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10 pages, 4 figures, supplemental material https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/suppl/10.1098/rspb.2021.2384.-- Data accessibility: All data and code supporting the results are available from the Dryad Digital Repository: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.18931zczk, Understanding the resilience of temperate reefs to climate change requires exploring the recovery capacity of their habitat-forming species from recurrent marine heatwaves (MHWs). Here, we show that, in a Mediterranean highly enforced marine protected area established more than 40 years ago, habitat-forming octocoral populations that were first affected by a severe MHW in 2003 have not recovered after 15 years. Contrarily, they have followed collapse trajectories that have brought them to the brink of local ecological extinction. Since 2003, impacted populations of the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata (Risso, 1826) and the red coral Corallium rubrum (Linnaeus, 1758) have followed different trends in terms of size structure, but a similar progressive reduction in density and biomass. Concurrently, recurrent MHWs were observed in the area during the 2003–2018 study period, which may have hindered populations recovery. The studied octocorals play a unique habitat-forming role in the coralligenous assemblages (i.e. reefs endemic to the Mediterranean Sea home to approximately 10% of its species). Therefore, our results underpin the great risk that recurrent MHWs pose for the long-term integrity and functioning of these emblematic temperate reefs, We acknowledge the ‘Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence’ (CEX2019–000928-S) funding, the MCIU/AEI/FEDER [HEATMED; RTI2018-095346-B-I00], Interreg-Med Programme (5216 | 5MED18_3.2_M23_007 and 1MED15_3.2_M2_337), Foundation Prince Albert II Monaco [MIMOSA], the TOTAL-Foundation [Perfect] and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant nos. 689518 and SEP-210597628). D.G.-G. is supported by a FPU15/05457 grant. C.L. acknowledges the support of ICREA. J.B.L is supported by the strategic Funding [UIDB/04423/2020 and UIDP/04423/2020]. N.T. received funding by the French National Research Agency-Make Our Planet Great Again [4Oceans-MOPGA and ANR-17-MPGA-0001]. D.K.K. is supported by a IJCI-2017-31457. D.G.-G., C.L., J.B.L., E.C., P.L.-S., D.K.K. and J.G. are part of the Medrecover group [2017 SGR 1521]

European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) Conference, 14-18 June 2021, CorMedNet is a regional database that aims to gather information on the distribution and demography of habitat forming invertebrate species dwelling in the Mediterranean sea As an EMODnet data provider, it promotes the adoption of integrative and standardized protocols and is linked to the active online version cormednet medrecover org where users could explore, download, and upload their data to enhance interoperability and provide the most comprehensive and complete dataset It includes published scientific papers using different search strategies in the ISI Web of Knowledge and Google Scholar grey literature and technical reports We compiled data on geographic and depth distribution, demography, and mortality including both, in situ SCUBA sampling and video photo surveys We found 4656 database records from more than 230 species that occur in the Mediterranean province The records are sampled between 1882 and 2019 and mainly ranged from 0 to 60 meters depth This growing compilation effort is a unique opportunity to construct a regional map of distribution and conservation status of coralligenous species under global warming effects while identifying geographic and species gaps We are planning to include data from genetics and species traits Furthermore, we will incorporate citizen science data from the Seawatchers platform observadoresdelmar es This will translate this research beyond scientific barriers, generating new knowledge for science and enhancing divulgation and participation for citizens Thus, we will contribute to the goal of an inclusive society, affecting policy, learning, and innovation to support research and management actions, enhancing the effectiveness of conservation of Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages

Workshop sobre Reservas Marinas - Workshop on Marine Reserves (REMAR 2020), 1-3 July 2020, Barcelona.-- 2 pages, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a fundamental tool to face the increasing impacts on coastal ecosystems around the world. In the Mediterranean Sea, MPAs are a natural heritage and is keyto preserve the biodiversity along the coast(Linares et al., 2012).Long-term monitoring programs, combined with experimental studies, allow us to design efficient tools for the management of these areas, such as the regulation of human usages and the design of restoration actions (Hereu and Quintana, 2012). In this study, we evaluate the conservation status of marine communities in relation toprotection regimes of two Natural Parks, located in the northern coast of Catalonia: Cap de Creus Natural Park and Montgrí, Illes Medes and Baix Ter Natural Park.To do so, we monitored several ecological and economically relevant species and habitats. The species and habitats evaluated are the emblematic red coral (Corallium rubrum), gorgonians, bryozoans, sea urchins, fish vulnerable species, algal communities and dark caves habitats, among others. Each of the mare used to evaluate ecological responses to a wide range of impacts, such as over fishing, climate change or the impact of diving in benthic species. We found high diversity of responses to different stressors due to their biological attributes, such as life strategies, population dynamics, life-history cycles and behaviors. This study highlights the relevance of well-designed long-term monitoring to better understand the natural variability of the species and provides useful insights into the management and conservation of the ecosystems, This work was supported by Generalitat de Catalunya and the University of Barcelona

Workshop sobre Reservas Marinas - Workshop on Marine Reserves (REMAR 2020), 1-3 July 2020, Barcelona.-- 2 pages, Mediterranean gorgonians are foundation species that support the high diversity associated with Mediterranean coralligenous assemblages. Through the formation of 3D structures, they provide structural complexity and thereby habitat and refugia to numerous associated species, among other ecological benefits. However, these organisms are especially vulnerable to the increasingly frequent and intense marine heatwaves (MHWs). In recent decades, MHWs deeply impacted octocoral species such as the red coral Corallium rubrum and the red gorgonian Paramuricea clavata across large geographical scales, leading to mass mortality events (MMEs). Although the MME immediate and mid-term (3-4 years) effects on the population dynamics of these species are well documented, a long-term evaluation of the impacted populations trajectories is still lacking. This hinders our understanding of the recovery capacity of these key species, and thus ofthe potential delayed effects that MMEs could have on their associated communities. In this study, we performed a long-term status assessment of different populations of P. clavata and C. rubrum that were affected by the MME occurred in the summer of 2003in Scandola Marine Protected Area (MPA), Corsica. Our results show that since 2003, impacted populations have followed different trajectories in terms of density, size structure or tissue necrosis, but a general progressive reduction in biomass. This indicates that the affected populations have no recovered over almost two decades, despite the high protection regime existing in the MPA. Furthermore, many populations followed collapse trajectories that have brought them to the brink of ecological extinction, probably due to the MHW recurrence observed since 2003. Since Mediterranean octocorals play a unique role on the functioning of coralligenous assemblages, the long-term delayed effects of the MME observed in our study underpins the relevant role that stochastic climatic events can play not only on their population dynamics, but also for the future functioning of coralligenous assemblages, D.G-G. is supported by an FPU grant (FPU15/05457) from the Spanish Ministry of Education. We acknowledge the funding support of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 689518 (MERCES), the MPA-ENGAGE, Interreg Med Programme, Project co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the HEATMED project (RTI2018-095346-BI00) financed by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities

Workshop sobre Reservas Marinas - Workshop on Marine Reserves (REMAR 2020), 1-3 July 2020, Barcelona.-- 2 pages, Genetic diversity is considered an essential level of biodiversity, supporting the responses of natural populations to environmental changes. In spite of the recent call to monitor global genetic diversity to fully understand the impacts of global change, the pattern of genetic diversity is largely unknown, especially in the oceans. In this study we conducted a meta-analysis to explore the global patterns of genetic diversity in habitat-forming marine species, which are key organisms providing structural complexity and increasing the biodiversity of benthic ecosystems. We mapped the expected heterozygosity (He) for more than 9.300 populations of 141 species - extracted from 269 papers – that belongs to seven taxa (bryozoans, hexacorals, hydrozoans, octocorals, seagrasses, seaweeds and sponges). We overlapped this data with the distribution of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) using Protected Planet database at global scale, and MAPAMED from MEDPAN databases at Mediterranean Sea. Differences in genetic diversity were analyzed: i) among taxa; and ii) between protected and non-protected areas for each taxa, using a Generalized Linear Models. North-western Mediterranean and north-eastern Atlantic are the areas with the highest number of studies and populations, followed by the Gulf of Mexico, North-eastern Pacific and South-western Pacific. The expected heterozygosity is significantly different among the seven taxa, with Sponge and Seaweed showing the highest and lowest mean values, respectively. The number of studied populations is higher inside MPAs, but genetic diversity was not different between protected and non-protected areas. This fact challenges the idea that a high genetic diversity inside MPAs can enhance the resilience of marine species to global warming. Our work represents the first approximation of the global patterns of genetic diversity in habitat-forming marine species. It opens an opportunity to investigate the biotic (e.g. longevity) and abiotic (e.g. temperature) drivers of genetic diversity in these species and to monitor the genetic consequences of global change

Bryozoans are common animals in marine benthic (seabed) ecosystems, and also occur in freshwater rivers, with 6063 and 108 extant species in each environment respectively. There are 17,867 fossil species described. They are distributed across the oceans with a relatively high diversity on the Antarctic shelf. They are colonial suspension filter feeders with a calcified skeleton, a wide variety of life cycles and growth forms, and are well represented in the fossil record.

1st Iberian Ecological Society Meeting (2019); XIV Congreso Nacional de la Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre (AEET), Ecology: an integrative science in the Anthropocene, 4-7 February 2019, Barcelona, Spain, Coastal ecosystems are increasingly impacted by several local and global stressors including overfishing, pollution, and climate change. The cumulative effects of multiple threats have driven local extinctions with the subsequent alteration of the structure and composition of benthic ecosystems, but less is known about how global change is altering the ecosystem functioning of highly diverse temperate reefs in the Mediterranean Sea such as coralligenous assemblages. This habitat exhibit a high structural complexity and are dominated by long-lived algae and sessile invertebrates, which exhibit low dynamics and belong to a variety of taxonomic groups, harboring between 10-20% of Mediterranean species. Coralligenous species are affected by several local and regional stressors and understanding how different species and populations will respond to anthropogenic pressures is key to develop sound management strategies and conservation actions. The aim of this presentation is to show how the combination multiple approaches such as long-term field monitoring, aquaria experiments, demographic and spatial modeling is crucial to identify the winners and losers at the species and population level, potential range shifts and changes in reproductive phenology. The contrasting responses observed among different species and populations to global change unravel the complexity to anticipate potential changes in the future configuration of coralligenous assemblages but also highlight some promising capacity of this highly diverse habitat to buffer global change effects

1st Iberian Ecological Society Meeting (2019); XIV Congreso Nacional de la Asociación Española de Ecología Terrestre (AEET), Ecology: an integrative science in the Anthropocene, 4-7 February 2019, Barcelona, Spain, The monitoring program of the Catalan Natural Parks started in 1990 in Medes Islands, and in 2006 in the Cap de Creus Natural Park, with the objective of evaluating the conservation status of benthic ecosystems in these areas in relation to the human activities and environmental factors, and to serve as a tool to inform the management and conservation actions. This monitoring is based on several ecological and economically relevant species and habitats, which show a high diversity of responses to different stressors due to their different biological attributes such as life strategies, population dynamics, life cycles and behaviors. This monitoring give a long-term perspective of the natural dynamics of species and habitats, and has provided unexpected results hardly observable in punctual studies. In addition, parallel research and experimental studies gave us a more precise comprehension about the key processes for populations functioning and their response to perturbations which, indeed, allow us to better understand their long-term dynamics. Long-term monitoring programs combined with experimental studies, including species with different life history traits, give us a more complete comprehension about the strength of processes on species and populations, the factors and stressors that shape marine benthic communities at different scales, and their responses to different stressors. This information allows us to design efficient tools for the management of these areas, such as the regulation of human uses and the design of restoration actions. This combination is especially useful for conservation when integrates different management regimes such as MPAs and non-protected areas

Marine ecosystems are directly threatened by multiple and interactive human stressors at global and local scales. Hence, it is vital to study biodiversity and ecological patterns through a multi-disciplinary approach, from understanding global diversity patterns to evaluating the ecological responses of species to different impacts in order to protect marine ecosystems. In this thesis, we focused on bryozoans, an abundant group of sessile marine invertebrates distributed worldwide, but generally understudied. Accordingly, in this thesis we provide different approaches to understand discovery and macroecological patterns at global scales, and the response of species to different stressors at local scales, combining the use of open databases, the in situ monitoring of natural populations, experiments in aquaria and the development of restoration techniques. At global scale, in Chapter I we unraveled discovery patterns of fossil and extant bryozoans and showed the highest number of fossil species described, highlighting that the current biodiversity represents only a small proportion of Earth’s past biodiversity. Beyond these differences, both groups showed an increase in the taxonomic effort during the past century. Despite this progress, future projections of discovery patterns of both groups showed a large proportion of species remaining to be discovered by the final of this century. In Chapter II, most of the global diversity patterns of marine sessile groups, including bryozoans, showed a non-unimodal latitudinal pattern with a dip in the number of species at the equator and a higher diversity in the Southern ocean. Moreover, this region will be less affected by global warming at the final of this century. In contrast, our analyses showed that the most sampled region for both marine sessile species and bryozoans was North Temperate Atlantic, highlighting the importance to quantify environmental drivers considering sampling effort biases. For this reason, we tested the effect of using the popular method of rarefaction (ES50) vs the incorporation of a frequency index of sampling effort as co-variate in quantitative models. Despite we obtained the same best predictors for both approaches (depth, nitrate, and SST), the models using the correction of sampling biases through frequency index showed better fitting, encouraging to incorporate this methodology in future studies. Focusing on the Mediterranean Sea, in Chapter 3 we studied the responses of bryozoans to different stressors. First, we showed that two abundant and common bryozoans, Pentapora fascialis and Myriapora truncata, displayed different tolerances to warming through the combination of in situ monitoring and experiments in aquaria. Moreover, in Chapter 4 the in situ monitoring of Pentapora fascialis populations revealed its fast population dynamics, with high recruitment and growth rates, and a high capacity of recovery. Accordingly, we observed an increase in the density of its populations in the Medes Island Marine Reserve since the 1990s. However, we evidenced that diving can impact on the density, recruitment, survival, and size of the colonies, registering lower values in frequented localities. Our results highlight that the over frequentation of divers compromises the future viability of populations, highlighting the need to explore other active management strategies. For this reason, in Chapter 5, we tested and developed different restoration techniques for P. fascialis, focusing on the recruitment enhancement through the installation of recruitment surfaces and the transplantation of adult colonies. The successful results and the affordable and economic cost of tested techniques aim to encourage the managers of Marine Protected Areas to apply similar methodologies. The results presented in this thesis show the importance to combine different approaches to understand the global and local ecological patterns of understudied but abundant groups, such as bryozoans. Our findings enlarge the current ecological knowledge of bryozoans at different scales, and highlight that more effort is needed to protect vulnerable populations. Els ecosistemes marins estan sotmesos a múltiples impactes a escales locals i globals i que a més interaccionen entre ells. Per aquesta raó, és important estudiar els patrons de biodiversitat i ecològics a través d’una aproximació multi-disciplinària, que pot anar des d’entendre els patrons de diversitat global fins a avaluar les respostes ecològiques de les espècies enfront diferents impactes, per així conservar i gestionar adequadament les comunitats marines. Fins aquest moment, la majoria d’estudis relacionat s’han centrat en grups carismàtics i populars, com ara les gorgònies, els coralls, les macroalgues o les fanerògames marines. En canvi, aquesta tesis es centra en l’estudi dels briozous, un grup abundant de invertebrats sèssils marins distribuïts per tot el món, però generalment poc estudiats. Per aquesta raó, el principal objectiu d’aquesta tesis és utilitzar diferents aproximacions per entendre els patrons de descobriment i macro-ecològics a escala global, i la resposta a diferents impactes a escala local, combinant el ús de bases de dades globals, el seguiment in situ de les poblacions, experiments en aquaris i el desenvolupament de tècniques de restauració. A més, la present tesis vol proporcionar un marc de treball per identificar, gestionar i conservar les poblacions vulnerables en el context de l’augment de les activitats humanes que afecten els ecosistemes marins. Els resultats presentats en aquesta tesis mostren la importància d’aplicar diferents aproximacions per entendre els patrons ecològics globals i locals de grups abundants però poc estudiats, com són els briozous. Els resultats obtinguts contribueixen a augmentar el coneixement dels patrons ecològics dels briozous a diferents escales, i mostren que cal més esforç per protegir les poblacions vulnerables. Així, mesures de gestió adaptativa i de restauració i són necessàries per promoure la conservació dels ecosistemes marins en un context de impactes creixents derivats de l’activitat humana tant a escales locals com globals.

[eng] Marine ecosystems are directly threatened by multiple and interactive human stressors at global and local scales. Hence, it is vital to study biodiversity and ecological patterns through a multi-disciplinary approach, from understanding global diversity patterns to evaluating the ecological responses of species to different impacts in order to protect marine ecosystems. In this thesis, we focused on bryozoans, an abundant group of sessile marine invertebrates distributed worldwide, but generally understudied. Accordingly, in this thesis we provide different approaches to understand discovery and macroecological patterns at global scales, and the response of species to different stressors at local scales, combining the use of open databases, the in situ monitoring of natural populations, experiments in aquaria and the development of restoration techniques. At global scale, in Chapter I we unraveled discovery patterns of fossil and extant bryozoans and showed the highest number of fossil species described, highlighting that the current biodiversity represents only a small proportion of Earth’s past biodiversity. Beyond these differences, both groups showed an increase in the taxonomic effort during the past century. Despite this progress, future projections of discovery patterns of both groups showed a large proportion of species remaining to be discovered by the final of this century. In Chapter II, most of the global diversity patterns of marine sessile groups, including bryozoans, showed a non-unimodal latitudinal pattern with a dip in the number of species at the equator and a higher diversity in the Southern ocean. Moreover, this region will be less affected by global warming at the final of this century. In contrast, our analyses showed that the most sampled region for both marine sessile species and bryozoans was North Temperate Atlantic, highlighting the importance to quantify environmental drivers considering sampling effort biases. For this reason, we tested the effect of using the popular method of rarefaction (ES50) vs the incorporation of a frequency index of sampling effort as co-variate in quantitative models. Despite we obtained the same best predictors for both approaches (depth, nitrate, and SST), the models using the correction of sampling biases through frequency index showed better fitting, encouraging to incorporate this methodology in future studies. Focusing on the Mediterranean Sea, in Chapter 3 we studied the responses of bryozoans to different stressors. First, we showed that two abundant and common bryozoans, Pentapora fascialis and Myriapora truncata, displayed different tolerances to warming through the combination of in situ monitoring and experiments in aquaria. Moreover, in Chapter 4 the in situ monitoring of Pentapora fascialis populations revealed its fast population dynamics, with high recruitment and growth rates, and a high capacity of recovery. Accordingly, we observed an increase in the density of its populations in the Medes Island Marine Reserve since the 1990s. However, we evidenced that diving can impact on the density, recruitment, survival, and size of the colonies, registering lower values in frequented localities. Our results highlight that the over frequentation of divers compromises the future viability of populations, highlighting the need to explore other active management strategies. For this reason, in Chapter 5, we tested and developed different restoration techniques for P. fascialis, focusing on the recruitment enhancement through the installation of recruitment surfaces and the transplantation of adult colonies. The successful results and the affordable and economic cost of tested techniques aim to encourage the managers of Marine Protected Areas to apply similar methodologies. The results presented in this thesis show the importance to combine different approaches to understand the global and local ecological patterns of understudied but abundant groups, such as bryozoans. Our findings enlarge the current ecological knowledge of bryozoans at different scales, and highlight that more effort is needed to protect vulnerable populations., [cat] Els ecosistemes marins estan sotmesos a múltiples impactes a escales locals i globals i que a més interaccionen entre ells. Per aquesta raó, és important estudiar els patrons de biodiversitat i ecològics a través d’una aproximació multi-disciplinària, que pot anar des d’entendre els patrons de diversitat global fins a avaluar les respostes ecològiques de les espècies enfront diferents impactes, per així conservar i gestionar adequadament les comunitats marines. Fins aquest moment, la majoria d’estudis relacionat s’han centrat en grups carismàtics i populars, com ara les gorgònies, els coralls, les macroalgues o les fanerògames marines. En canvi, aquesta tesis es centra en l’estudi dels briozous, un grup abundant de invertebrats sèssils marins distribuïts per tot el món, però generalment poc estudiats. Per aquesta raó, el principal objectiu d’aquesta tesis és utilitzar diferents aproximacions per entendre els patrons de descobriment i macro-ecològics a escala global, i la resposta a diferents impactes a escala local, combinant el ús de bases de dades globals, el seguiment in situ de les poblacions, experiments en aquaris i el desenvolupament de tècniques de restauració. A més, la present tesis vol proporcionar un marc de treball per identificar, gestionar i conservar les poblacions vulnerables en el context de l’augment de les activitats humanes que afecten els ecosistemes marins. Els resultats presentats en aquesta tesis mostren la importància d’aplicar diferents aproximacions per entendre els patrons ecològics globals i locals de grups abundants però poc estudiats, com són els briozous. Els resultats obtinguts contribueixen a augmentar el coneixement dels patrons ecològics dels briozous a diferents escales, i mostren que cal més esforç per protegir les poblacions vulnerables. Així, mesures de gestió adaptativa i de restauració i són necessàries per promoure la conservació dels ecosistemes marins en un context de impactes creixents derivats de l’activitat humana tant a escales locals com globals.

Aquesta memòria recull els resultats del grup de treball del Departament d’Ecologia de la Universitat de Barcelona relatiu al seguiment del medi marí al Parc Natural de Cap de Creus i al Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter de l’any 2018, tal i com consta al plec de prescripcions amb expedient PTOP-2017-130 en compliment de la llei 19/1990 de 10 de desembre del Parlament de Catalunya, i amb les millores proposades a l’oferta tècnica homònima. Els resultats dels treballs de camp tenen com a objectiu central l’avaluació de l’estat de les poblacions i dels hàbitats marins en relació tant amb les activitats humanes que es duen a terme als espais naturals estudiats com amb els factors ambientals. Així mateix s’analitza la seva evolució en el temps dels descriptors i s’intenta avaluar l’efecte de la protecció. El darrer objectiu és de detectar altres situacions de risc pel patrimoni natural com podrien ser l’arribada d’espècies alienes o invasores o bé els possibles efectes del canvi climàtic.

Comanda: Direcció General de Polítiques Ambientals i Medi Natural / Departament de Territori i Sostenibilitat, Generalitat de Catalunya. Número d’expedient: PTOP_2017_130, Les mesures de protecció a les illes Medes van entrar en vigor el 1983, amb una Ordre de la Generalitat de Catalunya que establia la Reserva Marina de les illes Medes i que comportava restringir l’activitat en aquest indret de gran interès per a la biodiversitat marina. Al 1985 una resolució establia normes de compliment obligatori a la zona vedada i el 1990 i la Llei 19/1990 va convertir-se en el marc jurídic de la protecció i conservació de la flora i fauna del fons marí de les illes Medes i del tros de costa del Montgrí, entre la roca del Molinet i la Punta Salines. Finalment, El Parc Natural del Montgrí, les illes Medes i el Baix Ter es va crear per la llei 15/2010, de 21 de maig de 2010, amb l’objectiu principal d’unificar la normativa de protecció dels tres espais que conformen el Parc Natural (massís del Montgrí, les illes Medes i el Baix Ter). En aquest espai protegit podem trobar diferents zones amb diferents nivells de protecció: 1) la zona de Parc Natural (PN) a la costa del Montgrí entre la punta del Milà i la punta Salines, on la pesca, inclosa la pesca submarina és permesa; 2) la Zona Perifèrica de Protecció (ZPP) que correspon al tram de costa entre punta Milà i punta del Molinet, on la pesca submarina és prohibida; i 3) la Reserva Natural Parcial (RNP), que comprèn les illes Medes, on no es permet cap tipus d’activitat pesquera. La normativa específica dels usos i activitats de la zona estan regulats pel Pla Rector d’Usos i Gestió recollit aprovat el 2008 (en el Decret 222/2008, d'11 de novembre, pel qual s'aprova el Pla rector d'ús i gestió de l'Àrea Protegida de les illes Medes), i que recentment ha estat modificat en els seus annexes 1 i 6 (ORDRE AAM/112/2015, de 30 d'abril)

European Coral Reef Symposium (ECRS 2017), 13-15 December 2017, Oxford, UK

Estudi realitzat per la Universitat de Barcelona, sota l’encàrrec del Parc Natural del Montgrí, les illes Medes i el Baix Ter.

Aquesta memòria recull els resultats del grup de treball del Departament d’Ecologia de la Universitat de Barcelona relatiu al seguiment del medi marí al Parc Natural del Cap de Creus i al Parc Natural del Montgrí, les Illes Medes i el Baix Ter de l’any 2016, tal i com consta al plec de prescripcions amb expedient PTOP-2016-451 en compliment de la llei 19/1990 de 10 de desembre del Parlament de Catalunya, i amb les millores proposades a l’oferta tècnica homònima Els resultats dels treballs de camp tenen com a objectiu central l’avaluació de l’estat de les poblacions i dels hàbitats marins en relació tant amb les activitats humanes que es duen a terme als espais naturals estudiats com amb els factors ambientals. Així mateix s’analitza la seva evolució en el temps dels descriptors i s’intenta avaluar l’efecte de la protecció. El darrer objectiu és de detectar altres situacions de risc pel patrimoni natural com podrien ser l’arribada d’espècies alienes o invasores o bé els possibles efectes del canvi climàtic.

Les mesures de protecció a les illes Medes van entrar en vigor el 1983, amb una Ordre de la Generalitat de Catalunya que establia la Reserva Marina de les illes Medes i que comportava restringir l’activitat en aquest indret de gran interès per a la biodiversitat marina. Al 1985 una resolució establia normes de compliment obligatori a la zona vedada i el 1990 i la Llei 19/1990 va convertir-se en el marc jurídic de la protecció i conservació de la flora i fauna del fons marí de les illes Medes i del tros de costa del Montgrí, entre la roca del Molinet i la Punta Salines. Finalment, El Parc Natural del Montgrí, les illes Medes i el Baix Ter es va crear per la llei 15/2010, de 21 de maig de 2010, amb l’objectiu principal d’unificar la normativa de protecció dels tres espais que conformen el Parc Natural (massís del Montgrí, les illes Medes i el Baix Ter). En aquest espai protegit podem trobar diferents zones amb diferents nivells de protecció: 1) la zona de Parc Natural (PN) a la costa del Montgrí entre la punta del Milà i la punta Salines, on la pesca, inclosa la pesca submarina és permesa; 2) la Zona Perifèrica de Protecció (ZPP) que correspon al tram de costa entre punta Milà i punta del Molinet, on la pesca submarina és prohibida; i 3) la Reserva Natural Parcial (RNP), que comprèn les illes Medes, on no es permet cap tipus d’activitat pesquera. La normativa específica dels usos i activitats de la zona estan regulats pel Pla Rector d’Usos i Gestió recollit aprovat el 2008 (en el Decret 222/2008, d'11 de novembre, pel qual s'aprova el Pla rector d'ús i gestió de l'Àrea Protegida de les illes Medes), i que recentment ha estat modificat en els seus annexes 1 i 6 (ORDRE AAM/112/2015, de 30 d'abril)...