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Intertidal Habitat Classification and the Identification of a Network of Aquatic Protected Areas

Simon Banks, Greg A Skilleter, Hugh Possingham and Ian Ball

NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA

Theme: TH2

The coastal zone is threatened by coastal development and pollution, which has resulted in habitat loss and damage, and the depletion of marine species. The pressure from these threats is likely to increase due to the burgeoning world population with a trend towards greater occupation of coastal areas (Gray, 1997). Growing pressure on intertidal shoreline habitats from development, recreational and industrial activities has led to the need for the development of an integrated coastal management framework. Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are one of many tools that can be used to manage threats to marine and coastal habitats. The traditional approach to selection of sites for MPAs has been ad hoc and opportunistic. Recent trends in MPA system planning have been to develop surrogates to identify sites that may contain high biodiversity values. This contribution discusses an intertidal shoreline habitat classification used to classify and map 24 216 kilometres of Queensland's mainland and island coastline and briefly describes the protective status of these habitats in the context of future coastal planning and management. Preliminary Statewide analysis was undertaken using MARXAN, a package that implements a suite of siting algorithms, to help identify potential networks of intertidal MPAs that comprehensively represent all mainland intertidal habitat types.