Botany Bay Benthos: Status and management

Abstract

The questions to be considered in this symposium are: 1. How distinctive is Botany Bay in terms of processes and biota? 2. How has it been modified by human activity? 3. Is what is left worth saving? And 4. If so, what ought to be the objectives of future management and how might 5. management be implemented? This paper addresses questions 1 and 2 in the context of the macrozoobenthos of unvegetated sediments, omits question 3 (which is largely values-based) and, concerning question 4, addresses some general issues. The emphasis in question 1 is on biota rather than processes.