Decreased tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic positively affects reef fish in a high use marine protected area.

ABSTRACT: Humans alter ecosystems through both consumptive and non-consumptive effects. Consumptive effects occur through hunting, fishing and collecting, while non-consumptive effects occur due to the responses of wildlife to human presence. While marine conservation efforts have focused on reducing consumptive effects, managing human presence is also necessary to maintain and restore healthy ecosystems. Area closures and the tourism freeze related to the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique natural experiment to measure the effects of decreased tourism on fish behavior in a high use no-take marine protected area (MPA) in Hawai`i. We found that when tourism shut down due to COVID restrictions in 2020, fish biomass increased and predatory species increased usage of shallow habitats, where tourists ty

SUBMITTER: Weng KC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10096236 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature