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Ecological effects of marine protected areas on rocky reef communities - a continental-scale analysis

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posted on 2023-05-17, 01:17 authored by Graham EdgarGraham Edgar, Richard Stuart-SmithRichard Stuart-Smith
Data compiled by volunteer divers were utilised in a continental-scale investigation of ecological differences between reefs in no-take sanctuary zones in marine protected areas (MPAs) and adjacent fished zones. In a validation analysis, volunteer-generated data were found to be comparable to data obtained by scientific dive teams for all metrics investigated: estimated total number of species, total faunal abundance, mean fish size, and faunal composition of species sighted along transects. Variation between individual divers within volunteer and professional groups also contributed little to total estimated variance between transects compared to residual variation between replicate transects, variation between sites, and variation between regions studied. Sites in 11 MPAs distributed around 5000 km of the Australian coastline had significantly more large (>30 cm) fishes and total fish biomass than nearby fished reference sites. For the older MPAs, fishes belonging to the largest size class (¡Ý80 cm) were observed approximately 10 times more often in sanctuary zones than in fished zones, while fishes in the smallest size class (2.5 cm) occurred at densities approximately 4 times higher in fished zones than in sanctuary zones. Results of our empirical field surveys contrast in several respects with outcomes of published meta-analyses. No overall differences in fish densities were evident between sanctuary zones and fished zones. The response of fish species richness to protection varied significantly between different MPAs, while invertebrate density and species richness were both significantly lower in sanctuary zones than in fished zones.

History

Publication title

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Volume

388

Issue

August

Pagination

51-62

ISSN

0171-8630

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Inter-Research

Place of publication

Nordbunte 23, Oldendorf Luhe, Germany, D-21385

Rights statement

Copyright © 2009 Inter-Research.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems

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