Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, 15-21 Nubeena Cres, Taroona, Tasmania, 7053, Australia.
Australian Institute of Marine Science, PMB No. 3, Townsville MC, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia.
Ecol Appl. 2020 Sep;30(6):e02122. doi: 10.1002/eap.2122. Epub 2020 Apr 15.
Effective environmental management hinges on efficient and targeted monitoring, which in turn should adapt to increasing disturbance regimes that now characterize most ecosystems. Habitats and biodiversity of Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the world's largest coral reef ecosystem, are in declining condition, prompting a review of the effectiveness of existing coral monitoring programs. Applying a regional model of coral cover (i.e., the most widely used proxy for coral reef condition globally) within major benthic communities, we assess the representation and complementarity of existing long-term coral reef monitoring programs on the GBR. We show that existing monitoring has captured up to 45% of the environmental diversity on the GBR, while some geographic areas (including major hotspots of cyclone activity over the last 30 yr) have remained unmonitored. Further, we identified complementary groups of reefs characterized by similar benthic community composition and similar coral cover trajectories since 1996. The mosaic of their distribution across the GBR reflects spatial variation in the cumulative impact of multiple acute disturbances, as well as spatial gradients in coral recovery potential. Representation and complementarity, in combination with other performance assessment criteria, can inform the cost-effective design and stratification of future surveys. Based on these results, we formulate recommendations to assist with the design of future long-term coral reef monitoring programs.
有效的环境管理取决于高效和有针对性的监测，而监测又应适应于当前大多数生态系统的日益增加的干扰模式。澳大利亚大堡礁（GBR）是世界上最大的珊瑚礁生态系统，其生境和生物多样性正在减少，这促使人们对现有的珊瑚监测计划的有效性进行了审查。本研究在主要底栖群落中应用了珊瑚覆盖的区域模型（即全球最广泛使用的珊瑚礁状况代理），评估了 GBR 现有长期珊瑚礁监测计划的代表性和互补性。结果表明，现有的监测已经捕获了 GBR 环境多样性的 45%，而一些地理区域（包括过去 30 年气旋活动的主要热点地区）仍未得到监测。此外，我们还确定了一些具有相似底栖群落组成和相似珊瑚覆盖轨迹的珊瑚礁的互补群体。它们在 GBR 上的分布马赛克反映了多种急性干扰的累积影响的空间变化，以及珊瑚恢复潜力的空间梯度。代表性和互补性，结合其他绩效评估标准，可以为未来调查的具有成本效益的设计和分层提供信息。基于这些结果，我们提出了一些建议，以协助设计未来的长期珊瑚礁监测计划。
