%0 Journal Article
%T Defining Boundaries for Ecosystem-Based Management: A Multispecies Case Study of Marine Connectivity across the Hawaiian Archipelago
%A Robert J. Toonen
%A Kimberly R. Andrews
%A Iliana B. Baums
%A Christopher E. Bird
%A Gregory T. Concepcion
%A Toby S. Daly-Engel
%A Jeff A. Eble
%A Anuschka Faucci
%A Michelle R. Gaither
%A Matthew Iacchei
%A Jonathan B. Puritz
%A Jennifer K. Schultz
%A Derek J. Skillings
%A Molly A. Timmers
%A Brian W. Bowen
%J Journal of Marine Biology
%D 2011
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2011/460173
%X Determining the geographic scale at which to apply ecosystem-based management (EBM) has proven to be an obstacle for many marine conservation programs. Generalizations based on geographic proximity, taxonomy, or life history characteristics provide little predictive power in determining overall patterns of connectivity, and therefore offer little in terms of delineating boundaries for marine spatial management areas. Here, we provide a case study of 27 taxonomically and ecologically diverse species (including reef fishes, marine mammals, gastropods, echinoderms, cnidarians, crustaceans, and an elasmobranch) that reveal four concordant barriers to dispersal within the Hawaiian Archipelago which are not detected in single-species exemplar studies. We contend that this multispecies approach to determine concordant patterns of connectivity is an objective and logical way in which to define the minimum number of management units and that EBM in the Hawaiian Archipelago requires at least five spatially managed regions. 1. Introduction Global catches of commercially fished species have declined by up to 90% under classic single-species fisheries models [1¨C3]. The high-profile failures of fisheries managed for maximum sustainable yield has led to widespread interest in a shift toward ecosystem-based management (EBM) of marine resources (reviewed by [4]). EBM can be broadly defined as an integrated approach that considers the entire ecosystem, including linkages and the cumulative impacts of all human activities within and as part of the system. As such, EBM is explicitly place-based and adaptive in nature, and therefore particularly attractive for management. In recognition of the need for explicit boundaries in ecosystem-based management, Spalding et al. [5] divided the oceans into 232 ecoregions. However, marine ecosystems are highly complex, with many linkages and feedbacks that occur across multiple scales of space and time in ways that have proven difficult to predict [4]. Existing approaches to EBM in marine systems include spatial control of human activities through the use of marine protected areas (MPAs) and/or ocean zoning, changes in governance, monitoring and evaluation via ecosystem indicators derived from multiple disciplines (e.g., oceanography, ecology, economics, political science, and sociology), risk assessment, and precautionary adaptive management [6]. Successful spatial management requires a complex system of zones, each of which seeks to match resource exploitation with biological productivity, local population levels, and socioeconomic
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jmb/2011/460173/