MSP4BIO Deliverable 3.1: Critical review on multilevel ecological processes to improve systemic biodiversity protection and restoration strategies in Europe

The need to conserve and restore ecological functioning, i.e the set of processes that biotic and abiotic components perform within ecosystems, is universally recognized as vital to preserve and rebuild the health of ecosystems and sustain the flow of the services they provide. However, the designation and management of area-based management tools for conservation is still generally based on criteria related to the conservation status of single species, the use of taxonomic diversity indices and the physical characteristics of habitats, overlooking their ecological roles and contributions to key processes in marine ecosystems. Whilst the need for ecologically coherent networks of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas (EBSAs) is recognized, effective conservation strategies must ensure that species remain not just extant, but able to maintain key functional roles in marine ecosystems. Such ecological functions, however, have so far not been well incorporated into management or policy. To understand which functional criteria have been suggested in the specialized bibliography before their use for marine conservation and restoration, we perform a systematic review considering different ecological and biological levels, from single species to communities up to ecosystems (e.g., focusing on species traits and interactions, functional groups, ecological processes, among others). Connectivity and animal movements are treated separately as these are supported by several systematic reviews recently published. The present systematic review will provide information to build a portfolio of improved ecological criteria for prioritization and designation of MPAs and EBSAs and for identification and improvement of MPA networks to effectively catalyse actions for systematic biodiversity protection and effective restoration, and to support nature-based solutions to be used and applied to MSP4BIO test sites.