A portfolio of climate‐tailored approaches to advance the design of marine protected areas in the Red Sea

• Published in: Global change biology 2021-09, Vol.27 (17), p.3956-3968
• Main Authors: Gajdzik, Laura, DeCarlo, Thomas M., Aylagas, Eva, Coker, Darren J., Green, Alison L., Majoris, John E., Saderne, Vincent F., Carvalho, Susana, Berumen, Michael L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Biodiversity hot spots; Bleaching; blue carbon; Carbon sinks; Climate change; Climate change mitigation; Coastal development; Coastal resources; connectivity; coral; Coral bleaching; Eddies; Emissions; Environmental changes; Greenhouse gases; International cooperation; mangrove; Mangrove swamps; Mangroves; Marine ecosystems; Marine invertebrates; Marine parks; marine protected area; Marine protected areas; Marine resources; Mesoscale eddies; Mitigation; Protected areas; reef fish; Reefs; Research Review; Research Reviews; Risk reduction; seascape genetics; Tropical climate; warming
• ISSN: 1354-1013; 1365-2486
• DOI: 10.1111/gcb.15719

Intensified coastal development is compromising the health and functioning of marine ecosystems. A key example of this is the Red Sea, a biodiversity hotspot subjected to increasing local human pressures. While some marine‐protected areas (MPAs) were placed to alleviate these stressors, it is unclear whether these MPAs are managed or enforced, thus providing limited protection. Yet, most importantly, MPAs in the Red Sea were not designed using climate considerations, likely diminishing their effectiveness against global stressors. Here, we propose to tailor the design of MPAs in the Red Sea by integrating approaches to enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation. First, including coral bleaching susceptibility could produce a more resilient network of MPAs by safeguarding reefs from different thermal regions that vary in spatiotemporal bleaching responses, reducing the risk that all protected reefs will bleach simultaneously. Second, preserving the basin‐wide genetic connectivity patterns that are assisted by mesoscale eddies could further ensure recovery of sensitive populations and maintain species potential to adapt to environmental changes. Finally, protecting mangrove forests in the northern and southern Red Sea that act as major carbon sinks could help offset greenhouse gas emissions. If implemented with multinational cooperation and concerted effort among stakeholders, our portfolio of climate‐tailored approaches may help build a network of MPAs in the Red Sea that protects more effectively its coastal resources against escalating coastal development and climate instability. Beyond the Red Sea, we anticipate this study to serve as an example of how to improve the utility of tropical MPAs as climate‐informed conservation tools. A marine protected area (MPA) design for the Red Sea that buffers against the effects of global climate change includes coral reefs that vary in bleaching susceptibility over time: from unbleached/healthy, to heat‐stress‐ and upwelling‐induced bleaching, to recovering‐from‐bleaching reefs. Crucially, such MPA design also accounts for seascape genetics by ensuring these reefs are genetically and physically (through mesoscale eddies) connected to promote recovery and adaptation. Finally, a climate‐informed MPA design helps offset carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) by protecting high blue carbon areas, which are large mangrove forests that uptake CO2 from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and sequester it in sediments.