Abstract While undeniably successful in protecting nearshore marine ecosystems from overfishing, conventional marine reserves often impinge on the livelihoods of dependent coastal communities. Community co-managed areas may guarantee considerably more equity, but it is unclear if they can be as effective as conventional reserves in conserving critical trophic functions. We evaluated the effectiveness of different management regimes in the Gulf of California on fish biomass and echinoderm assemblages as proxies of key ecosystem processes on rocky shores. We compared multiple sites in a mixed (multi-use areas with regulated extraction) and core (no-extraction) federally-managed areas, a military MPA (where strict patrolling ensures no extraction), a co-managed reserve where government and communities are equally responsible, and unrestricted-access areas (non MPA). Fish biomass was higher in the military reserve and the community co-managed area reserve; echinoderm numbers were very low at these locations suggesting that they were strongly controlled by top-down processes. In contrast, federally-controlled reserves were virtually no different from unrestricted-access areas in numbers or composition of fish and echinoderms. Although federal managed reserves are the most common management regime across the Gulf, our data shows that they are highly ineffective in protecting ecosystem function. The relative effectiveness of co-managed reserves in this region suggests that fishers are more willing to comply when they have a stake in decision-making. Coastal conservation can benefit greatly by drawing from a wider suite of management options that engage local communities as key participants in the managing marine diversity and critical ecosystem functions.

中文翻译：

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传统的海洋保护区在保护加利福尼亚湾自上而下的控制方面不如社区共同管理区有效

摘要 虽然在保护近岸海洋生态系统免遭过度捕捞方面无疑是成功的，但常规海洋保护区往往会影响依赖沿海社区的生计。社区共同管理的区域可能会保证更多的公平性，但尚不清楚它们在保护关键营养功能方面是否能像传统保护区一样有效。我们评估了加利福尼亚湾不同管理制度对鱼类生物量和棘皮动物组合作为岩石海岸关键生态系统过程代理的有效性。我们比较了联邦管理的混合（多用途区域）和核心（非开采）联邦管理区域、军事 MPA（严格巡逻确保不开采）、政府和社区共同管理的保护区的多个地点。同样负责，和不受限制的访问区域（非 MPA）。军事保护区和社区共管区保护区鱼类生物量较高；这些地点的棘皮动物数量非常低，表明它们受到自上而下的过程的强烈控制。相比之下，联邦政府控制的保护区在鱼类和棘皮动物的数量或组成方面与不受限制进入的地区几乎没有什么不同。尽管联邦管理的保护区是整个海湾地区最常见的管理制度，但我们的数据表明，它们在保护生态系统功能方面非常无效。该地区共同管理保护区的相对有效性表明，当渔民与决策有利害关系时，他们更愿意遵守。