A process to design a network of marine no-take areas: Lessons from the Great Barrier Reef

In the absence of consensus on the quantity and level of zoning protection required for coral reef and lagoon ecosystems, which process can guide decision makers? The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) worked with experts in a collaborative process to develop a set of Biophysical Operational Principles to guide the design of a network of no-take areas. First, 82 expert scientists were asked to provide data and advice on the physical, biological and ecological dimensions of the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. They recommended that an independent Scientific Steering Committee (the Committee) was set up. How this Committee worked successfully with the GBRMPA staff is detailed here in a manner to enable other resource managers to adopt the process if they are working in data-limited marine environments.     

Purpose,policy, and practice: Intent and reality for on-ground management and outcomes of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Notwithstanding a complex array of international, national, and local policies designed to protect biodiversity and manage human activities, the condition of Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been deteriorating. This trend indicates that policy settings are inadequate or the right policies have been prescribed but not effectively implemented. This study aimed to determine which policies influenced on-ground management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area and Marine Park, how they were implemented, and the challenges encountered by practitioners in applying policies. The research required content analysis of policy instruments relevant to various jurisdictional levels, and surveys and interviews with 19 key informants across jurisdictions and agencies. This study found that policy intent is not automatically translated into practice: international agreements are interpreted and reinterpreted along the policy pathway to on-ground management and, consequently, the aspirations of these agreements can be frustrated and their effectiveness diluted. Due to limits of jurisdictional responsibility, practitioners within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority are constrained in influencing key factors that impact on their capacity to address threats and manage outcomes. The major policy gap affecting management outcomes was the absence of a mechanism with which to manage cumulative impacts responsible for deterioration of key ecosystem processes and biodiversity. These findings highlight that effective policy implementation is a challenging task, limited by gaps between intentions and outcomes, inconsistencies, and conflicting agendas. An improved understanding of the policy implementation process and the policy-practitioner relationship is essential to enhancing links between policy and on-ground management.     

Effective governance of a large and complex cross-jurisdictional marine protected area: Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef ecosystem on earth. The governance of such a large and iconic area is complex due to the overlapping federal and state (Queensland) jurisdictions. Since 1975 this globally significant area has been protected by pioneering federal legislation which enabled the ‘reasonable use’ of natural resources to co-exist with conservation, thus introducing the concept of a multiple-use marine park. In 1981 the Great Barrier Reef was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Area. Today a federal multiple-use Marine Park covers 99% of the Great Barrier Reef Region and World Heritage Area, with the remaining areas under state jurisdiction. A close working partnership between the federal and state governments has evolved over 37 years and includes complementary legislation, joint field management and joint permits. In the face of increasing pressures, management of the Great Barrier Reef continues to be effective for a range of reasons, including a sound governance/legislative framework together with complementary federal/state legislation; integrated management with relevant federal and state agencies; and the application of ecosystem-based management principles both inside and outside the area of the marine park's jurisdiction. This integrated and comprehensive management model is widely regarded as effective by marine and coastal managers around the world.     

Socio-economic aspects of artificial reefs: Considerations for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

Artificial reefs are used to enhance recreational fishing and diving opportunities in the marine environment. Until recently, demand for artificial reefs in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) has been low due to the high value placed on the natural ecosystem of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and the abundance of fishing and diving opportunities it provides. In the GBRMP, where there are multiple stakeholder groups with diverse and often conflicting values and opinions, the deployment of artificial reefs will be a complex and controversial social issue. We review the available socio-economic literature regarding the deployment, use, and management of artificial reefs, and aim to identify and understand potential socio-economic issues and information gaps surrounding deployment of artificial reefs in the GBRMP. We also outline a strategy to guide decision-making and maximize the socio-economic value of artificial reefs should they be deployed in the GBRMP.     

An integrated monitoring framework for the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area

Monitoring provides important feedback on how social and environmental systems are tracking and whether or not human activities, including management activities, are having an impact. This paper describes an approach applied to develop an integrated monitoring framework to inform adaptive management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, a complex, multi-jurisdictional, multi-sectoral marine system of international importance. It identifies the gaps and opportunities to integrate the existing long-term, short-term and compliance-related monitoring and reporting initiatives to provide the information for more effective and efficient (adaptive) management of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. And as importantly it aligns expectations among different agencies about how monitoring will inform management. Fifty two high priority values, processes and pressures for management were identified along with 65 existing monitoring programs. Developing the monitoring framework was useful in several ways. First it brought together scientists, policy-makers, managers, and other interested stakeholders with different agendas, philosophies and incentives and established a common purpose, lexicon and language for an integrated monitoring program. Second, it highlighted the importance and usefulness of qualitative conceptual models as a framework for focused discussion around a set of hypotheses with relevance for management. Third, the process started an important conversation about defining and setting a realistic number of monitoring priorities for management. Finally, it has provided direction for how to build on existing initiatives to develop an integrated monitoring program for a globally significant world heritage area.     

Aliphatic hydrocarbons in Great Barrier Reef organisms and environment

This investigation was undertaken to assess the chemical nature, occurrence, and possible origin of petroleum hydrocarbons in the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem. Aliphatic hydrocarbons in surface sediments, water, and a suite of seven species from widely separated coral reefs in the Great Barrier Reef area were analysed by gas chromatography, and by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. The hydrocarbons found were substantially of biogenic origin. The major components were n-pentadecane, n-heptadecane, pristane and mono-alkenes based on heptadecane, and were believed to originate from benthic algae and phytoplankton. There was no evidence to suggest that lipid content had any influence on hydrocarbon content. Hydrocarbons from the organisms and sediments have characteristic composition patterns which would be altered by the presence of petroleum hydrocarbons. An unresolved complex mixture, usually considered indicative of petroleum contamination, was found in greater than trace amounts only in Holothuria (sea cucumber) and Acropora (coral) from the Capricorn Group, and in some sediment samples from the Capricorn Group and Lizard Island area.     

Co-management and protected area management: Achieving effective management of a contested site,lessons from the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA)

Marine protected management has gained acceptance as a way forward to achieve enhanced biodiversity outcomes. Simultaneously, co-management has gathered momentum as a mechanism to incorporate indigenous cultural aspirations within environmental management domains. Each management process has its own methodologies; when the two models intersect, they present a number of challenges to overall management outcomes. We review the journey of an indigenous co-management initiative within a marine protected area (MPA), the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA), Australia, to explore how different management paradigms intersect with both negative and positive results. We argue that lessons learned from this initiative will help participants to adapt and innovate, so as to implement effective on ground management despite the region being a contested site.     

The importance of marine spatial planning in advancing ecosystem-based sea use management

During the past 10 years, the evolution of marine spatial planning (MSP) and ocean zoning has become a crucial step in making ecosystem-based, sea use management a reality. The idea was initially stimulated by international and national interest in developing marine protected areas, e.g., the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. More recent attention has been placed on managing the multiple use of marine space, especially in areas where conflicts among users and the environment are already clear, e.g., in the North Sea. Even more recent concern has focused on the need to conserve nature, especially ecologically and biologically sensitive areas, in the context of multi-use planning of ocean space. Despite academic discussions and the fact that some countries already have started implementation, the scope of MSP has not been clearly defined. Terms such as integrated management, marine spatial management, and ocean zoning are all used inconsistently. This is one of the reasons why its importance is not more seriously reflected at the levels of policy and decision-making in most countries. This article attempts to deal with this problem. It describes why MSP is an essential step to achieve ecosystem-based sea use management, how it can be defined and what its core objectives are. The article concludes with an analysis of the use and achievements of MSP worldwide, with particular focus on new approaches in Europe.     

Benefits and opportunity costs of Australia's Coral Sea marine protected area: A precautionary tale

The paper analyses the benefits and costs of the Coral Sea Marine Reserve which, together with the contiguous Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, creates the largest marine protected area in the world. The benefits are found to be minimal, in both anthropocentric and ecocentric terms. Nevertheless establishment and management costs could be in the order of $A20 million and $A13 million, respectively. Meanwhile, serious depletion of the vital fish stocks of the largest tuna fishery in the world in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean—in which Australia is a management partner—continues, as does the rapid erosion of the unique and outstanding values of the Great Barrier Reef. It is concluded that current investment in the creation and management of the Coral Sea Reserve—in the face of the demonstrably urgent needs for investment in the management of marine resources in the near region and in Australia – is problematic.     

The need and practice of monitoring, evaluating and adapting marine planning and management—lessons from the Great Barrier Reef

An increasing number of scientists and resource managers recognise that successful marine management approaches, including marine spatial planning (MSP), cannot occur without effective monitoring, evaluation and adaptation. These basic components are necessary to ensure that any marine planning or marine management measures are both effective and efficient. While a number of fundamental principles for marine monitoring, evaluation and adaptive management exist, there are varying levels of understanding about how these should be undertaken and what they may achieve. Challenges include the development of realistic and measurable objectives and indicators against which effectiveness can be practically measured. The matter becomes even more complicated as the focus of marine planning and management strategies changes from ‘single species’ to ‘habitats’ and ‘ecosystems’ that may enable a diversity of permitted uses consistent with a variety of overall objectives. Over the last 30 years, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP) has successfully established a multiple-use spatial management approach that allows both high levels of environmental protection and a wide range of human activities. Drawing on this unique long-term experience in the GBRMP, this article discusses key aspects of effective monitoring and evaluation, and summarises lessons learned from over two decades of adaptive management.     

Effect of agricultural activity on levels of organochlorine pesticides in hard corals, fish and molluscs from the Great Barrier Reef

An organochlorine baseline study of selected corals, fish and molluscs has established that lindane is the only consistently detectable persistent pesticide in Great Barrier Reef organisms sampled. Samples taken during 1976–1977 from twenty reefs between Heron Island and Lizard Island provide evidence from the distribution of lindane that the contamination is related to agricultural usage in the coastal sugar cane growing regions. Consideration is given to the possible mode of transport of lindane to the reef environment. No polychlorinated biphenyls were detected in any of the samples and only scattered samples contained levels of residues other than lindane. Inner marginal shelf reefs of the Great Barrier Reef may be the most pristine environment yet reported for organochlorine pollutants.     

Seismic and stratigraphic evidence for reef expansion and onset of aridity on the Northwest Shelf of Australia during the Pleistocene

Modern reef (the Great Barrier Reef and Ryukyu Reef) distribution in the Indo-Pacific region is strongly controlled by warm currents (East Australian and Kuroshio Currents) that radiate from the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool. The modern distribution of reefs (south of 15°S) on the Western Australian shelf is related to the presence of the warm Leeuwin Current. However, the age of the reefs south of 15°S, and hence their temporal relationship to the Leeuwin Current, has been largely unknown. Seismic and subsurface stratigraphic data show that reef growth and expansion on the Northwest Shelf of Australia began in the Middle Pleistocene (∼0.5 Ma). The oldest ooids in the region are approximately synchronous with reef growth. We suggest a two stage process for the spread of reefs to higher latitudes on the Western Australian coast; first an increase in Leeuwin Current activity at approximately 1 Ma brought warm waters and a tropical biota to the region; and second, increased aridity after ∼0.6 Ma led to a decline in clastic input and increased alkalinity, triggering ooid formation and reef expansion to higher latitudes associated with the switch to higher amplitude glacio-eustatic cycles at the end of the Middle Pleistocene Transition. The timing and mechanisms for reef expansion south along the Western Australian coast has implications for the origin of the Eastern Australian Middle Pleistocene Great Barrier Reef, the New Caledonia Barrier Reef and Japanese Ryukyu Reef systems.     

Engaging the public in climate change-related pro-environmental behaviors to protect coral reefs: The role of public trust in the management agency

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that stakeholder trust in a management agency, as a source of information about climate change, plays in relationships among antecedents to climate change-related pro-environmental behavior. Data collected from a survey of Australian residents living adjacent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park revealed that lower intensities of institutional trust were associated with a less biocentric worldview, a lower reported awareness of consequences of the impacts of climate change, and a lower sense of obligation to adopt pro-environmental behaviors. Findings suggest that managers should attempt to foster the trust their stakeholders have in their agency because when trust increases, stakeholders develop stronger relationships among the antecedents of pro-environmental behavior.     

Ongoing effects of no-take marine reserves on commercially exploited coral trout populations on the Great Barrier Reef

Networks of no-take marine reserves (NTMRs) are widely used for managing marine resources. Because they restrict fishing, managers need to monitor reserves to reassure stakeholders that they are achieving the intended results. In 2004, the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) Marine Park was rezoned and the area of NTMRs was greatly increased. Using manta tow we assessed the effectiveness of the new NTMRs in conserving coral trout (Plectropomus and Variola spp.), the principle targets of the GBR reef line fishery. Over a six year period, we sampled regional groups of matched pairs of similar reefs, ones closed to fishing under the rezoning and ones that remained open. Coral trout populations were significantly higher in NTMRs. While coral trout populations declined on reefs open to fishing, stocks were maintained in NTMRs, highlighting the ongoing benefits of marine reserves.     

Organic biomarkers to describe the major carbon inputs and cycling of organic matter in the central Great Barrier Reef region

Controversy surrounds the sources and transport of land derived pollutants in the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem because there is insufficient knowledge of the mechanism of movement of organic contaminants and the cycling of organic matter in this dynamic system. Thus a sediment and sediment trap study was used to describe the composition of resuspended and surface sediments in the south central Great Barrier Reef and its lagoon. This region is characterised by strong tides (6–8 m at Mackay) and trade winds regularly about 15–20 knots. A series of organic biomarkers detailed the cyclical processes of sediment resuspension, recolonising with marine algae and bacteria, packaging into zooplankton faecal pellets and resettlement to sediments where the organics undergo further diagenesis. With each cycle the inshore sediments are diluted with CaCO₃ reef sediments and moved further offshore with the strong ebb tide currents. This results in transport of land derived materials offshore and little storage of organic materials in the lagoon or reef sediments. These processes were detailed by inorganic measurements such as %CaCO₃ and Al/Ca ratios, and by the compositions of hydrocarbon, sterol, alcohol, and fatty acid lipid fractions. Persistent contaminants such as coal dust from a coastal loading facility can be detected in high concentration inshore and decreasing out to the shelf break at 180 m approximately 40 nautical miles offshore. The normal processes would likely be amplified during cyclonic and other storms. The lipids show the sources of carbon to include diatoms and other phytoplankton, creanaerchaeota, sulfate reducing and other bacteria, land plants including mangrove leaves, plus coal dust and other petroleum contaminants.     

Influence of Trichodesmium blooms on cadmium and iron speciation in Great Barrier Reef lagoon waters

Studies carried out on lagoon, coastal and estuarine waters of the Great Barrier Reef region at Townsville have established marked changes in the chemical speciation of cadmium and iron during blooms of the blue-green alga Trichodesmium. Cadmium speciation was monitored using differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry on unacidified, acidified and ultra-violet irradiated samples. Dissolved and particulate forms of iron were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. It was established that during Trichodesmium blooms, labile forms of cadmium, and dissolved and particulate forms of iron markedly increased, and that these increases occurred during high concentrations of ‘marine humic acid’, associated with the presence of Trichodesmium.     

Coastal biodiversity management in Japanese satoumi

Evidence accumulates that better management of coastal biodiversity outside of protected areas will be necessary to halt current trends of depletion. Japanese satoumis are human-influenced coastal seas that are both productive and rich in biodiversity. Satoumi has gained interest within and outside Japan as a field-tested approach to conciliate sustainable ecosystem use and conservation of biodiversity. This paper provides a review of new reports on field implementation of satoumi in Japan. An analysis identifying key institutional features that foster satoumi is provided as well. A great variety of active conservation measures that do not rely on the exclusion of human influence to manage biodiversity are being assessed. Some are centuries-old, such as river basin forestry, some more recent such as seagrass transplants or artificial tidal flats. Crucial to their success are the involvement of local communities and the voluntary contribution of significant labour by ecosystem users, mostly fishers. These contributions from fishers’ communities are an internalisation of the costs of conservation by the economic activity that benefits from it. Rather than a cultural specificity, the latter appears to rest essentially on collective ownership of territorial use-rights, strong local collective structures that enforce the community's interest, and the availability of active conservation measures as options to contribute to biodiversity management through manual work in the ecosystem. It is argued that as the effectiveness of these approaches becomes demonstrated, they should be adequately accounted for in international agreements and targets for biodiversity conservation.     

A wave model for the Great Barrier Reef

A new wind wave generation model, WAMGBR, is presented that has been adapted from WAM especially for use in the complex geometry of the Great Barrier Reef. A technique (reef parameterization) has been presented that incorporates sub-grid scale dissipation caused by coral reefs. Three other improvements to WAM have been proposed. An explicit/implicit finite difference scheme has been implemented that allows for more efficient modelling (longer time steps) while maintaining diffusive characteristics that are at least as good as those of WAM. An offset in discrete angles creates more uniform diffusive characteristics. And, a transformed spherical coordinate system allows for more efficient grid sizes and smaller grid dependent refraction. Comparisons between modelling techniques and between model and measured data show that WAMGBR produces very good results in the difficult challenge of modelling both non-cyclonic and tropical cyclone waves in the geographically complex environment of the Great Barrier Reef.     

Algivory in hawksbill turtles: Eretmochelys imbricata food selection within a foraging area on the Northern Great Barrier Reef

This paper describes the food selection of hawksbill turtles, Eretmochelys imbricata, using reefs of the Far Northern Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (nGBR) during 2006 and 2007. A total of 467 gastric lavage and 71 buccal cavity ingesta items were collected from 120 individual E. imbricata, comprising adult female and immature turtles of both sexes. Nineteen E. imbricata that were captured in 2006 were recaptured and sampled again in 2007. Within the total pooled buccal and lavage sample (n = 538), the occurrence of food items was dominated (72.7%) by only three algal taxonomic divisions: Rhodophyta (red algae; 53.7%, n = 289); Chlorophyta (green algae; 11.0%, n = 59) and algae from the division of Phaeophyceae (brown algae; 8.0%, n = 43). The remaining total (buccal and lavage) ingesta sample comprised sponges (10.4%, n = 56), soft corals and a wide variety of possibly nutritionally important invertebrate species (12.6%, n = 68), and a small percentage (5.4%, n = 22) of inorganic material. Generally, E. imbricata were considered to be primarily a sponge‐feeding specialist and secondarily an omnivorous species; within coral reef habitats and in various parts of the world this is the case. However, this study has shown that E. imbricata found foraging on reefs of the nGBR are primarily algivorous and secondarily omnivorous. A feeding strategy that relies on a predominantly algal diet may infer important benefits to the species if the impacts of climate change and ocean acidification inhibit coral growth, while promoting algal density and distribution within the Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.     

台湾北部近岸海域柳珊瑚体内金属累积的研究

自台湾北部和平岛沿岸海域及淡水河出海口海域，采得软木软柳珊瑚(ubergorgia suberosa)、扁刺柳珊瑚(Echinogorgia complexa)、网刺柳珊瑚(Echinogorgia reticulata)和1未定种柳珊瑚等4种柳珊瑚目样品。检测体内18种金属含量。其中以Ca、Zn、Cu、Al、Fe及Mn含量较高．体长较长的珊瑚。体内金属累积量则相对较高，尤其以Cu及Zn的趋势最为明确。经统计分析。显示4种珊瑚体内金属含量彼此间无群组相关性存在，呈现多变、无规则性的分布。本研究与大堡礁及委内瑞拉附近海域同一目珊瑚(Gorgonacea)中相同金属分析值进行比较结果Cd、Pb及Ni含量彼此差异不大，但Cu的含量则以台湾北部珊瑚体内较高。