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REGIONAL MONITORING OF CORAL CONDITION IN THE FLORIDA KEYS
Citation:
Fisher, W S. AND D L. Santavy. REGIONAL MONITORING OF CORAL CONDITION IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. Presented at Monitoring Science & Technology Symposium, Denver, CO, September 20 - 24, 2004.
Impact/Purpose:
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Description:
Fisher, William S. and Deborah L. Santavy. 2004. Regional Monitoring of Coral Condition in Florida Keys (Abstract). Presented at the Monitoring Science and Technology Symposium, 20-24 September 2004, Denver, CO. 1 p. (ERL,GB R1020).
Coral reefs have experienced unprecedented levels of coral bleaching and disease during the last three decades. Declining health has been attributed to several stressors, including exposures to elevated water temperature, increased solar radiation, and degraded water quality. Consequences of coral bleaching and disease vary; some recover, while others lose tissue, die and succumb to algal overgrowth. A regional monitoring project in 2000 documented disease and bleaching across 41 Km2 of coral reefs in the Florida Keys. Thirty sites were randomly-selected from a spatially-balanced grid. A radial belt transect (113m2) was surveyed at each site and 100-300 colonies were encountered in each transect. The coral species and health status were recorded for each colony. No site had greater than 13% disease prevalence and approximately 80% of the reef area had <5% disease prevalence. The survey will be repeated in 2004, but with the addition of colony size, percent living tissue, and living surface area estimates. These added endpoints are expected to provide information on the consequences of bleaching, disease, and other stressors on coral communities. Additionally, data will be compiled to demonstrate size, percent living tissue and living tissue coverage of different species across the Keys. During a pilot study in 2003, the percent of living tissue on large colonies of elkhorn coral Acropora palmata was considerably less than on small colonies, possibly indicating a major mortality event (hurricane, bleaching) that occurred before the small colonies were recruited. Data are also expected to provide insight to coral population dynamics and potential shifts in community composition.
Will be oral presentation.