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Developing a Biological Condition Gradient for the Protection of Coral Reefs in Guanica Bay
Citation:
Santavy, Debbie, P. Bradley, AND J. Gerritsen. Developing a Biological Condition Gradient for the Protection of Coral Reefs in Guanica Bay. A Community on Ecosystem Services, Washington, DC, December 08 - 12, 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
Purpose is to present conceptual model describing how biological attributes of coral reefs change along an anthropogenic gradient off Guanica Bay, PR. I was invited to special session: Linking Decisions to Stakeholder Values in the Guanica Bay Watershed, Puerto Rico, ACES meeting, Wash, DC, Dec. 2014,chaired by Bob Leeworthy, NOAA economist.
Description:
We introduce the application of the Biological Condition Gradient (BCG), a conceptual model that describes how biological attributes of aquatic ecosystems (i.e., biological condition) might change along a gradient of increasing anthropogenic stress (e.g., physical, chemical and biological impacts), to coral reef ecosystems. Under authority of the Clean Water Act (CWA), EPA is committed to protecting the biological integrity of the Nation’s waters, including marine coastal habitats such as mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs. Coastal resource managers routinely conduct biological assessments to evaluate the condition of a water body using direct measurements of the resident biota to integrate the cumulative impacts of chemical, physical, and biological stressors on aquatic life. A missing component in this approach is a scientifically derived process for identifying thresholds that can be coupled with management objectives and used to evaluate alternative decision options. EPA has assembled a workgroup of 30 coral reef experts with expertise in coral reef taxonomic groups (e.g., stony corals, fishes, sponges, gorgonians, algae, seagrasses and macroinvertebrates), specializing in community structure, organism condition, ecosystem function and ecosystem connectivity. These experts are developing the BCG for Puerto Rico’s coral reefs, but it is anticipated that the BCG will be broadly applicable to Caribbean reefs, and the process and framework can be transferred to other geographic regions. During a series of facilitated workshops and webinars the experts are evaluating photos, videos and data collected from coral reefs exhibiting a wide range of conditions. The experts have examined the information and datasets to define ten attributes of condition, each of which provides some information about the biological condition of a coral reef (including aspects of community structure, organism condition, and ecosystem function and connectivity). The experts are using those attributes to define levels of biological condition along an anthropogenic stressor gradient, including a set of criteria to identify reference condition (a natural fully-functioning system of reef organisms and communities). Results of this research will include: 1) the BCG conceptual model for coral reef ecosystems, 2) a database of coral reef species for Puerto Rico and USVI that includes the tolerances/sensitivities to various stressors, and 3) an integrated coral reef database for Puerto Rico and USVI residing on EPA’s STORET (short for STOrage and RETrieval) Data Warehouse, that includes data in the original format, a ‘crosswalk’ with translations for converting data, and the final standardized format. The application of the BCG to coral reefs demonstrates that the BCG framework can be successfully used by managers to: define biological expectations for: designated aquatic life uses and to redefine aquatic life uses if desired; to interpret current condition relative to management goals; to track system responses to management actions; and to communicate environmental condition and outcomes to the public.