For colonial organisms physical damage or predation can result in the loss of part of the colony. Although the colony may survive, the loss of part of the colony may alter patterns of growth and reproduction. In this study the response of Bugula neritina, an arborescent bryozoan, to physical damage was tested in three experiments: 1) short term regenerative responses to the removal of zooids from growth tips; ii) growth and reproductive responses to damage imposed at different locations within the colony; and iii) the effects of damage produced by a natural predator, the nudibranch Polycera hedgepethi. This data set gives the size and reproductive output of B.neritina colonies over a 4 week period in January and February 2000 following 3 damage treatments: i) full tip removal, ii) half tip removal and iii) branch removal and a control or 'intact colony'. Twenty replicate colonies were assigned to each treatment. The damage treatments removed 32 zooid pairs from each colony (approximately 20%) of each colony and were undertaken on colonies in the laboratory and then returned to the field site at Williamstown, Victoria. Size and reproductive output of the colonies were measured once a week, over 4 weeks in January and February 2000. There were no differences in colony size between the damage treatments but colony fecundity was reduced by 70% in the full tip removal treatment.

This thesis examines the relationships between human use and biological changes in the rocky intertidal zone of the Bunurong Marine Park, Victoria between January 1990 and June 1991. The key areas of activities were to i) describe the types and patterns of human activities on the reef, ii) assess the impact and recovery of reef biota to these activities with particular focus on Hormosira banksii, the dominant algal community and iii) determine the natural fluctuations in reef communities to provide a baseline to detect future changes in response to protection. Surveys of human activities between January 1990 and April 1991 found walking to be the most common activity. Levels of human use were greatest during school holidays followed by weekends and were lowest during term weekdays. During school holidays use varied with the time of day and use on term weekend depended on weather. The impact of collecting intertidal gastropods and trampling were investigated. There was no relationship between the observed patterns of human use and variations in the size distributions of collected and non-collected intertidal gastropods. Experimental trampling showed that the dominant alga on these reefs, Hormosira banksii, was severely affected by trampling. The cover of Hormosira was reduced by trampling and the decrease in cover depended on the level of trampling. No significant effects of trampling were detected for any other species. Trampled beds of Hormosirra banksii took well over a year to recover to the same level as adjacent mats. Algal monitoring showed that the cover of Hormosira was stable over time, except for a large decrease due to desiccation in summer. These findings are discussed in relation to the management of the Bunurong Marine National Park.

This experiment tested the effects of secondary treated sewage effluent on infauna assemblages that were collected 2km from a sewage outfall ('reference' assemblage). Twelve intact sediment cores were collected from this site on the Western Treatment Plant foreshore (Port Phillip Bay, Victoria) and brought back to the laboratory. Four cores were assigned to each of three treatments, which were low dose (3.5mls effluent per minute), high dose (7mls effluent per minute) or no dose of effluent. The experiment ran for 14 days in October 1997. Throughout the experimental period, dissolved oxygen levels were measured and animals that migrated from the sediment were collected, counted and identified. At the end of the experiment, sediment chlorophyll levels were measured and infauna remaining in the sediment were counted and identified.

Data has been collected on the patterns of distribution and abundance, recruitment, survival and growth of macroinvertebrate fauna on the rocky intertidal shores at Rottnest Island over last 30 years.

The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation Project (FRDC) No. 2001/060 characterised and identified the distribution of the different benthic habitats of the Recherche Archipelago and identified the distribution of assemblages of fish, mobile invertebrates, filter feeding communities and seagrasses and the patterns and processes which structure them.

Parasmittina delicatula colonies were located on the Flinders pier in early 1999 and assigned to a small size class (10-15mm) or large size class (30mm or more). Each colony was damaged by scraping colony parts according to assigned treatment. The treatments were large control (>30mm diameter), large fragment with edge intact, large fragment with edge removed, central fragment, small control and small fragment with edge removed (see attached resource for more details). Colonies were photographed in situ with an underwater camera using slide film at intervals of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8 months. A total of 56 established colonies were photographed over the 8 month period. In the laboratory, the slides were projected onto graph paper, and the outlines of the colonies traced. The images were then scanned and colony survival, morality, size, growth and fragmentation were recorded using SigmaScan 2.0.

The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) updates and revises the management plans for each of its 13 sanctuaries. This process, which is open to the public, enables each site to revisit the reasons for sanctuary designation and assess whether they are meeting their goals, as well as to set new goals consistent with the mandates of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act. Issues raised by the public during this process are evaluated and a determination is made as to whether they will be incorporated into the updated plan. Many of these issues focus on topics such as the implementation of marine zoning or sanctuary boundary adjustments, both of which require information on the distribution of resources within and around the sanctuary. Recognizing this, ONMS and NOAA's National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) formalized an agreement to collaborate in the revision process by developing such information through a series of biogeographic assessments conducted in selected sanctuaries. The resulting products are then supplied to sanctuary managers and staff for use in the policy and decision making process. This collaborative effort began along the west coast of the U.S. with the Cordell Bank, Gulf of Farallones, and Monterey Bay national marine sanctuaries, and is herein centered on the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS).

In 2006, transect surveys were conducted at sites in eastern inshore Tasmanian waters at depths and habitats typical of those where abalone are commercially fished. Surveys focused on four areas of the Tasmanian coastline including St Helens, Bicheno and Dunalley on the east coast and the Actaeons region on the south-east coast; with at least 10 reefs sampled in each region.