title: The Challenge of Planning Conservation Strategies in Threatened Seascapes: Understanding the Role of Fine Scale Assessments of Community Response to Cumulative Human Pressures.
abstract: Assessing the distribution and intensity of human threats to biodiversity is a prerequisite for effective spatial planning, harmonizing conservation purposes with sustainable development. In the Mediterranean Sea, the management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) is rarely based on explicit consideration of the distribution of multiple stressors, with direct assessment of their effects on ecosystems. This gap limits the effectiveness of protection and is conducive to conflicts among stakeholders. Here, a fine scale assessment of the potential effects of different combinations of stressors (both land- and marine-based) on vulnerable rocky habitats (i.e. lower midlittoral and shallow infralittoral) along 40 km of coast in the western Mediterranean (Ionian Sea) has been carried out. The study area is a paradigmatic example of socio-ecological interactions, where several human uses and conservation measures collide. Significant differences in the structure of assemblages according to different combinations of threats were observed, indicating distinct responses of marine habitats to different sets of human pressures. A more complex three-dimensional structure, higher taxon richness and β-diversity characterized assemblages subject to low versus high levels of human pressure, consistently across habitats. In addition, the main drivers of change were: closeness to the harbour, water quality, and the relative extension of beaches. Our findings suggest that, although efforts to assess cumulative impacts at large scale may help in individuating priority areas for conservation purposes, the fact that such evaluations are often based on expert opinions and not on actual studies limits their ability to represent real environmental conditions at local scale. Systematic evaluations of local scale effects of anthropogenic drivers of change on biological communities should complement broad scale management strategies to achieve effective sustainability of human exploitation of marine resources.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Guarnieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Stanislao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bevilacqua
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Leo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Farella
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maffia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Terlizzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences and Technologies, University of Salento, CoNISMa, 73100, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Simonetta
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fraschetti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004463:Ecology; D017753:Ecosystem; D005398:Fisheries; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008386:Marine Biology; D019083:Mediterranean Region; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012767:Ships; D060753:Water Quality