Zoning of a the Marine Protected Area of Mejillones Peninsula

Zoning of a the Marine Protected Area of Mejillones Peninsula,

northern Chile

ABSTRACT. Marine protected areas (MPA) are an important management tool to protect biodiversity and regulate the use of coastal marine resources. However, robust conservation plans requires an explicit consideration of not only biological but also social components, balancing the protection of biodiversity with a sustainable exploitation of marine resources. Here we applied the decision-making algorithm MARXAN to provide a zonification analysis at the Peninsula de Mejillones marine protected area of multiple uses (PM-MPA) in northern Chile, one of largest MPA’s of the Humboldt Current Marine Ecosystem. We compiled a database of ca. 11,000 georeferenced occurrence records of more than 500 species along the study area, and identified coarse ad fine-filter conservation targets at different levels of organization (species, communities, ecosystems). Quantitative conservation goals were crossed out against different threats and pressure factors from human activities along area. We identified a portfolio of sites for conservation within the PM-MPA, representing different ecological systems with different levels of human impacts and vulnerability. These results may serve as a foundational guideline for the future administration of the MP-MPA.

Keywords: Marine protected areas network, MARXAN, conservation plans, marine coastal ecosystems.

Zonificación del Área Marina Costera de Península de Mejillones, norte de Chile

RESUMEN. Las áreas marinas protegidas (AMP) son una importante herramienta de manejo para la protección de la biodiversidad y la regulación del uso de recursos marinos costeros. Planes robustos para la conservación, sin embargo, deben considerar explícitamente no sólo componentes biológicos sino además sociales, equilibrando la protección de la biodiversidad con una explotación sustentable de los recursos marinos, En este trabajo aplicamos el algoritmo de toma de decisiones MARXAN para entregar un análisis de zonificación del área marina costera protegida de múltiples usos de Mejillones (PM-AMP), en el norte de Chile, una de las AMP más grandes del Ecosistema Marino de la Corriente de Humboldt. Generamos una base de datos de ca. 11.000 registros de ocurrencia para más de 500 especies a lo largo de la zona de estudio, e identificamos objetos de conservación de filtro grueso y fino a diferentes niveles de organización (especies, comunidades, ecosistemas). Se cruzaron objetivos de conservación contra diferentes amenazas y factores de presión generados por las actividades humanas registradas en la zona. Identificamos un portafolio de sitios prioritarias de conservación dentro de la MP-MPA, representativos de diferentes sistemas ecológicos sometidos a diferentes niveles de impacto humano y vulnerabilidad. Estos resultados pueden proveer las guías fundacionales para el futuro plan de administración de la MP-MPA.

Palabras clave: Red de áreas marinas protegidas, MARXAN, planes de conservación, ecosistemas marinos costeros.

INTRODUCTION

Marine ecosystems are fundamental to the sustainable development of coastal countries, providing a large variety of actives and environmental resources. Currently, these ecosystems face a growing menace of overexploitation of fisheries, pollution, habitat destruction, among others human-driven impacts (Jackson 2001; Jackson et al. 2001; Jackson & Sala 2001; Rivadeneira et al. 2010). In this scenario, Marine Protected Areas (MPA) arises as one of most practical strategies for the conservation of the marine biodiversity (Allison et al. 1998). MPA not only seek to protect biodiversity but also allow a sustainable exploitation of the ecosystem, providing social, economic, and research benefits (Salm et al. 2000).

In contrast to terrestrial ecosystems, MPA networks are poorly developed worldwide, and less than 1 % of the global ocean is currently protected (Chape et al. 2005). The situation is no better in Latin America and Caribbean regions, were despite there are over 700 MPA established, only 1.5 % of coastal and shelf waters areas are protected (Guarderas et al. 2008). Moreover, vast areas of the Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem, included Chile, are largely unprotected (Guarderas et al. 2008).

Currently, there are five MPA of multiple uses (MU) established for the Chilean coast (Tognelli et al. 2009). Despite the existing MPA network seems to protect a large fraction of the marine biodiversity, many species with small geographic ranges are not covered. In addition, the success of a MPA depends on the existence of zoning plans able to resolve conflicts between local users and the environment, balancing the protection of marine biodiversity with a sustainable exploitation of marine resources and uses of the coastal seascape (Villa et al. 2002; Douvere 2008). However, to date, such zoning analysis has been implemented in only one of the existing MPA-MU (Gaymer et al. 2008).

The Peninsula de Mejillones area (PM, see Fig. 1) is one of the recently proposed MPA-MU for the Chilean coast (Hudson et al. 2008) This section need more references, Hudson 2008 is a technical report. I will appreciate that author include proper references. The PM-MPA is placed at the coastal area of the hyper-arid Atacama Desert, and is the second largest MPA of the Southeastern Pacific covering more than 500 km² along a stretch of ca. 100 km of coast. The marine ecosystem is characterized by the nearly continuous upwelling events, pumping up cold and nutrient-rich waters from the bottom to the shallower waters (Sobarzo & Figueroa 2001; Thiel et al. 2007). The high marine productivity and relative isolation from human activities begets a great diversity and abundance of marine species. The PM is vertebrate hotspot of endemism (Tognelli et al. 2005; Tognelli et al. 2008), and is well recognized by the presence of large colonies of sea lions, transit of dolphins, a great abundance and diversity of seabirds, and the seasonal arrival of sea turtles and whales (Aguayo & Maturana 1973; Guerra et al. 1987; Rendell et al. 2004; Vilina et al. 2006; Guerra-Correa et al. 2008).

In spite of the relative isolation of the PM, different human activities can be identified, all of which can potentially interfere with on biodiversity patterns and conservation plans, including both legal and illegal artisanal fisheries, aquaculture centers, and non-regulated tourism from the nearby cities (Hudson et al. 2008). Therefore, conservation plans for the PM-MPA must take into account the integration of human actors in order to find

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