Reef ECOlogy and design of Marine PRotected Areas

Reef ecosystems are among the most productive areas of the planet, they play a major role in coastal fisheries as nursery and feeding grounds, and they further provide a huge array of ecosystem services. Coastal ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to human actions causing the erosion of marine biodiversity and the collapse of marine resources. Marine protected areas (MPAs) are increasingly used to conserve resources and protect biodiversity. The anticipated ecological effects of MPAs are multiple and affect populations, communities and ecosystems, as well as the associated fisheries and tourist activities. RECOMPRA proposal aims at consolidating an existing research network established by mutual bilateral relationships among EU (Spain, France and Italy) and South-American (Brazil and Argentina) labs which common objective is to study specific aspects of reef ecology, in order to provide sound criteria for the design, monitoring and management of MPAs in a scenario of global change. Special emphasis is given to strengthening the interplay between ecological and social sciences, in order to reach robust, long-lasting institutional arrangements for the governance of the coastal realm. The proposal is organised in 1 Work Package devoted to coordination activities, plus 3 thematic Work Packages covering the following topics: (1) reef fish mobility and connectivity, (2) functional response of reef environments to disturbance in scenarios of global change, and (3) MPAs network design for ecological function, marine governance and ecosystem services. The proposed staff exchange scheme is to be used to improve joint research of both early-stage and experienced personnel. This research is to be performed mostly in a number of MPAs where extensive investigations are being developed at present, so that this network is aiming at reinforcing data collection in these pilot sites, and promoting shared analyses and synthesis of results at different spatial and temporal scales.