Management Strategy Evaluation Applied to Coral Reef Ecosystems in Support of Ecosystem-Based Management.

ABSTRACT: Ecosystem modelling is increasingly used to explore ecosystem-level effects of changing environmental conditions and management actions. For coral reefs there has been increasing interest in recent decades in the use of ecosystem models for evaluating the effects of fishing and the efficacy of marine protected areas. However, ecosystem models that integrate physical forcings, biogeochemical and ecological dynamics, and human induced perturbations are still underdeveloped. We applied an ecosystem model (Atlantis) to the coral reef ecosystem of Guam using a suite of management scenarios prioritized in consultation with local resource managers to review the effects of each scenario on performance measures related to the ecosystem, the reef-fish fishery (e.g., fish landings) and coral habitat.

SUBMITTER: Weijerman M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4811577 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature