Using ecological null models to assess the potential for marine protected area networks to protect biodiversity.

ABSTRACT: Marine protected area (MPA) networks have been proposed as a principal method for conserving biological diversity, yet patterns of diversity may ultimately complicate or compromise the development of such networks. We show how a series of ecological null models can be applied to assemblage data across sites in order to identify non-random biological patterns likely to influence the effectiveness of MPA network design. We use fish census data from Caribbean fore-reefs as a test system and demonstrate that: 1) site assemblages were nested, such that species found on sites with relatively few species were subsets of those found on sites with relatively many species, 2) species co-occurred across sites more than expected by chance once species-habitat associations were accounted for, and 3) gu

SUBMITTER: Semmens BX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2811735 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature