Abstract:

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are critical to the well-being of threatened ecosystems and thus can be highly beneficial to humans, especially to those residing nearby. We explore the qualities of 117 MPAs in the Mediterranean basin and develop a taxonomy of their characteristics. We relate the spatial distribution of the MPAs to the various characteristics of the taxonomy (size, distance from shore, protection levels, management regimes, etc.) and to areas of high human impact and influence levels. To do this we use information on biogeographic regions and information from two different human influence models; one model developed for the marine [...]

Website