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Assessing additional natural capital benefits to area-based management of marine protected areas: how fisheries restrictions affect ecosystem service delivery in Lyme Bay 2024

Abstract

The role of natural capital asset condition in mediating the delivery of ecosystem services is not well-understood. The removal of pressures (i.e. marine protected area (MPA) management) provides a useful opportunity to assess whether recovering ecological condition over time is linked to the improved delivery of ecosystem services.

Using the Lyme Bay MPA as an in-depth case study, this report outlines how we conducted a targeted literature review of how protecting natural assets may confer changes to service delivery. From JNCC’s universal Asset Service Matrix (uASM), which describes and catalogues linkages between UK marine natural assets (habitats and species) and the ecosystem services that they provide. we developed a bespoke ASM to identify assets and ecosystem services relevant to the case study area. This, in turn, defined the scope of the literature review on documented changes to these services after MPA designation. We found that ecosystem service delivery across several services has changed positively with the implementation of the MPA, though the nature of the evidence and the confidence associated with these changes varies significantly.

Whilst there is strong evidence for the improved condition of marine assets following MPA designation and management, our understanding of the implications for ecosystem service delivery remains highly variable and focussed on a few core services. The assessment of ecosystem service delivery in the context of MPAs is connected to broader challenges across the natural capital space in better understanding the relationships between asset condition and service delivery. We recommend including approaches to monitoring ecosystem services linked to asset condition to inform adaptive MPA management.

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Resource type Publication

Topic category Environment

Reference date 2024·07·01

Citation
Matthews, S., Blanchard, S., Booth, J. & Anderson, L. 2024. Assessing additional natural capital benefits to area-based management of marine protected areas: how fisheries restrictions affect ecosystem service delivery in Lyme Bay. JNCC Report 773, JNCC, Peterborough, ISSN 0963-8091.

Lineage
In this report, how asset condition across management regimes can mediate ecosystem service delivery was examined. The universal Asset Service Matrix (uASM) was used to create a bespoke ASM to identify assets and ecosystem services relevant to the case study area.

Responsible organisation
Communications, JNCC publisher

Limitations on public access No limitations

Use constraints Available under the Open Government Licence 3.0

Metadata date 2024·07·29

Metadata point of contact
Communications, JNCC

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