Reef macro-algal communities in three capital city estuaries: Broad-scale patterns in response to anthropogenic impacts?

Human alteration of the marine environment through direct and indirect means is increasingly causing major stress on aquatic ecosystems, placing marine biodiversity at serious risk. Broad spatial scale, community level information is needed to increase our understanding of the nature of these impacts. Temperate shallow reef habitats support a high diversity of species and ecological processes, and are frequently located off shorelines where land-based activities are causing noticeable change. Current knowledge is, however, extremely sparse for reef communities in temperate estuaries. This study describes spatial patterns in reef macro-algal communities across pollution gradients at regional scales.