Understanding socioecological interaction networks in Marine Protected Areas to inform management

Abstract

The concept of ecosystem services has become increasingly important in understanding the interactions between humans and nature and the associated implications in terms of human well-being. Despite growing interest in ecosystem services research, knowledge of their ecological underpinnings and their integration with socioeconomic and management components remains limited. In this study, we propose a multi-layered network approach to assess the connection between ecological components, ecosystem functions and societal uses and benefits, management actions, and global change impacts in four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Spain. An interaction matrix between all relevant components in the MPAs was built based on scientific knowledge, published records, and validated in stakeholder workshops. Then, we applied network analysis to explore the emergent properties of the network of connected elements in the MPAs. For example, habitat foundation species, such as kelp or seagrasses, were central to the networks and concentrated most connections with other ecological, social, and management components. The positive-negative index showed that human activities often had negative indices, ecological components had positive indices, and management, mitigation action, and infrastructure had variable effects across MPAs. Betweenness identified the foundation species or the scientific community as playing a key role in facilitating connections across the network in MPAs. This research provides valuable insights into the complex interactions between ecosystems, human activities, ecosystem functions and services, and management opportunities for coastal MPAs, with important consequences for the local management of the areas.