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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><STRONG>Marine Ecology</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=publishedOnlineDate><FONT face=Arial size=2>Article first published
online: 12 OCT 2010</FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=doi><FONT face=Arial
size=2>DOI: 10.1111/j.1439-0485.2010.00409.x</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV class=articleTitle><FONT face=Arial size=4>Marine artificial
micro-reserves: a possibility for the conservation of endangered species living
on artificial substrata</FONT></DIV>
<DIV id=cr1><FONT face=Arial size=2>José C. García-Gómez, Carlos M. López-Fé,
Free Espinosa, José M. Guerra-García, Georgina A. Rivera-Ingraham</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><FONT
size=2></FONT></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Laboratorio de Biología Marina, Universidad de
Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain. </FONT><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>Correspondence:
Free Espinosa, Departamento de Fisiología y Zoología, Avenida Reina Mercedes 6,
41012 Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: <!--TODO: clickthrough URL--></FONT></FONT><A
title="Link to email address" href="mailto:free@us.es" shape=rect><FONT
face=Arial color=#007e8a size=2>free@us.es</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=4>Abstract</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The installation of urban and commercial
infrastructures on the coast has a severe impact on the marine environment. This
impact is mostly negative but, simultaneously, some of the species that colonize
artificial substrata (sometimes rare or threatened) find refuge in man-made
structures. The protection of endangered species is usually provided by marine
protected areas or by laws that punish their damage or collection, but effective
enclosure and custody must be achieved in the case of easily accessible
intertidal species. We used the ferruginous limpet, <EM>Patella ferruginea,</EM>
as a case study because it is the most endangered invertebrate in the
Mediterranean. This species, which lives in the intertidal zone and is very
accessible to people, is a free-spawning, protandric hermaphrodite, highly
dependent on population density and individual size for its reproductive
success. Previous work by the authors found the species is especially abundant
on artificial substrates on both shores of the Strait of Gibraltar, where people
collect fewer of them. Spanish laws of coastal management do not allow the
enclosure of the natural coastline, but artificial installations like harbour
breakwaters may be closed or guarded, and visits for educational purposes may be
carried out under control. The possibility of declaring some kind of
environmental protection for these artificial areas would be a very helpful tool
for conservation and management purposes. Protected individuals would grow
larger and eventually produce exponentially more offspring, which could be
transported by currents to adjacent habitats. Here we propose a protection
concept for artificial sites termed Artificial Marine Micro-Reserve (AMMR),
where some endangered species experience a refuge from human disturbance. This
concept is a modification of the land micro-reserves that have been recently
declared in small natural sites that keep rare plant species. A network of AMMRs
would be the final objective, allowing the creation of a great metapopulation of
<EM>P. ferruginea</EM> and also giving refuge to other endangered species
that have been found to grow in this type of substratum. Critically, the
declaration of a micro-reserve cannot be used as a reason in favour of new
construction because of the negative influence of such structures on the marine
environment, together with the fact that there is no certainty that valuable
species will settle on them.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>