Datasets collated for quantifying the ecosystem services of the Great Southern Reef (NESP MaC 1.9)

Ecosystems provide numerous services and benefits to society. While historically overlooked, these services are increasingly recognized and are now being mapped and accounted for. There are several approaches to mapping and evaluating these ecosystem services. In this report, we use two increasingly common approaches, Ocean Accounting and Welfare Economics, to evaluate ecosystem services for the Great Southern Reef.

The Great Southern Reef is a network of rocky reefs dominated by temperate algal forests known as kelp. It spans over 8,000 Km of coastline and supports two thirds of the Australian population. Despite its presumed importance, there has been little work quantifying the extent and value of the ecosystem services provided by the Great Southern Reef.

Through a systematic review we assessed the current state of knowledge of the ecosystem services provided by the Great Southern Reef. Using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) framework, we created an overview of the ecosystem services (provisioning, regulating, and cultural) provided by the Great Southern Reef in New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia. We then created metrics to quantify how these services benefit coastal societies in these five states.

Highlight summaries include over 17 million Australians who live within 50 Km of the reef, 26 wild seaweed harvest companies, 115 tourism SCUBA operators, 1436 mapped dive sites, 18 million tourist visits each year, 16 temperate marine biology university programs, 43 books and films, key medical products, 23 tons of harvested seaweed, 1116 grams of carbon per m2 used for growth each year, 2,361 peer-reviewed scientific publications from 1976 to 2022, 186 marine protected areas, 2.16 million recreational fishers, and over 28 commercial fisheries with 20,000 tons of biomass taken each year.

We then conducted economic evaluations using these biophysical values and the available information. Using a variety of approaches, we found that the total economic value of the Great Southern Reef was $11.56 billion each year. Individually the values were as follows, commercial fishing (producer surplus - $33.2 million), carbon sequestration (avoided damages - $37.8 million), nutrient cycling (avoided damages - $6,484 million), recreational fishing (consumer surplus - $1,668 million), diving and snorkelling (consumer surplus - $403 million), other recreational activities (consumer surplus $1,836 million), and the existence value (consumer surplus - $1,096 million).

生态系统为社会提供众多服务与效益。尽管历史上曾被忽视，但这些服务正日益得到认可，目前已开展相关的制图与核算工作。生态系统服务的制图与评估方法多样，本报告采用海洋核算（Ocean Accounting）与福利经济学（Welfare Economics）这两种日益常用的方法，对大南部礁（Great Southern Reef）的生态系统服务进行评估。

大南部礁（Great Southern Reef）是由温带海藻林（以海带为主）主导的岩礁网络，绵延逾8000公里海岸线，支撑着澳大利亚三分之二的人口。尽管其重要性被普遍认可，但针对该礁群所提供生态系统服务的范围与价值的量化研究却寥寥无几。

通过系统性综述，我们评估了关于大南部礁生态系统服务的现有知识状况。基于国际生态系统服务分类通用框架（Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services, CICES），我们概述了大南部礁在新南威尔士州、维多利亚州、塔斯马尼亚州、南澳大利亚州及西澳大利亚州提供的生态系统服务（包括供给服务、调节服务与文化服务），并构建了量化指标以衡量这些服务对上述五州沿海社会的效益。

重点摘要包括：超过1700万澳大利亚人居住在距该礁群50公里范围内；26家野生海藻采收企业；115家水肺潜水（SCUBA）旅游运营商；1436个已制图的潜水点；每年1800万人次游客到访；16个温带海洋生物学大学项目；43部相关书籍与影片；关键医疗产品；每年采收23吨海藻；每平方米每年用于生长的碳量为1116克；1976年至2022年间发表的2361篇经同行评审的科学论文；186个海洋保护区；216万名休闲垂钓者；以及28余家商业渔场，每年捕捞生物量达2万吨。

随后，我们利用这些生物物理价值及现有信息开展经济评估。通过多种方法，我们发现大南部礁的年总经济价值为115.6亿美元。各分项价值如下：商业捕捞（生产者剩余——3320万美元）、碳封存（避免损失——3780万美元）、养分循环（避免损失——64.84亿美元）、休闲垂钓（消费者剩余——16.68亿美元）、潜水与浮潜（消费者剩余——4.03亿美元）、其他休闲活动（消费者剩余——18.36亿美元）及存在价值（消费者剩余——10.96亿美元）。