Species richness, abundance and biomass data for assessing fish spillover from Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas

This dataset gathers total species richness, total abundance and total biomass of fishes recorded in six Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas in summer by underwater visual censuses performed on rocky areas at varying distances from the core of the MPA. Belt transects (25 x 5 m) were run parallel to the coast between 6 and 12 m depth, except in Tabarca Posidonia beds (50 x 5 m). Additionally, reduced fish species richness, abundance and biomass excluding zooplanktivorous fish species (Atherinidae, Clupeidae, Centracanthidae, Engraulidae, Pomacentridae, and the Sparidae Boops boops) were given as their fluctuating abundance and aggregative behavior may mask the effect of protection.

Location of the 6 Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas

Date (Publication): 2020-06

Date (Revision): 2021-07-12

Other citation details: Harmelin-Vivien Mireille, Le Diréach Laurence, Bayle-Sempere Just, Charbonnel Eric, García-Charton José Antonio, Ody Denis, Pérez-Ruzafa Angel, Reñones Olga, Sánchez-Jerez Pablo, Valle Perez Carlos (2020). Species richness, abundance and biomass data for assessing fish spillover from Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas. SEANOE. https://doi.org/10.17882/74396

In addition to properly cite this dataset, it would be appreciated that the following work(s) be cited too, when using this dataset in a publication :

Harmelin-Vivien Mireille, Le Diréach Laurence, Bayle-Sempere Just, Charbonnel Eric, García-Charton José Antonio, Ody Denis, Pérez-Ruzafa Angel, Reñones Olga, Sánchez-Jerez Pablo, Valle Carlos (2008). Gradients of abundance and biomass across reserve boundaries in six Mediterranean marine protected areas: Evidence of fish spillover? Biological Conservation, 141(7), 1829-1839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2008.04.029

Credit: This work was developed in the framework of the EC Project BIOMEX (QLRT-2001-0891), WP2. We thank the support of the coordinator Serge Planes, the BIOMEX group and the staffs of the six MPAs investigated. We are grateful to Aitor Forcada and Mikel Zabala for assistance in fieldwork in Tabarca and Medes, respectively, to Thomas Schohn for MPAs location map, to Javier Ferrer for underwater picture from Cabo de Palos, and to Pierre Cresson for data base advice.

Author

Aix Marseille Université, Université de Toulon, CNRS, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) UM 110, F-13288, Marseille - Harmelin-Vivien Mireille

Author

GIS Posidonie, OSU Institut Pythéas, Aix-Marseille Université, Campus de Luminy, F-13288 Marseille - Le Diréach Laurence

Author

Departamento de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Edificio Ciencias V., Universidad de Alicante, POB 99, 03080 Alicante, Spain - Bayle-Sempere Just

Author

Parc Marin de la Côte Bleue, Observatoire, BP 42, 13620 Carry-le-Rouet, France - Charbonnel Eric

Author

Departamento de Ecología e Hidrología, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain - García-Charton José Antonio

Author

WWF-France, 6 rue des Fabres, 13001 Marseille, France - Ody Denis