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An assessment of population responses of common inshore fishes and invertebrates following declaration of five Australian marine protected areas
Citation
Edgar, GJ and Barrett, NS, An assessment of population responses of common inshore fishes and invertebrates following declaration of five Australian marine protected areas, Environmental Conservation, 39, (3) pp. 271-281. ISSN 0376-8929 (2012) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2012 Cambridge University Press
DOI: doi:10.1017/S0376892912000185
Abstract
In order to better understand community-level effects
of fishing on temperate reefs at continental scales,
changes in densities of common species in five
Australian marine protected areas (MPAs) were
estimated from prior to establishment to three years
after enforcement of fishing prohibitions. A before-after-control-impact survey design was used, with 5–14 replicated sites distributed within both sanctuary
and fishing zones associated with each MPA. On the
basis of published meta-analyses, exploited species
were generally expected to show increased densities.
By contrast, only two of the 11 exploited fish species
(the red morwong Cheilodactylus fuscus and latrid
trumpeter Latridopsis forsteri), and none of seven
exploited invertebrate species, showed significant signs
of population recovery within sanctuary zones. Four
fish species increased in biomass between survey
periods. When variation in abundance data was
partitioned by PERMANOVA independently for the
five MPAs, the ‘zone × year’ interaction component
consistently contributed only c. 4% of total variation,
compared to site (c. 35%), zone (c. 8%), year
(c. 8%) and residual error (c. 45%) components.
Given that longer-term Australian studies show clear
community-wide responses following MPA protection,
the discrepancy between weak observed recovery and
a priori expectations is probably due, at least in part,
to the three-year period studied being insufficient to generate clear trends, to relatively low fishing pressure
on some temperate Australian reefs, and to meta-analyses
overestimating the likelihood of significant
short-term population responses.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
---|---|
Keywords: | Cheilodactylus fuscus, effects of fishing, Latridopsis forsteri, long-term monitoring, marine reserves, Tasmania, temperate reef |
Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
Research Group: | Ecology |
Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
Objective Division: | Environmental Management |
Objective Group: | Terrestrial systems and management |
Objective Field: | Assessment and management of terrestrial ecosystems |
UTAS Author: | Edgar, GJ (Professor Graham Edgar) |
UTAS Author: | Barrett, NS (Associate Professor Neville Barrett) |
ID Code: | 79222 |
Year Published: | 2012 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 29 |
Deposited By: | Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration |
Deposited On: | 2012-08-28 |
Last Modified: | 2013-05-07 |
Downloads: | 2 View Download Statistics |
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