Biogeographic Theory as a Management Tool

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Abstract
Investigations into the relationship between the number of fish species in small coral communities and the area of those communities have suggested ties between the theories of terrestrial island biogeography and the functioning of the closely-spaced archipelagos of ‘underwater islands’ that make up the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. The value of these theories to the marine park planner and resource manager may be considerable where quantitative information on minimum reserve size and the degree of isolation and exchange are needed in the decision-making process. There also follow a number of biogeographic principles which can form a set of practices for the establishment and management of marine reserves wherever the marine ecosystem is subdivided into collections of isolated or semiisolated parts.