35 Years ago temperate reef ecology in Australia was in its infancy, informed more by work in New Zealand than locally. Beginning in the early 1990’s, the establishment of the national representative system of marine protected areas, enabled development of a framework, both spatially and logistically, to study patterns and processes in reef ecology nationally, at a broad range of scales. Thus, building our understanding both spatially and temporally as well as enabling the robustness of “generalisations” to be tested. This talk outlines some of the key steps and learnings along this path, the importance of national collaborations, and future needs for improving our understanding of the physical drivers of change.
Initial work focussed on four new marine reserves in Tasmania, particularly at Maria Island. The diversity of habitats and the range of new reserves allowed processes to be examined for generality across a range of major habitat types. Early results suggested several heavily exploited species recovered markedly following protection, making the case for improved single species management. Subsequent work described wider ecosystem effects as species such as urchins and abalone declined in protected areas as predator numbers rebuilt, that adding resilience to protected areas. But with the expansion of this research to national scales, these new patterns were not always repeated.