Monitoring the effects of rezoning the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park

As a result of the Representative Areas Program (RAP), a major rezoning of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park occurred in July 2004. The objective of rezoning the GBR Marine Park was to conserve biodiversity by ensuring that at least 20% of each of a full range of bioregions within the Marine Park was protected.To assess the effects of the new zoning plan, pairs of mid-shelf and outer shelf reefs were identified that had both been open to fishing prior to 2004, but one reef in each pair had been rezoned as a "no-take" area in 2004, while the other reef remained open to fishing. Reefs in each pair were located close to each other, were in the same Representative Areas Program bioregion and had similar geomorphology of the NE reef face.Six pairs of mid-shelf or outer shelf reefs with the appropriate zoning history were selected in each of four localities close to centres of population: Cairns-Innisfail, Townsville, Mackay and the Swain Reefs, and four pairs of reefs were selected in the Capricorn-Bunker Group.This research was undertaken to monitor the effects of rezoning of the GBRMP, which entailed a large increase in the "no-take" areas within the Marine Park.These reefs are surveyed using the same survey procedures as those used for the AIMS Long-term Monitoring Project. The survey methods are1. Broadscale surveys of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) and coral cover2. SCUBA searches on fixed transects looking for agents of coral mortality: Adult and juvenile COTS, Drupella spp. and coral disease3. Video or still images of benthic organisms on fixed transects4. Visual surveys of fish on fixed transectsThis research was supported by the Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility which was represented and managed in North Queensland by the Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Ltd

2004年7月，受代表区域计划（Representative Areas Program, RAP）推动，大堡礁海洋公园（Great Barrier Reef Marine Park）完成了一次重大区划调整。此次大堡礁海洋公园区划调整的核心目标，是通过确保海洋公园内全系列生物区系中至少20%的区域得到保护，以实现生物多样性保育。

为评估新区划方案的实施效果，研究团队筛选出多组陆架中部与陆架外缘珊瑚礁配对样本：两组珊瑚礁在2004年前均处于捕捞开放状态，但每一组中的一处珊瑚礁于2004年被区划为"no-take"禁捕区，另一处则仍维持捕捞开放权限。每一组配对珊瑚礁均地理位置邻近，同属代表区域计划划定的生物区系，且东北礁面的地貌特征高度相似。

研究人员在4个临近人口中心的区域各选取6组符合区划历史要求的陆架中部或外缘珊瑚礁配对样本，分别为凯恩斯-因尼斯费尔（Cairns-Innisfail）、汤斯维尔（Townsville）、麦凯（Mackay）与斯温群岛（Swain Reefs）；另在摩羯-邦克尔群岛（Capricorn-Bunker Group）选取4组珊瑚礁配对样本。

本研究旨在监测大堡礁海洋公园区划调整的实施效果，此次调整大幅扩大了公园内禁捕区的覆盖范围。本次研究采用与澳大利亚海洋科学研究所（Australian Institute of Marine Science, AIMS）长期监测项目一致的调查流程对上述珊瑚礁开展调查，具体调查方法包括：
1. 长棘海星（crown-of-thorns starfish, COTS）与珊瑚覆盖度大范围普查；
2. 沿固定样带开展水肺潜水搜索，排查珊瑚死亡诱因：成体及幼体长棘海星、核果螺属（Drupella spp.）物种与珊瑚病害；
3. 沿固定样带采集底栖生物的视频或静态影像；
4. 沿固定样带开展鱼类目视调查。

本研究得到海洋与热带科学研究设施（Marine and Tropical Sciences Research Facility）资助，该设施在北昆士兰州的相关工作由珊瑚礁与雨林研究中心有限公司（Reef and Rainforest Research Centre Ltd）统筹管理。