New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research abstracts
Increased predation of juvenile European spiny lobster (Palinurus
elephas) in a marine protected area
David Díaz
Mikel Zabala
Cristina Linares
Bernat Hereu
Departament d’Ecologia
Universitat de Barcelona
Avinguda Diagonal, 645
08028 Barcelona, Spain
email: david.diaz@ba.ieo.es
Pere Abelló
Institut de Ciències del Mar (CSIC)
Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49
08003 Barcelona, Spain
Abstract One of the aims of Mediterranean marine protected
areas (MPAs) is to increase populations of exploited species, such as the
European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas), which is considered a
key species for its commercial and ecological value. Monitoring of temporal
patterns in abundance of early benthic stages of P. elephas indicated
that predation may be higher inside the Medes Islands MPA relative to adjacent
control sites. Tethering experiments were performed to test whether predation
rates actually differed within and outside the MPA. Relative mortality of
recently-settled juveniles inside the MPA was much higher than in control
sites in adjacent non-protected areas. Treatments with and without shelter
indicated that predation on recently-settled juvenile spiny lobsters was
moderated by the availability of suitable shelter. The decline or absence
of fish predators in the fished area may be the reason why juvenile lobsters
outside the MPA experience lower predation than within the MPA.
Keywords predation; Palinurus elephas; marine
protected areas; spiny lobster; shelter; Mediterranean Sea
M04092; Online publication date 31 May 2005 Received 13 April 2004; accepted
4 March 2005
New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research, 2005, Vol. 39:
447-453
0028-8330/05/3902-0447 © The Royal Society of New Zealand 2005
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