Assessing connectivity across the California marine protected area network

This evaluation asks two overarching questions. Question 1 (Q1) asks “What are the population consequences of ecological connectivity across the MPA network?” This question considers connectivity in the ecological sense, as the process of demographic replacement in metapopulations. For the MPA network to be effective, the replacement capacity and resulting population persistence should be enhanced by the presence of the MPAs. Question 2 (Q2) asks "How does network design, habitat availability, and particle transport over different timescales contribute to environmental connectivity across the network?" This question focuses solely on the environmental factors affecting patterns of propagule abundance and transport across the network for several different habitats and propagule durations, and is not linked to particular species. Overall, these analyses provide strong evidence that California’s planning process created a network of ecologically connected MPAs and that this connectivity is enhancing the long-term resilience and persistence of the species examined in this study and those that occupy many of the habitats targeted for protection.本评估提出两个统领全局的核心问题。问题1（Q1）为：海洋保护区（Marine Protected Area，MPA）网络的生态连通性会对种群产生何种影响？该问题所指的连通性为生态学意义上的集合种群（metapopulation）补充过程。若要使海洋保护区网络发挥预期效用，海洋保护区的设置应能够提升种群补充能力与由此产生的种群存续性。问题2（Q2）为：不同时间尺度下的网络设计、生境可利用性以及颗粒物输运，如何推动该网络的环境连通性？该问题仅针对多种生境与繁殖体（propagule）存留时长，探讨影响繁殖体丰度格局及其在网络中输运的环境因素，不涉及特定物种。综上，本系列分析有力证实：加州的规划流程已构建出具备生态连通性的海洋保护区网络，且该连通性正提升本研究考察物种，以及栖息于诸多保护目标生境中的物种的长期恢复力与种群存续能力。