Marine protected areas show low overlap with projected distributions of seabird populations in Britain and Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorCritchley, Emma Janeen
dc.contributor.authorGrecian, W. Jamesen
dc.contributor.authorKane, Adamen
dc.contributor.authorJessopp, Mark J.en
dc.contributor.authorQuinn, John L.en
dc.contributor.funderScience Foundation Irelanden
dc.contributor.funderIrish Research Councilen
dc.contributor.funderIrish Petroleum Infrastructure Programmeen
dc.contributor.funderINSITEen
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-16T15:44:05Z
dc.date.available2024-07-16T15:44:05Z
dc.date.issued2018-06-20en
dc.description.abstractMarine Protected Areas (MPAs) are an important tool for the conservation of seabirds. However, mapping seabird distributions using at-sea surveys or tracking data to inform the designation of MPAs is costly and time-consuming, particularly for far-ranging pelagic species. Here we explore the potential for using predictive distribution models to examine the effectiveness of current MPAs for the conservation of seabirds, using Britain and Ireland as a case study. A distance-weighted foraging radius approach was used to project distributions at sea for an entire seabird community during the breeding season, identifying hotspots of highest density and species richness. The percentage overlap between distributions at sea and MPAs was calculated at the level of individual species, family group, foraging range group (coastal or pelagic foragers), and conservation status. On average, 32.5% of coastal populations and 13.2% of pelagic populations overlapped with MPAs indicating that pelagic species, many of which are threatened, are likely to have significantly less coverage from protected areas. We suggest that a foraging radius approach provides a pragmatic and rapid method of assessing overlap with MPA networks for central place foragers. It can also act as an initial tool to identify important areas for potential designation. This would be particularly useful for regions throughout the world with limited data on seabird distributions at sea and limited resources to collect this data. Future assessment for marine conservation management should account for the disparity between coastal and pelagic foraging species to ensure that wider-ranging seabirds are afforded adequate levels of protection.en
dc.description.sponsorshipIrish Research Council (GOIPD/2015/81); Irish Petroleum Infrastructure Programme (IS013/08)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationCritchley, E. J., Grecian, W.J., Kane, A., Jessopp, M. J. and Quinn, J. L. (2018) 'Marine protected areas show low overlap with projected distributions of seabird populations in Britain and Ireland', Biological Conservation, 224, pp.309-317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.007en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2018.06.007en
dc.identifier.endpage317en
dc.identifier.issn0006-3207en
dc.identifier.journaltitleBiological Conservationen
dc.identifier.startpage309en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/16137
dc.identifier.volume224en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherElsevier Ltd.en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/SFI Research Centres/12/RC/2302/IE/Marine Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI) - The SFI Centre for Marine Renewable Energy Research/en
dc.rights© 2018, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This manuscript version is made available under the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectSeabirdsen
dc.subjectProtected areasen
dc.subjectPredictive modellingen
dc.subjectHotspotsen
dc.subjectForagingen
dc.subjectEcosystem approachen
dc.titleMarine protected areas show low overlap with projected distributions of seabird populations in Britain and Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
oaire.citation.volume224en
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