Along the Chilean coastline, the increasing impact of fisheries on kelp forests has motivated the development of compromises between extraction and conservation. This has taken the form of a set of guidelines determining the intensity and method used to extract kelp.
We used a probabilistic cellular automaton model and parameterized it using in-situ experiments in continental Chile to investigate how local interactions determine the spatial dynamics of exploited kelp forests of Lessonia trabeculata. We varied forest fragmentation and management guidelines to (i) understand how fragmentation affects the forest to realistic levels of extraction, and (ii) whether management guidelines were successful at improving the resilience of the forest.
Results showed that fragmentation had a relatively secondary role in determining the dynamics of the model, and herbivory was able to drive the forest to extinction. Extraction guidelines based on spatial structure successfully increased kelp forest protection and resistance over time, but long-term persistence of the forest was only achieved by decreasing herbivory intensity.
Our work suggests that the enforced management guidelines do maintain higher resistance and resilience of kelp forests, but a complete understanding of the magnitude of the effects of fragmentation would require more exploration, including monitoring programs.
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