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Over several decades of experience, areas where such stricter limitations strict No-Take regulations have been in effect have shown some of the most dramatically positive ecological results of any management schememethod. This benefit can be realized through the protection of relatively pristine areas. For example, studies Such benefits can be most clearly seen in areas of long-standing protection that have remained relatively pristine. Significant portions of the Great Barrier Reef off the Australian coast have been protected from human disturbance for over 30 years (Australian Department of Environment and Heritage 2006). The results of this protection are compelling. Studies in No-Take areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park by Evans and Russ (2004) shows park show that the biomass of certain fish species has been maintained at levels up to several orders of magnitude higher than in nearby fished areas (Evans & Russ 2004).
Marine Reserves have also been shown to facilitate the recovery of severely damage damaged ecosystems. For For instance, large sections of Georges Bank off the coast of Massachusetts were closed to fishing in 1995. Hermen, Collie, and Valentine (2003) began noting "steady and marked increase...in production" within just a few years after the closure. As a matter of fact, the improved survival rates of the 1995 year class of cod on Georges Bank was noted as the primary source of increased biomass for the four year period following the closures (Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans 1999). In general, signs of recovery can appear quickly, sometimes within 2-5 years of the establishment of a No-Take Area and tend to persist for as long as protections remain protection remains in effect (Gell & Roberts 2003).
Furthermore, the benefits of No-Take Zones are inherently ecosystem-based; that is, they are generally seen generally across a broad taxonomic range of organisms as well as in the improved state of the non-living habitat (Gell & Roberts 2003). These types of positive ecological results of No-Take zones have been seen around the globe, and are well documented in the scientific literature and well accepted by the scientific community.
In addition, no-Take Marine Reserves have provide significant value for research in that they provide scientific research by being a control against which the outside changes can be compared. This can greatly alleviate one of the historic problems of biological oceanography, providing a better way to interpret ecological science, the difficulty in interpreting results from the "experimental" areas that have been disturbed by human activities. Long-established marine reserves provide researchers with a baseline healthy ecosystem that cannot be fully duplicated with any other methods or models. Even areas closed due to severe environmental damage can provide important data, such as the natural recovery rates of various habitat types species and specieshabitats. In In particular, such data allows a quantitative judgment on the effectiveness of Marine Reserves in facilitating recovery of fisheries and ecosystems (Hermens, Collie, & Valentine 2003). Such This type of science that only Marine Reserves can provide is useful not only for examining and adjusting the network of MPAs itselfthemselves, but also for informing and improving management systems outside of the reserves.
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