교육데이터 활용•지원 서비스

This dataset consists of site and zone means of the percent cover of major benthic categories and the density of fish functional groups on fringing coral reefs of the Keppel Island group, as a result of monitoring surveys carried out in 2015. This data extract summarises the results of the October 2015 survey of reef communities in the Keppel Island group. The data is a component of a long-term monitoring project that assesses the effects of no-take marine reserve zoning on inshore reefs of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Spatial zoning for multiple-use is the cornerstone of management for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Multiple-use zoning was first implemented widely in the GBRMP in the late 1980s and this original zoning plan was in place until 2004, when the marine park was completely rezoned under the Representative Areas Program (RAP). The overall proportion of the marine park area assigned into NTRs was increased from around 5% (~ 25% of the coral reefs) to 33.4%. The need to objectively assess the ecological consequences of zoning management has attracted an increasing amount of research effort in recent years. Critical knowledge gaps still remain however, and research is required to determine how and to what extent NTR networks may help to protect biodiversity, sustain stocks of fished species and increase ecosystem resilience. This monitoring project was established in 1999 and expanded in 2004, with the primary objective of providing a robust assessment of the ecological effects of multiple-use zoning on inshore coral reefs of the GBRMP. The project uses underwater visual census (UVC) to provide a spatially and temporally replicated assessment of fish and benthic communities and will include concurrent surveys of coral health within no-take (Green) and fished (Blue) zones on high-use inshore reefs. It is one of the few long-term monitoring projects specifically assessing the effects of zoning management within the GBRMP and the only one with a solid baseline data set that was established prior to the implementation of the 2004 zoning management plan. Methods: Underwater visual census (UVC) was used to survey reef fish and benthic communities on fringing coral reefs of the Keppel Island group during October 2015. Sites are evenly distributed between zones that have remained open to fishing (General Use and Conservation Park zones), NTRs that were closed to fishing in 1987, and NTRs that were established in 2004 (Marine National Park zones) (Figure 1). Within each site UVC surveys were conducted using 5 replicate transects (50m x 6m, 300m2 survey area). Transects were deployed on the reef slope between approximately 4 and 12 metres depth. Using SCUBA, two observers recorded approximately 190 species of fish from 15 Families (Acanthuridae, Balistidae, Chaetodontidae, Haemulidae, Labridae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Mullidae, Nemipteridae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, Scaridae, Serranidae, Siganidae and Zanclidae). A third diver (observer 3) swam directly behind observers one and two, deploying the transect tapes. This UVC technique reduces diver avoidance or attraction behaviour of the surveyed fish species. To increase accuracy of the fish counts, the species list was divided between the two fish observers. Observer one surveyed the fish families Haemulidae, Lethrinidae, Lutjanidae, Mullidae, Nemipteridae, Serranidae and the larger species of Labridae targeted by fishers. Observer two surveyed the families Acanthuridae, Balistidae, Chaetodontidae, Pomacanthidae, Pomacentridae, Scaridae, Siganidae, Zanclidae and small ‘non-targeted’ species of Labridae. Pomacentrids and small labrids were recorded by observer two during return transect swims within a 2m band (1m either side of the tape, 100m2 survey area). Broad-scale structural complexity of the reef habitat was estimated by observer one using a simple method that applied a rank (1-5) to both the angle of the reef slope and the rugosity for each