Joy Kumagai

All Publications

• Marine Protected Areas That Preserve Trophic Cascades Promote Resilience of Kelp Forests to Marine Heatwaves. Global change biology Kumagai, J. A., Goodman, M. C., Villaseñor-Derbez, J. C., Schoeman, D. S., Cavanuagh, K. C., Bell, T. W., Micheli, F., De Leo, G., Arafeh-Dalmau, N. 2024; 30 (12): e17620

  Abstract

  Under accelerating threats from climate-change impacts, marine protected areas (MPAs) have been proposed as climate-adaptation tools to enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems. Yet, debate persists as to whether and how MPAs may promote resilience to climate shocks. Here, we use 38 years of satellite-derived kelp cover to empirically test whether a network of 58 temperate coastal MPAs in Central and Southern California enhances the resistance of kelp forest ecosystems to, and their recovery from, the unprecedented 2014-2016 marine heatwave regime that occurred in the region. We also leverage a 22-year time series of subtidal community surveys to mechanistically understand whether trophic cascades explain emergent patterns in kelp forest resilience within MPAs. We find that fully protected MPAs significantly enhance kelp forests' resistance to and recovery from marine heatwaves in Southern California, but not in Central California. Differences in regional responses to the heatwaves are partly explained by three-level trophic interactions comprising kelp, urchins, and predators of urchins. Urchin densities in Southern California MPAs are lower within fully protected MPAs during and after the heatwave, while the abundances of their main predators-lobster and sheephead-are higher. In Central California, a region without lobster or sheephead, there is no significant difference in urchin or kelp densities within MPAs as the current urchin predator, the sea otter, is protected statewide. Our analyses show that fully protected MPAs can be effective climate-adaptation tools, but their ability to enhance resilience to extreme climate events depends upon region-specific environmental and trophic interactions. As nations progress to protect 30% of the oceans by 2030, scientists and managers should consider whether protection will increase resilience to climate-change impacts given their local ecological contexts, and what additional measures may be needed.

  View details for DOI 10.1111/gcb.17620

  View details for PubMedID 39663647

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC11635138

• Biological invasions on Indigenous peoples' lands NATURE SUSTAINABILITY Seebens, H., Niamir, A., Essl, F., Garnett, S. T., Kumagai, J. A., Molnar, Z., Saeedi, H., Meyerson, L. A. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41893-024-01361-3

  View details for Web of Science ID 001233682800001

• Head in the clouds, feet on the ground: how transdisciplinary learning can foster transformative change-insights from a summer school BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION Atienza Casas, S., Calicis, C., Candiago, S., Dendoncker, N., Desair, J., Fickel, T., Finne, E., Frison, C., Haensel, M., Hinsch, M., Kulfan, T., Kumagai, J. A., Mialyk, O., Nawrath, M., Nevzati, F., Washbourne, C., Wuebbelmann, T. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s10531-023-02603-0

  View details for Web of Science ID 000990471600001

• Sediment depth and accretion shape belowground mangrove carbon stocks across a range of climatic and geologic settings LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY Costa, M. T., Ezcurra, E., Ezcurra, P., Salinas-de-Leon, P., Turner, B., Kumagai, J., Leichter, J., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2022; 67: S104-S117

  View details for DOI 10.1002/lno.12241

  View details for Web of Science ID 000870722600001

• Habitat Protection Indexes-new monitoring measures for the conservation of coastal and marine habitats SCIENTIFIC DATA Kumagai, J. A., Favoretto, F., Pruckner, S., Rogers, A. D., Weatherdon, L. V., Aburto-Oropeza, O., Niamir, A. 2022; 9 (1): 203

  Abstract

  A worldwide call to implement habitat protection aims to halt biodiversity loss. We constructed an open-source, standardized, and reproducible workflow that calculates two indexes to monitor the extent of coastal and marine habitats within protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures. The Local Proportion of Habitats Protected Index (LPHPI) pinpoints the jurisdictions with the greatest opportunity to expand their protected or conserved areas, while the Global Proportion of Habitats Protected Index (GPHPI) showcases which jurisdictions contribute the most area to the protection of these habitats globally. We also evaluated which jurisdictions have the highest opportunity to contribute globally to protecting habitats by meeting a target of 30% coverage. We found that Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ) have the greatest potential to do so. Our workflow can also be easily extended to terrestrial and freshwater habitats. These indexes are helpful to monitor aspects of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 and the emerging post-2020 global biodiversity framework, to understand the current status of international cooperation on coastal and marine habitats conservation.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41597-022-01296-4

  View details for Web of Science ID 000794900700003

  View details for PubMedID 35551469

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9098915

• Diving tourism in Mexico - Economic and conservation importance MARINE POLICY Arcos-Aguilar, R., Favoretto, F., Kumagai, J. A., Jimenez-Esquivel, V., Martinez-Cruz, A. L., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2021; 126

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104410

  View details for Web of Science ID 000632272400006

• Driven by Drones: Improving Mangrove Extent Maps Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing REMOTE SENSING Hsu, A. J., Kumagai, J., Favoretto, F., Dorian, J., Martinez, B., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2020; 12 (23)

  View details for DOI 10.3390/rs12233986

  View details for Web of Science ID 000597530800001

• Prioritizing mangrove conservation across Mexico to facilitate 2020 NDC ambition AMBIO Kumagai, J. A., Costa, M. T., Ezcurra, E., Aburto-Oropeza, O. 2020; 49 (12): 1992-2002

  Abstract

  There is a scale mismatch between mangrove conservation and carbon emission mitigation policies despite mangroves contributing disproportionally to global carbon sequestration. Using Mexico as a case study in the integration of these scales, we estimate mangrove carbon value and deforestation rates at the municipio (local government) scale and develop a prioritization model that indicates where to focus conservation efforts. By using previously published global models of carbon stocks, Mexico-specific carbon sequestration data, and calculating gross deforestation, we found that the current rate of deforestation will result in a social cost of 392.0 (± 7.4) million US$ over the next 25 years. The prioritization model identified 26 municipios of 175, where if all mangroves are conserved, 50% of this cost could be avoided. Bridging the gap between research and governmental action using local initiatives will be paramount for the effective management of mangrove carbon.

  View details for DOI 10.1007/s13280-020-01334-8

  View details for Web of Science ID 000525475100001

  View details for PubMedID 32279285

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC7568728