Enhancing the performance of marine reserves in estuaries: Just add water

Ben Gilby; Andrew D Olds; Nicholas A Yabsley; Rod M Connolly; Paul S Maxwell; Thomas Schlacher

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.03.027

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Enhancing the performance of marine reserves in estuaries: Just add water

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Enhancing the performance of marine reserves in estuaries: Just add water

Ben Gilby, Andrew D Olds, Nicholas A Yabsley, Rod M Connolly, Paul S Maxwell and Thomas Schlacher

Biological Conservation, Vol.210(Part A), pp.1-7

2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2017.03.027

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Abstract

bathymetry

coastal management

fisheries

habitats

landscape ecology

Nature reserves are created to conserve biodiversity and restore populations of harvested species, but it is not clear whether this strategy is successful in all ecosystems. Reserves are gazetted in estuaries to offset impacts from burgeoning human populations, however, coastal conservation cannot be optimized because their effectiveness is rarely evaluated. We surveyed 220 sites in 22 estuaries in the Moreton Bay Marine Park, Queensland, Australia, including all six current estuarine marine reserves within the park. Fishes were surveyed using one hour deployments of baited remote underwater video stations twice at each site over consecutive days. We show that although the estuarine reserves in Moreton Bay contain a significantly different fish community, they fail to enhance the abundance of harvested fish species. We posit that performance is limited because reserves protect unique spatial features, or conserve narrow estuaries with weak connections to mangrove habitats and the open sea. Consequently, reserves as currently positioned protect only a subset of potential environmental conditions present for fish within the region, and potentially support residual estuarine habitats (i.e. expansive intertidal flats or shallow creeks) which are not particularly significant to either fish or fishers. We argue that reserve effectiveness can be improved by conserving deeper estuaries, with diverse habitats for fish and strong connections to the open sea. Without incorporating these critical spatial considerations into estuarine reserve design, estuarine reserves are doomed to fail.

Details

Title: Enhancing the performance of marine reserves in estuaries: Just add water
Authors: Ben Gilby (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Andrew D Olds (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Nicholas A Yabsley (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Rod M Connolly (Author) - Griffith University
Paul S Maxwell (Author) - Healthy Waterways
Thomas Schlacher (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Science, Health, Education and Engineering
Publication details: Biological Conservation, Vol.210(Part A), pp.1-7
Publisher: Elsevier BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.03.027
ISSN: 0006-3207
Organisation Unit: School of Science, Technology and Engineering; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science and Engineering - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451050002621
Output Type: Journal article

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Collaboration types: Domestic collaboration
Web Of Science research areas: Biodiversity Conservation; Ecology; Environmental Sciences

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