Reserve Design Decisions
What does coverage mean in marine reserve design?
The proportion and representation of an area and its habitats included in protection.
Name two biological indicators for evaluating a marine protected area.
Fish biomass, abundance, size distribution, species diversity, coral cover or recruitment.
What ocean process supplies water vapour to the atmosphere?
Evaporation.
How could reef loss affect recreational activities?
It can reduce habitat quality and the appeal or opportunities for diving, snorkelling and wildlife viewing.
Why is scientific evidence alone insufficient to decide every conservation trade-off?
Decisions also involve social, cultural, ethical and economic values and how costs and benefits are distributed.
Why should reserve boundaries include the full habitat range used by a target species?
Different life stages may need different feeding, nursery and breeding habitats; leaving one unprotected can limit population persistence.
Why should compliance be measured as well as fish abundance?
An ineffective reserve may reflect poor enforcement rather than poor ecological design; illegal harvest can mask benefits.
How can unequal heating of land and sea create a daytime sea breeze?
Land heats faster, warm air rises and surface air flows from the cooler sea towards land.
How could marine biodiversity loss affect potential medicines?
It can remove species and biochemical diversity that might supply compounds for research and drug development.
What enforcement advantage do government agencies have over most NGOs?
They can apply legal powers such as regulation, permits and penalties. Adapted from QCAA 2025 Paper 1 Q4, viewed on Exam Insights.
Why does reserve size need to account for home range?
If an animal regularly travels beyond protected boundaries, much of its activity remains exposed to threats.
Illustrative protected-site biomass rises 10 to 18 and control-site biomass rises 10 to 12 kg/ha. What is the difference between their changes?
Protected change = 8; control change = 2; difference = 6 kg/ha. This supports a possible protection effect but needs replication and uncertainty assessment.
How can wind influence the distribution of marine nutrients?
Wind can drive mixing and upwelling, moving nutrients into surface waters and influencing productivity.
How can changes in calcifying plankton affect fisheries indirectly?
They can alter prey availability and food-web pathways, influencing fish growth and recruitment.
How can land-use records help interpret changes in dated coral cores?
They allow comparison of environmental signals with activities such as clearing or farming, helping test runoff explanations.
Illustrative larvae disperse about 15 km, but suitable reserves are 40 km apart. What design issue should be investigated?
Spacing may exceed typical dispersal, weakening connectivity. Investigate currents, dispersal variation and intermediate habitat before redesigning.
Why are surveys at the same season and with the same method useful when monitoring a reserve?
They reduce seasonal and methodological variation, making comparisons more valid.
Why can freshwater entering a high-latitude ocean alter deep-water formation?
Freshening lowers seawater density and can inhibit sinking, affecting overturning circulation.
Why could acidification combined with warming increase bleaching vulnerability?
Acidification can add physiological stress and alter tolerance, potentially lowering bleaching thresholds in some corals; responses depend on species and conditions.
Why can global, national, industry and community climate actions interact?
Policies, infrastructure, production practices and individual choices affect one another; coordinated action can strengthen effects, while conflicting incentives can weaken them.
Two reserves protect the same habitat. One is damaged by a cyclone. Which design criterion provides insurance, and how?
Replication. Another protected example of that habitat can retain populations and support recovery. Adapted skill: QCAA 2025 Paper 1 Q27.
Why does a single positive fish survey not establish that a marine park has succeeded overall?
Success includes long-term ecological goals, habitat condition, compliance and social outcomes. A single survey may reflect short-term variability or sampling bias.
Why do changing thermal regimes affect more than the average temperature a fish experiences?
They can alter extremes, seasonal timing, duration of suitable conditions, growth, reproduction and habitat availability.
A tourism operator reports fewer visitors after reef damage. Why is the damage not automatically the sole cause?
Prices, travel conditions, economic changes and other factors can affect visitors. Comparing multiple records helps test the explanation.
Two future projections use different emissions assumptions. How should their outcomes be compared fairly?
Compare the assumptions, timeframes, variables and uncertainty; describe outcomes as conditional scenarios rather than guaranteed predictions.