Recovery linked to life history of sessile epifauna following exclusion of towed mobile fishing gear

1. The use of reserves as conservation tools is widespread. However, evaluating the effectiveness of reserve implementation for long-lived species has been problematic as it requires sampling programmes over long time scales that are appropriate to species’ longevity and recovery rates. In the sea, towed bottom fishing gears alter the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by benthic communities and habitats. Marine reserves have been used to manage these impacts but our understanding of the drivers of their effectiveness for the conservation of temperate reefs is incomplete. 2. We examined the effectiveness of marine reserves for recovery of temperate reef fauna in relation to their life history. We used an underwater video to sample six species with different life histories across 60 sites that varied in the duration of protection from towed mobile fishing gear at 0, 1, 8 and 10 years. 3. Species with a high dispersal potential and less habitat specific requirements such as so...