Worldwide, several countries have established coherent, representative, and large‐scale networks of marine reserves to conserve biodiversity. Very few have, however, published systematic assessments of the ecological responses to this network protection, hindering broad understanding of their generality, utility, and efficacy. We present data collected from systematic sampling of rocky reef fish assemblages at sites across a network of 27 no‐take marine reserve areas (NTMR) and 27 partially protected areas (PPA) nested within multiple marine parks (regional networks) across three Australian bioregions spanning >1000 km of coastline (7° latitude) to test the generality of ecological change across this network. We also sampled 18 reference areas (outside of the marine parks) to provide an independent assessment of potential NTMR effects and also to assess whole marine park effects. Baited remote underwater video (BRUV) was used to sample fishes between depths of 20–40 m over austral winters in four years (2010, 2011, 2015, and 2016). Despite substantial bioregional differences in fish assemblages, large and consistent effects of NTMR protection were detected across all bioregions for a key commercially and recreationally harvested species, Chrysophrys auratus (pink snapper). There were substantial increases in relative abundance of C. auratus in NTMR compared with fished zones through time (effect sizes >150%). The wider assemblage of targeted fish (excluding C. auratus) only showed relatively small effects of protection (~11%) with trends observed for site‐attached wrasses (labrids) and planktivores (e.g., commercially fished Scorpis lineolata) that are recreationally and commercially harvested. Furthermore, the relative abundance of non‐target or by‐catch species generally did not differ among management zones across the bioregional network. These results highlight how NTMR can be used to assess the ecological effects of fishing and wider environmental management, and can be incorporated into ecosystem‐based management for reef species more generally. Importantly, the provision of robust evidence of the performance and generality of NTMR over large‐spatial scales (e.g., bioregions) provides greater confidence in the expected outcomes from marine reserve networks as a conservation management approach.

中文翻译：

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一个连贯的，具有代表性的，生物区域性的海洋保护区网络显示出礁石鱼群的一致变化

在世界范围内，几个国家已经建立了连贯的，具有代表性的大规模海洋保护区网络，以保护生物多样性。但是，很少有人发布对这种网络保护的生态反应的系统评估，这妨碍了对其普遍性，实用性和功效的广泛理解。我们提供的数据是通过对27个禁捕性海洋保护区（NTMR）和27个部分保护区（PPA）的网络进行系统采样而收集的，这些网络位于三个横跨澳大利亚的生物区域的多个海洋公园（区域网络）中> 1000公里的海岸线（纬度7度），以测试该网络中生态变化的普遍性。我们还采样了18个参考区域（海岸公园以外），以对NTMR的潜在影响进行独立评估，并评估整个海岸公园的影响。在四年（2010年，2011年，2015年和2016年）的南方冬季，使用诱饵远程水下录像（BRUV）对20-40 m深度之间的鱼类进行采样。尽管鱼群在生物区域上存在巨大差异，但在一个关键的商业和休闲捕捞物种中，在所有生物区域中都发现了NTMR保护的巨大且始终如一的效果，吞噬金枪鱼（粉红鲷鱼）。有在相对丰度大幅度增加鲫鱼在NTMR通过时间捕捞区（影响大小> 150％）进行比较。靶向鱼（不包括更广泛的集合鲫鱼）仅表现保护（〜11％）与用于现场连接的隆头鱼（labrids）和食浮游生物（例如，商业捕捞观察到的趋势的比较小的效果Scorpis lineolata），无论是娱乐性的还是商业性的。此外，在整个生物区域网络的管理区域之间，非目标物种或兼捕物种的相对丰度通常没有差异。这些结果凸显了NTMR如何可用于评估捕捞的生态影响和更广泛的环境管理，以及如何更广泛地应用于基于生态系统的珊瑚礁管理。重要的是，提供有关NTMR在大范围尺度（例如生物区域）上的性能和普遍性的有力证据，为作为保护管理方法的海洋保护区网络的预期结果提供了更大的信心。