sustaining fisheries and conserving biodiversity. Here, we used data on benthic assemblages of hard substrates collected in 15 Marine Protected Areas, within the framework of a large-scale research program (Afrodite-Venere). This is the first coordinated effort of quantifying potential effect of protection including all Italian MPAs using a common sampling design. The general outcomes are: 1- most MPAs do not show any effect of protection, maybe also because restrictions are not effectively enforced; 2- significant differences were consistently detected when the integral zone was located on islands, generating the hypothesis that, in some cases, differences are driven by habitat more than protection itself (i.e., lack of appropriate spatial controls). In highly heterogeneous environments, such as Mediterranean ones, successful use of MPAs in marine conservation and management will likely require a case-by-case understanding of the specific patterns of resource use and human threats impacting local habitats and assemblages, as well as the ecological characteristics of those species and systems.