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Most species arriving from a donor to a recipient area do not succeed in establishing long-lasting self-sustaining populations. However, successful introductions are far better documented than those that failed, especially those occurring before or near the advent of the Linnaean binomial nomenclature. We report here an introduction from the mid-18th century (possibly in 1750 or 1751) of an exotic mussel transported as fouling on ship hulls from the western coast of Morocco (Atlantic Ocean) to the port of Marseilles (Mediterranean Sea). The exotic mussel, which survived several years, has been identified as probably being the brown mussel, Perna perna, a species with warm-water affinities, which much later became invasive in several areas of the world ocean. The documents of the 18th and early 19th century, which mentioned the event, held 'the curious' and 'amateurs', who harvested the mussels, responsible for its extirpation. More realistically, it is hypothesised that the mussel population did not survive the return of severe cold weather conditions, after a few relatively mild decades, in the context of the Little Ice Age (LIA). These conclusions were deduced from historical data and are therefore open to discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrestrial and marine Port-Cros National (PCNP) was established in 1963; it was then made up only of the Archipelago of Port-Cros. Since 2012, it has been extended to include a vast land and sea area, including not only islands but also part of the mainland, the new PCNP (N-PCNP); the marine core area and the adjacent marine area cover approximately 120,000 ha and extend over 63 km as the crow flies, from east to west. Taxon richness is just one descriptor of biodiversity among others (e.g., functional and ecosystem diversity), and is far from being the most reliable one; however, it deserves to be taken into consideration, provided that certain prerequisites are met, because it constitutes a convenient measure of, e.g., the research effort and the diversity of habitats. The number of reported macrophyte taxa amounts to 502: 73 green algae, 316 red algae, 104 brown algae and 9 magnoliophyta and other taxa. Two new combinations are proposed: Ericaria brachycarpa var. claudiae and Gongolaria montagnei var. compressa. This gamma species diversity is far from being exceptionally high, but rather is within the norm for the Mediterranean, if we take into account the size of the area considered. The number of reported taxa per site is highly heterogeneous throughout the N-PCNP area; it is, as expected, correlated with the number of studies per site. The research effort peaked in the 1970–1980s, and then irregularly declined, which may seem surprising in this era of biodiversity launched at the 1992 Rio Summit. The exceptionally extensive database available, covering more than a century, provides the basis for a critical analysis of the concept of biodiversity, as proclaimed by the general public and the 'greens', which can be naive or biased, and of the concept of 'heritage value species', which the authors of this article consider to be a 'toxic concept', as opposed to 'ordinary biodiversity', which enables ecosystem functioning. However, this database, straddling both areas highly impacted by humans (coastal development, tourist resorts) and areas that are effectively protected, does not highlight obvious changes over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Port-Cros National Park (PCNP), established in 1963, was one of the earliest terrestrial and marine parks in the Mediterranean Sea. From 2012, it engaged in a major redefinition and extension of its territory (N-PCNP—New Port-Cros National Park). This case is particularly interesting insofar as the protected area has been competently and efficiently managed since its creation, and protection and management measures have been strictly implemented: in the Mediterranean, the PCNP has often been considered as a benchmark. Here, we critically analyse almost 60 years of the management of the biodiversity and the human uses, with their share of successes and failures, certain operations which are today regarded as errors, and a doctrine today of a priori non-interventionism, in contrast to the doctrine in vogue in the early years. Of particular interest is the change in outlook with regard to actions favouring flagship species, such as building a tower for bats, setting up artificial nests for seabirds, and constructing an artificial reef at sea. The question of the natural arrival of the wild boar, a native species, and the hostility of the public and some species-centred scientists, is particularly instructive. We analyse these changes in the light of the ongoing trends in concepts in ecology and nature conservation, and the shift from a species-centred to an ecosystem-centred approach. It is worth emphasizing that a critical review of almost 60 years of management is a very rare exercise in a national park anywhere in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]