Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38770838›Full record

ArticleConservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology2024

Evaluating the influence of marine protected areas on surf zone fish.

M L Marraffini, S L Hamilton, J R Marin Jarrin, M Ladd, G Koval, J R Madden, I Mangino, L M Parker, K A Emery, K Terhaar and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Conservation benefits of a large marine protected area network that spans multiple ecosystems.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Evaluating the influence of marine protected areas on surf zone fish.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2024
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

M L MarraffiniMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8014-057X
S L HamiltonMoss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, Moss Landing, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5034-4213
J R Marin JarrinDepartment of Fisheries Biology, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Arcata, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-4474-8323
M LaddSoutheast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service, Miami, Florida, USA.
G KovalMoss Landing Marine Laboratories, San Jose State University, Moss Landing, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3526-0737
J R MaddenMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
I ManginoMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
L M ParkerMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-3673-1318
K A EmeryMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0536-317X
K TerhaarDepartment of Fisheries Biology, California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, Arcata, California, USA.
D M HubbardMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.
R J MillerMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8350-3759
J E DuganMarine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9653-997X

Funding

California Ocean Protection Council C0302700California Sea Grant, University of California, San Diego R/MPA-44andR/MPA-49BNational Science Foundation OCE-2126607SBC Long Term Ecological Research National Science Foundation OCE-1831937
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Marine protected areas (MPAs) globally serve conservation and fisheries management goals, generating positive effects in some marine ecosystems. Surf zones and sandy beaches, critical ecotones bridging land and sea, play a pivotal role in the life cycles of numerous fish species and serve as prime areas for subsistence and recreational fishing. Despite their significance, these areas remain understudied when evaluating the effects of MPAs. We compared surf zone fish assemblages inside and outside MPAs across 3 bioregions in California (USA). Using seines and baited remote underwater videos (BRUVs), we found differences in surf zone fish inside and outside MPAs in one region. Inside south region MPAs, we observed higher abundance (Tukey's honest significant difference [HSD] = 0.83, p = 0.0001) and richness (HSD = 0.22, p = 0.0001) in BRUVs and greater biomass (HSD = 0.32, p = 0.0002) in seine surveys compared with reference sites. Selected live-bearing, fished taxa were positively affected by MPAs. Elasmobranchs displayed greater abundance in BRUV surveys and higher biomass in seine surveys inside south region MPAs (HSD = 0.35, p = 0.0003 and HSD = 0.23, p = 0.008, respectively). Although we observed no overall MPA signal for Embiotocidae, abundances of juvenile and large adult barred surfperch (Amphistichus argenteus), the most abundant fished species, were higher inside MPAs (K-S test D = 0.19, p < 0.0001). Influence of habitat characteristics on MPA performance indicated surf zone width was positively associated with fish abundance and biomass but negatively associated with richness. The south region had the largest positive effect size on all MPA performance metrics. Our findings underscored the variability in species richness and composition across regions and survey methods that significantly affected differences observed inside and outside MPAs. A comprehensive assessment of MPA performance should consider specific taxa, their distribution, and the effects of habitat factors and geography.

Indexed as

BiodiversityConservation of Natural ResourcesFishesAnimalsBiomassCaliforniaEcosystemFisheriesáreas marinas protegidasbeach seinesBRUVschinchorro playerocommunity compositioncomposición de la comunidadmarine protected areaspeces de la zona de rompientessurf zone fish

Identifiers

PMID38770838
PMCPMC11588989

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.