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Evaluating the effectiveness of marine reserves in achieving conservation goals is challenged by the decadal scales over which biological systems respond following protection. Given that trophic interactions underpin community responses following protection and that complex ecological interactions make responses difficult to identify, quantifying changes in species traits may provide detail missed by traditional diversity measures, including information relevant to ecosystem functioning. We determine whether this is the case by comparing community metrics based on functional traits to taxonomic diversity measures associated with ‘no take’ marine reserves and partially protected, fished areas along eight degrees of latitude.

Eighteen ‘no take’ marine reserves and 14 partially protected, fished areas along the east coast of Australia.

We use two independent datasets from shallow and deep …