Planning a Marine Reserve

• Marine reserves are in areas that have underwater diversity in scenery and their natural features. They also have distinctive, and even unique, marine life that makes their preservation important. Four factors are considered in a reserve's design: site, size on individual reserve, size of reserves network and distance between individual reserves. In general, the site of the reserve should be an area that needs protection. Individual reserves should be 4 to 20 km wide and should be 20 to 200 km from other reserves. Designing a marine reserve can take years.
  
  

Additional Restrictions

• Besides not allowing fishing or damage to anything in a marine reserve, the protections to a marine reserve also mean that nothing can be dumped in the reserve or dredged from within it. There are also no structures built in the reserves.
  
  

What a Marine Reserve Allows

• One thing that is allowed in a marine reserve is scientific study. With the marine life being maintained in a natural, undisturbed state, marine reserves are useful areas for scientists to conduct research. The public can also visit marine reserves for diving, snorkeling and photographic opportunities.
  
  

What a Marine Reserve Does

• Because of the marine reserve protection, species within a reserve generally have a lower mortality rate. This allows overfished or damaged species to replenish themselves. Studies have also shown that the biodiversity within a reserve increases.
  Scientists continue to study areas around marine reserves to determine what kind of effect the reserve has on them. Many times, this will depend on variables such as how many of the species travel outside of the reserve boundary.
  
  

Trophic Cascade

• There have been problems with reserves. Due to the protection, a predator species will sometimes become too abundant and reduce another species through feeding. This, in turn, causes plant species and algae that the prey species fed on to increase. The result is a trophic cascade.