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Background: The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is the world's most iconic coral reef ecosystem, recognised internationally as a World Heritage Area of outstanding significance. Safeguarding the biodiversity of this universally important reef is a core legislative objective; however, ongoing cumulative impacts including widespread coral bleaching and other detrimental impacts have heightened conservation concerns for the future of the GBR. Methods: Here we review the literature to report on processes threatening species on the GBR, the status of marine biodiversity, and evaluate the extent of species-level monitoring and reporting. We assess how many species are listed as threatened at a global scale and explore whether these same species are protected under national threatened species legislation. We conclude this review by providing future directions for protecting potentially endangered elements of biodiversity within the GBR. Results: Most of the threats identified to be harming the diversity of marine life on the GBR over the last two-three decades remain to be effectively addressed and many are worsening. The inherent resilience of this globally significant coral reef ecosystem has been seriously compromised and various elements of the biological diversity for which it is renowned may be at risk of silent extinction. We show at least 136 of the 12,000+ animal species known to occur on the GBR (approximately 20% of the 700 species assessed by the IUCN) occur in elevated categories of threat (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable) at a global scale. Despite the wider background level of threat for these 136 species, only 23 of them are listed as threatened under regional or national legislation. Discussion: To adequately protect the biodiversity values of the GBR, it may be necessary to conduct further targeted species-level monitoring and reporting to complement ecosystem management approaches. Conducting a vigorous value of information analysis would provide the opportunity to evaluate what new and ...

1. Introduction : why marine conservation is necessary : significance, threats and management of the oceans and biodiversity -- 2. The marine environment : physicochemical characteristics : structures and processes : enduring and recurrent factors -- 3. The marine environment : ecology and biology : pelagic and benthic realms and coastal fringing communities -- 4. Approaches to marine conservation : traditional strategies and ecological frameworks -- 5. Representative areas : global to ecoregional : marine conservation at the ecosystem/habitat level -- 6. Habitats and communities : ecoregional to local : reality, variability and scales of relationships -- 7. Distinctive areas : species and ecosystem processes : ecosystem processes : ergoclines and hotspots -- 8. Patterns of biodiversity : species diversity : theories and relationships : global, regional, local -- 9. Species and focal species : keystones, umbrellas, flagships, indicators and others -- 10. Genetic diversity : significance of genetics : from genes to ecosystems -- 11. Coastal zones : components, complexities and classifications -- 12. High seas and deep seas : pelagic and benthic, hydrography and biogeography -- 13. Linking fisheries management with marine conservation objectives through ecosystem approaches : compatibility of exploitation and preservation -- 14. Size and boundaries of protected areas : rationale for function, location, dimensions -- 15. Evaluation of protected areas : the concept of 'value' as applied to marine biodiversity -- 16. Sets of protected areas : integrating distinctive and representative protected areas -- 17. Networks of protected areas : patterns of connectivity in the oceans -- 18. Approaches to the establishment of marine monitoring programmes : stabilizing the baselines -- 19. Remaining problems in marine conservation : present problems, future solutions.

Marine spatial planning (MSP) as a means of marine governance has been given more prominence recently in response to the problems of fragmentation of marine regulation, environmental protection from increasing pressures upon the seas and the emergence of new maritime industries (Douvere and Ehler, 2009). Therefore enhancing multiple aspects of the way that marine authorities, sectors and stakeholders interact and engage with each other is integral to MSP's role and function and seen as a key means to address fragmented and isolated decision-making in marine space (Portman, 2016). While the function and processes of enhancing integration should not be seen as ends in themselves, they aim to create institutionalised platforms that support multi-level and multi-sectoral governance interaction to achieve 'sustainable use' of marine space (Gilek et al., 2016; Ritchie and Ellis, 2010; Varjopuro et al., 2015). Here, integration mostly plays an instrumental role in realising multiple and divergent political ends (e.g. blue growth, sustainable use, legitimate decision-making) related to 'integrated spatialized outcomes' that seek to reflect a balance of competing goals (Flannery et al., 2016; Flannery et al., 2018; Jones et al., 2016; Olsen et al., 2014a). Integration is also seen to be important to foster greater connectivity over borders, beneficial for conservation, shipping and fishing (Jay et al., 2016). While claims of the benefits of more integration are intuitively appealing, whether and how these are actually delivered through integration practices remains under-examined in MSP practice; as are empirical insights on the multiplicity of roles that integration plays in MSP. So, while integration has been universally adopted as a policy principle where it is believed that more integration is seen to be closely related to successful planning in numerous ways, there is confusion about what it means, how to do it and what it implies in different MSP contexts. In response, the key aim of this article is to develop an ...