Marine protected areas enhance structural complexity but do not buffer the consequences of ocean warming for an overexploited precious coral

1. Global warming and overexploitation both threaten the integrity and resilience of marine ecosystems. Many calls have been made to at least partially offset climate change impacts through local conservation management. However, a mechanistic understanding of the interactions of multiple stressors is generally lacking for habitat-forming species; preventing the development of sound conservation strategies. 2. We examined the effectiveness of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) at enhancing structural complexity and resilience to climate change on populations of an overexploited and long-lived octocoral. We used long-term data over eight populations, subjected to varying levels of disturbances, and Integral Projection Models to understand how the interaction between overfishing and mass-mortality events shapes the stochastic dynamics of the Mediterranean red coral Corallium rubrum. 3. MPAs largely reduced colony partial mortality (i.e. shrinkage), enhancing the structural complexity o...