title: Marine reserves: size and age do matter.
abstract: Marine reserves are widely used throughout the world to prevent overfishing and conserve biodiversity, but uncertainties remain about their optimal design. The effects of marine reserves are heterogeneous. Despite theoretical findings, empirical studies have previously found no effect of size on the effectiveness of marine reserves in protecting commercial fish stocks. Using 58 datasets from 19 European marine reserves, we show that reserve size and age do matter: Increasing the size of the no-take zone increases the density of commercial fishes within the reserve compared with outside; whereas the size of the buffer zone has the opposite effect. Moreover, positive effects of marine reserve on commercial fish species and species richness are linked to the time elapsed since the establishment of the protection scheme. The reserve size-dependency of the response to protection has strong implications for the spatial management of coastal areas because marine reserves are used for spatial zoning.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Tropical and Mediterranean Biology and Ecology, EPHE-CNRS UMR 5244, University of Perpignan, 66860 Perpignan cedex, France. joachim.claudet@gmail.com
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Claudet
authors.forename: Craig W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Osenberg
authors.forename: Lisandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benedetti-Cecchi
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Domenici
authors.forename: José-Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: García-Charton
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pérez-Ruzafa
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Badalamenti
authors.forename: Just
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bayle-Sempere
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brito
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bulleri
authors.forename: Jean-Michel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Culioli
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dimech
authors.forename: Jesús M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Falcón
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guala
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milazzo
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Meca
authors.forename: Paul J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Somerfield
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stobart
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vandeperre
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Planes
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001267:Atlantic Ocean; D044822:Biodiversity; D003246:Conservation of Energy Resources; D005060:Europe; D005398:Fisheries; D005399:Fishes; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D013997:Time Factors