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

死亡贝壳提供了殖民前大堡礁(GBR)生态系统的记录。利用这一记录，这项研究将确定詹姆斯·库克和第一支舰队抵达澳大利亚之前的GBR是什么样子。这项研究还将对活着的软体动物进行采样，以量化这些群落的现状。这些数据将为环境管理人员和利益攸关方提供人类对这一世界遗产生态系统影响的第一次定量估计。该项目将解决以下问题：保护区是恢复到殖民前状态，还是代表另一种非自然状态？哪种类型的管理方案产生的社区最类似于殖民前的国家？

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?