Utilizing benthic habitat maps to inform biodiversity monitoring in marine protected areas

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Abstract
The designation of marine protected areas (MPAs) requires the development of a monitoring design to assess the effectiveness of the closure in meeting its conservation objectives. Natural variability should be considered in the design, ideally determined using baseline information collected at the scale of the closure. Monitoring benthos informs on general ecosystem state. Benthic habitat maps are widely used as surrogates of benthos in marine spatial planning, and could potentially be used to inform monitoring by minimizing confounding habitat effects. Here, epibenthic diversity was assessed in the St. Anns Bank MPA in Atlantic Canada, the first assessment of benthic patterns at the scale of this closure. Epibenthic assemblages were determined using a photographic camera system along a single transect (~100–150 m in length) at 44 locations in 2013 and 2014 (with 10 or 11 images per location, providing a total of 438 images), prior to the designation of the MPA. Epibenthic patterns were correlated with a previously developed benthic habitat (benthoscape) map to determine the potential of using benthoscape classes as units for monitoring. Hierarchical agglomerative clustering of epibenthic assemblages and similarity profile analysis revealed five clusters of assemblages in the MPA (P < 0.01), each of which were associated with specific indicator taxa. Some clusters of assemblages correlated well with distinct benthoscape classes representing either hard/coarse (gravel) or soft sediment (sand and mud), whereas clusters associated with mixed sediment segregated spatially. The within‐cluster variability in assemblages between locations was lower overall than within the management zones, but differed between clusters. Similarities were detected with previous coarser‐scale assessments of epibenthic diversity in the St. Anns Bank MPA, but this study revealed a more complex benthic structure than previously thought. A monitoring design should thus consider this natural variability to reliably monitor change and aid in determining the effectiveness of the MPA.
Funding Information
  • Fisheries and Oceans Canada Academic Research Contribution Program (F5299-140076)
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Fisheries and Oceans Canada and INREST (representing Port of Sept-Îles and City of Sept-Îles) Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (NETGP 468437-14, Project 1.2.5)

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