1Department of Life Science, National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) – Taipei 106, Taiwan
2 Taiwan International Graduate Program-Biodiversity, Academia Sinica (TIGP Biodiv) – Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan
3 Biodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica (BRCAS) – Nangang, Taipei 115, Taiwan
4 Institute of Oceanography, National Taiwan University (IONTU) – Taipei 106, Taiwan
5Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, National Dong Hwa University (NDHU) – Hualien 974, Taiwan
6Department of Applied Economics, National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) – Taichung 402, Taiwan
7 Institute of Marine Biology, National Dong-Hwa University (NDHU) – Checheng, Pingtung 944, Taiwan
8 National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA) – Pingtung 944, Taiwan
9 Centre for Research in Water Science and Technology, National Cheng-Kong University (NCKU) – Tainan 701, Taiwan
10 Departement of Marine Environment and Engineering, National Sun Yat-Sen University (MAEV) – Kaoshiung 804, Taiwan
Located in Southern Taiwan, Kenting National Park (KNP) was created in 1985 to enforce conservation of terrestrial and marine diversity. Despite implementation of MPAs, many reefs within KNP are now severely degraded under increasing natural and anthropogenic disturbances.
Conciliating growing socioeconomic demands with ecological conservation represents a challenge to durably sustain coral reefs. Here, we developed a transdisciplinary approach from socio- ecological surveys to ecosystem modeling to identify keys levers and their potential impact on the overall state of the coral reefs in KNP. Initial assessment of benthic and fish communities was based on> 100 sampling locations through KNP on a three-year period. Additional ecological surveys were seasonally performed at 11 reefs in 2016-2017 to specifically assess impacts of punctual disturbances such as typhoons and bleaching events. State and response of communities was related to water quality surveys including watershed in order to identify potential entrance source of land-based pollution. Eventually, stakeholders were interviewed to determine modality and acceptability of management strategies which were model using Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) and eventually analyze the overall dynamic of the system. At the scale of the all KNP, benthic communities are dominated by turf and macro-algae while hard corals are dominated by stress
∗Speaker
†Corresponding author: lauriane.ribas@gmail.com
‡Corresponding author: cac@gate.sinica.edu.tw
tolerant species. Fish communities are dominated by small size individuals and characterized by low biomass of sessile invertivorous and piscivorous, typical from reefs with high fishery catch.
Water quality surveys reveal localized nutrient or sedimentation inputs from land. Stakeholders show strong support for reinforcements of marine police, the establishment of capacity control regulations, and favor establishment of reef conservation funds by setting park entrance fees.
Future work will integrate those results together in different climate change scenarios. It will highlight key levers to prioritize in management strategy for building resilient reefs and insure source of income for local stakeholders.
Operationalizing Ecological Adaptive Capacity to assess Impacts, Resilience, and Action for Coral Reefs in the Face of Global
Environmental Change
Adrien Comte ∗ 1, Linwood Pendleton 1,2
1 Universit´e de Brest, Ifremer, CNRS, UMR6308 AMURE, IUEM, Plouzan´e, France – AMURE : UMR6308, Universit´e de Brest, Ifremer, CNRS, IUEM – UMR 6308 AMURE IUEM Rue Dumont
d’Urville 29 280 Plouzan´e - France, France
2 Duke University – Duke University Box 90291 Durham, NC 27708, United States
Coral reefs, already under pressure from local threats (e.g. overfishing, coastal pollution), are one of the socio-ecological systems most vulnerable to global environmental change. Scien- tific indicator-based assessments have been developed to understand changes in socio-ecological systems and guide decision-makers and managers and to monitor and evaluate progress towards environmental management under change. The diversity of the human and ecological states of coral reefs requires a diverse set of tools and management strategies to best handle the increasing intensity of threats posed by climate change and ocean acidification in specific environmental contexts. Therefore, we propose to continue the integration of resilience and vulnerability frame- works that started with Turner (2010) and Engle (2011). We propose the concept of ”ecological adaptive capacity (EAC)” that defines the maximum potential ecological state of a reef in the ab- sence of local environmental stress. Identifying the EAC of a reef helps to prioritize the potential for improved (i) resilience, (ii) recovery, (iii) ability to avoid losses of ecosystem services (which can require human adaption). To go from theoretical thinking towards operational assessments of EAC and integration of vulnerability and resilience thinking, we attempt to formalize the relationships between the components identified by these two fields. We use participative ap- proaches to incorporate local ecological knowledge to help quantify EAC in the context of French Polynesia. The goal of these participative approaches is to engage communities that depend on coral reefs to assess resilience and vulnerability and help public policy plan for adaptation.
∗Speaker
H2/ The status and opportunities of marine wildlife tourism
A global review of elasmobranch tourism activities, risks and management approaches
Teleah Healy ∗† 1, Andrew Chin 1
1Centre for Sustainable Tropical Fisheries and Aquaculture – College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, 1 James Cook Drive, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia
Elasmobranch tourism is a highly popularized and rapidly expanding global industry. While this sector may provide community and conservation benefits, it also presents potential risks to focal species and humans. Development of a standardised management strategy that identifies and reduces the risks involved is required to ensure operators are acting accordingly and that potential benefits are maximised. To achieve this, global elasmobranch tourism locations, species and activities, together with information on industry activities, management, and effects were retrieved from extensive Internet and literature research. A total of 42 countries and 49 species of elasmobranch were identified in a wide range of tourist activites. A typology was created to identify the most common activity types undertaken, which were: diving (38%), snorkeling (29%), provisioning (25%), and cage diving (8%). From the information gathered, together with identification of potential hazards, a standardised management strategy was developed using a risk assessment approach. When applied to each activity type, the management strategy was able to reduce risk in each instance. Considering that 32% of the 156 industry activities investigated in this study lacked any form of regulation or management requirements, the management tools developed herein can provide benefits for a range of operators and their associated elasmobranch species. With the elasmobranch tourism industry likely to continue expanding, it is important that appropriate management and regulatory frameworks are in place so that marine wildlife tourism can continue to be an effective conservation tool.
∗Speaker
†Corresponding author: teleah.healy@my.jcu.edu.au
Assessing the dietary effects of white shark cage-diving on target and non-target species
using fatty acid profiling
Lauren Meyer ∗† 1, Heidi Pethybridge 2, Peter Nichols 3, Crystal Beckman
4, Barry Bruce 3, Charlie Huveneers 1
1 Flinders University – Sturt Rd, Bedford Park SA 5042, Australia
2 CSIRO – Castray Esplanade, Battery Point TAS 7004, Australia
3CSIRO – Castray Esplanade Battery Point Tas 7004 Australia, Australia
4 South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) – Hartley Grove, Urrbrae SA 5064, Australia
The Neptune Islands Group Marine Park is home to Australia’s largest aggregation of adult white sharks (Carcharadon carcharias) and the nation’s only white shark cage-diving industry.
Here, tourism practices use tuna bait and minced fish (chum/berley) to attract white sharks to within view of the diving cages. However the dietary effects of marine species interacting with the cage-diving industry remain unexplored. Employing fatty acid (FA) profiling of muscle biopsies, commonly used to reveal the trophic interactions between marine organisms, we determined the relative diet profiles for 96 white sharks across periods of residency at the Neptune Islands.
The resulting FA profiles showed large variability, and no discernable difference with time spent at the islands. Conversely, FA profiles of silver trevally (Pseudocaranx georgianus), which are observed often feeding on the bait and berley, revealed significant differences between individuals caught at the Neptune Islands (n=70) and where cage-diving does not occur (n=35). Despite a lack of diet shift in the target white sharks, the industry’s effect may be most pronounced on non-target species. These results indicate that the effects of marine wildlife tourism extend beyond the focal species of interest, which is critical information for management regimes that aim to minimise anthropogenic changes from wildlife tourism.
Dive tourists’ demand for shark
conservation: A travel cost and contingent behavior study