Quantifying the effects of western colonisation on Great Barrier Reef molluscan communities

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Dead shells provide a record of the pre-colonisation Great Barrier Reef (GBR) ecosystem. Using this record this research will determine what the GBR looked like before James Cook and the first fleet arrived in Australia. This study will also sample living molluscs to quantify the current state of these communities. Together these data will provide environment managers and stakeholders with the first quantitative estimates of human impacts on this world heritage ecosystem. This project will address the questions: Do protected areas return to a pre-colonial state or do they represent another non-natural state? What type of management scheme results in communities most similar to the pre-colonial state?