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Designing marine protected area networks to address the impacts of climate change
Author(s) -
McLeod Elizabeth,
Salm Rodney,
Green Alison,
Almany Jeanine
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
frontiers in ecology and the environment
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.918
H-Index - 164
eISSN - 1540-9309
pISSN - 1540-9295
DOI - 10.1890/070211
Subject(s) - climate change , resilience (materials science) , environmental resource management , marine protected area , computer science , network planning and design , function (biology) , marine ecosystem , psychological resilience , ecosystem , replication (statistics) , environmental science , ecology , biology , telecommunications , psychology , physics , virology , evolutionary biology , habitat , psychotherapist , thermodynamics
Principles for designing marine protected area (MPA) networks that address social, economic, and biological criteria are well established in the scientific literature. Climate change represents a new and serious threat to marine ecosystems, but, to date, few studies have specifically considered how to design MPA networks to be resilient to this emerging threat. Here, we compile the best available information on MPA network design and supplement it with specific recommendations for building resilience into these networks. We provide guidance on size, spacing, shape, risk spreading (representation and replication), critical areas, connectivity, and maintaining ecosystem function to help MPA planners and managers design MPA networks that are more robust in the face of climate‐change impacts.