Data from: Recovery linked to life history of sessile epifauna following exclusion of towed mobile fishing gear

1. The use of reserves as conservation tools is widespread. However, evaluating the effectiveness of reserve implementation for long-lived species has been problematic as it requires sampling programmes over long time scales that are appropriate to species’ longevity and recovery rates. In the sea, towed bottom fishing gears alter the biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by benthic communities and habitats. Marine reserves have been used to manage these impacts but our understanding of the drivers of their effectiveness for the conservation of temperate reefs is incomplete.
2. We examined the effectiveness of marine reserves for recovery of temperate reef fauna in relation to their life history. We used an underwater video to sample six species with different life histories across 60 sites that varied in the duration of protection from towed mobile fishing gear at 0, 1, 8 and 10 years.
3. Species with a high dispersal potential and less habitat specific requirements such as soft corals and king scallops recovered to close to their carrying capacity in <3 years. In contrast, the longer-lived Ross coral and pink seafans increased in abundance but had not fully recovered; with their projected recovery time being 17 to 20 years.
4. Ongoing recovery was evident for long-lived species as their mean body -size increased significantly across all treatments, whereas shorter-lived species such as queen scallops did not change in size and were assumed to have fully recovered.
5. This study shows that the recovery rates of biota depend on life history factors, such as larval longevity and dispersal potential. Recovery for species that had low dispersal potential and specific habitat requirements was slow and could take >20 years. This suggests activities such as bottom trawling or dredging should be avoided where such species occur if their conservation is an objective. In contrast, species with high dispersal potential and less habitat specific requirements had shorter recovery timescales of ~2-3 years and would be more amenable to managed trawl frequencies in areas where activities such as fishing occur.

1. 将保护区作为保护工具的做法已十分普遍。然而，针对长寿物种评估保护区实施成效始终存在挑战，因为此类评估需依据物种寿命与恢复速率的适配时长，开展长期采样监测工作。海洋环境中，拖曳式底拖渔具（towed bottom fishing gears）会改变底栖群落（benthic communities）及其生境所提供的生物多样性与生态系统服务功能。尽管人们已利用海洋保护区（marine reserves）来管控此类影响，但我们对其在温带礁（temperate reef）保护中发挥成效的驱动因素仍缺乏完整认知。
2. 本研究结合物种生活史（life history）特征，探究了海洋保护区对温带礁动物群的恢复成效。我们采用水下视频采样法，在60个样点对6种具有不同生活史特征的物种进行了采样；这些样点的拖曳式移动渔具禁捕保护时长分别为0年、1年、8年与10年。
3. 具有高扩散潜力且生境特异性需求较低的物种（如软珊瑚、国王扇贝）可在3年内恢复至接近环境容纳量（carrying capacity）的水平。与之形成对比的是，寿命更长的罗斯珊瑚与粉色海扇虽丰度有所提升，但尚未完全恢复，其预计恢复时长为17至20年。
4. 对于长寿物种而言，其平均体型在所有处理组中均呈现显著增长，这表明它们仍处于持续恢复过程中；而像女王扇贝这类短寿物种的体型并未发生变化，据此可认为它们已完全恢复。
5. 本研究表明，生物群落的恢复速率取决于其生活史相关特征，例如幼虫寿命（larval longevity）与扩散潜力。扩散潜力较低且生境特异性需求较高的物种恢复进程缓慢，所需时长可能超过20年。若以保护此类物种为目标，则应在其栖息区域避免开展底拖网（bottom trawling）或疏浚作业（dredging）等活动。与之相反，具有高扩散潜力且生境特异性需求较低的物种恢复周期较短，约为2~3年，这类物种所在区域可接受适度管控的拖网作业频次。