Climate change and pathways of vessel traffic create marine protected area networks of invasion

Establishment of protected areas to maintain biodiversity requires identification, prioritization, and management of stressors that may undermine conservation goals. Nonindigenous species and climate change are critical ecosystem stressors that need greater attention in the context of spatial planning and management of protected areas. Risk of invasion into protected areas needs to be quantified under current and projected climate conditions in conjunction with prioritization of key vectors and vulnerable areas to enable development of effective management strategies.
We assessed the likelihood of invasion across networks of marine protected areas (MPAs) to determine how invaded MPAs may compromise MPA networks by sharing nonindigenous species. We evaluated invasion risk in 83 MPAs along Canada’s Pacific coast for eight nonindigenous species based on environmental suitability under current and future (average conditions from 2041-2070) climate conditions and association with shippi...