Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a common management tool for preserving marine biodiversity and halting resource depletion. Despite the number of MPAs rapidly increasing worldwide, there are concerns over the full achievement of their objectives. Indeed, in some cases—the phenomenon of so-called “paper parks”—protected areas totally fail to achieve their conservation and socioeconomic targets. Therefore, identifying the factors underpinning MPA success or failure is crucial to increase their effectiveness. To achieve this goal, we performed a global literature review on the socioeconomic factors that managers should pursue to enhance MPA effectiveness on a global scale. A search of the Scopus database, using strings of keywords connected by Boolean operators, generated a batch of 715 items, out of which 68 were retained after the application of inclusion/exclusion criteria. Six other articles were added through the scanning of the literature cited in selected papers. We grouped MPA success-factors into 13 main groups and ranked them according to the frequency of citation in the literature. Our findings identify stakeholder involvement, increasing communication and awareness between specific stakeholder groups, as well as ensuring appropriate enforcement and monitoring, control and surveillance, as the leading factors for MPA success. Our results will assist in the process of upcoming global expansion of MPAs, thus contributing to improving conservation of marine biodiversity and associated livelihoods.

Ecological connectivity is one of the most important processes that shape marine populations and ecosystems, determining their distribution, persistence, and productivity. Here we use the synergy of Lagrangian back-trajectories, otolith-derived ages of larvae, and satellite-based chlorophyll-a to identify spawning areas of European anchovy from ichthyoplanktonic data, collected in the Strait of Sicily (Central Mediterranean Sea), i.e., the crucial channel in between the European and African continents. We obtain new evidence of ecosystem connectivity between North Africa and recruitment regions off the southern European coasts. We assess this result by using bio-energetic modeling, which predicts species-specific responses to environmental changes by producing quantitative information on functional traits. Our work gives support to a collaborative and harmonized use of Geographical Sub-Areas, currently identified by the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean. It also confirms the need to incorporate climate and environmental variability effects into future marine resources management plans, strategies, and directives.

Giovanni Domenico Tebala, Fanny Massimi, Francesca Duro, Ahmed Abdelsamad, Stefano Avenia, Gian Luca Baiocchi, Andrea Barberis, Chafik Bouzid, Antoine Castel, Graziano Ceccarelli, Andrea Celotti, Nicola Cillara, Nicola Cinardi, Roberto Cirocchi, Maria Conticchio, Giuseppe Currò, Antonella Delvecchio, Raffaele Vincenzo De Rosa, Jacopo Desiderio, Antonio Di Cintio, Fabio Francesco Di Mola, Domenico Di Nardo, Alessia Fassari, Alessandro Gemini, Carlos Augusto Gomes, Gian Luca Grazi, Giuseppe Margani, Alessandro Mazzotta, Luca Morelli, Andrea Muratore, Fabrice Muscari, Edoardo Maria Muttillo, Alberto Patriti, Gaetano Piccolo, Luca Properzi, Alessandro Puzziello, Lucia Romano, Edoardo Rosso, Sara Saeidi, Andrea Sagnotta, Edoardo Saladino, Marcello Giuseppe Spampinato, Laurent Sulpice, Nádia Tenreiro, Paolo Ubiali, Riccardo Memeo, DoS-RAP Collaborative. Ann Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg -0001;0:. https://doi.org/10.14701/ahbps.26-007

Bright—green luminescent clouds frequently occur at the surface of shallow waters of the Caribbean Sea. These clouds are produced by syllid polychaetes during courtship. Although temporal variation in the occurrence of these courtship displays has been documented throughout the diurnal and lunar cycle, other factors such as habitat type have not been well studied. In this study, we investigated how syllid courtship—display densities varied across 3 substrate types (grassbed, rubble and coral) over a 3 day period. In line with previous studies, we found that syllid courtship displays occurred over seagrass and rubble substrates; however, we also found that display densities were significantly higher over shallow coral substrates than over either seagrass or rubble habitats. These findings reflect published observations and newly collected observational data from other locations throughout the Caribbean. Future work across species, time and regions is required in order to better understand the factors underlying syllid display densities.

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a common management tool for preserving marine biodiversity and halting resource depletion. The number of MPAs is rapidly increasing worldwide to achieve the global targets agreed under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Nonetheless, MPAs often achieve their objectives only partially. In some cases – the so-called phenomenon of “paper parks” – protected areas totally fail to achieve their conservation targets. Therefore, identifying the factors underpinning MPA success or failure is crucial to increase their effectiveness. Here, we present the results of a global literature review of studies suggesting different strategies that managers should pursue in order to enhance MPA effectiveness. A search of the Scopus database, using strings of keywords connected by Boolean operators generated a batch of 715 items, out of which 68 were retained after the application of inclusion/exclusion criteria. Six other articles were added through the scanning of the literature cited in selected papers. We grouped MPA success-strategies into 13 main groups and ranked them according to the frequency of citation in the literature. Each group was further split into a series of actions and relative frequencies. Our findings identify stakeholder involvement, increasing communication and awareness between specific stakeholder groups, as well as ensuring appropriate enforcement and monitoring, control and surveillance, as the leading strategies for MPA success. Our results will assist in the process of upcoming global expansion of MPAs, thus contributing to improve conservation of marine biodiversity and associated livelihoods.