Monitoring
Coral Reef Monitoring
What Is Coral Reef Monitoring?
Monitoring is the gathering of data and information on coral reef ecosystems or on those people who use coral reef resources. Monitoring should be repeated on a regular basis, preferably over an extended period of time. Coral reefs have natural changes that occur over time; however, they are also affected by activities on land that add nutrients and sediments to the ocean, increase air pollution, and contribute to climate changes. Therefore, to observe these changes scientists and organizations record variations in coral cover, fish populations, species diversity,coral bleaching, and disease-related events.
How Reefs Are Commonly Monitored
- Manta tow and timed swims
- Transects
- Quadrats
- Photography and video
- Roving dives
https://portals.iucn.org/library/efiles/documents/2004-023.pdf
Benefits of Monitoring
Resource assessment and mapping, resource status and long-term trends, status and long-term trends of user groups, impacts of large-scale disturbances, impacts of human activities, performance evaluation & adaptive management, education and awareness raising, and contributing to regional and global networks. (add descriptions/explanations)
Reef Monitoring Projects
The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program
The United States Virgin Islands Territorial Coral Reef Monitoring Program is one of the most important programs designed to monitor and track the status of the reefs in the US Virgin Islands. It is funded by NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program and administered by The Division of Coastal Zone Management under the USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources Administration. They conduct an annual survey of the reefs within the US Virgin Islands every year.
Objectives: The objective of this program is to monitor and track the status of reefs and its inhabitants in areas around the US Virgin Islands; St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. It also focuses on threats to reef systems such as pollution, overfishing, and thermal stress. They work closely to link changes in reef health with specific stressors and figure out the plan of action that would best preserve the reef and the fish communities. They also find ways to study threatened species as well as other components of the reef system that we know little information about.
Methodology/ Experimental Design:
- Visual fish census
- Belt transects
- Roving dives
- Fish counts
A Few Key Points From The 2011 Annual Report:
The Virgin Island National Park
The Virgin Island National Park is another active participant in the US Virgin Islands monitoring of coral reefs. They play a part by monitoring air quality, marker buoy instillations, and ongoing research on coral disease, sedimentation rates, fishery population biology, and watershed delineation.
Objectives: The National Park aims to protect and sustain the coral reefs of the Virgin Islands. It is also designed to monitor certain aspects of the reef and surrounding ecosystems. In addition, it aims to provide information on coral reef status to policymakers, the public, and the National Park Service in order to improve the conditions of the reefs and other areas targeted by the National Park.
Accomplishments:
- One of the main accomplishments of the National Park is the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument. This is a protected area of coral reef that the park enforces restrictions and laws against anchoring on/near the reef, as well as making sure that visitors to the reef abide by the "no fishing" laws and the "no-take zones."
- Another accomplishment of the park is the 16 Water Monitoring Sites around St. John where they sample the sites every three months to monitor clarity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, salt content, light transmittance, and pH levels. They then take this information and use it as they research to find better methods to protect the reefs.
- "No-Take Zones" also gave rise by the Virgin Island National Park in 2001. This made it illegal to take any sort of coral, fish, or object from within the Coral Reef National Monument.
- Air quality monitoring is another way that the park is actively partaking in coral reef management. By obtaining data on the air quality they are able to predict when there might be a threat to the reef as well as learn more about ways to reduce certain stressors that may harm the reefs in the future.
- Finally, the park initiates ongoing research on coral disease, sedimentation rates, and fishery population that will aid in education and prevention for the future of our reefs.
- Mooring Buoy and Marker Buoy Installation
A Few Key Points:
- Coral reef ecosystems face threats due to natural disturbances (hurricanes), boat groundings, and careless anchoring
- Coral diseases
- Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument rated in "fair" condition
- Two most important herbivorous fish (parrot and surgeonfish) face strong fishing pressure, but are protected from commercial fishing by the park
- In 2006, two coral types (Staghorn and Elkhorn) were placed on the Endangered Species list as "threatened" due to hurricanes and boat groundings
- Black band disease and white band disease are both at fault for loss of coral cover
- Episodes of bleaching in 1987, 1990, 1998, 2005
- Runoff from land development on St. John is one of the biggest threats to the reefs
- Sea turtle mortality has increased on St. John in the past few years due to boating
- Due to a lack of funds, the park can only do but so much
Methodology/ Experimental Design:
Sources
Brainard, Russell. Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Report for American Samoa, 2002-2006. Silver Spring, Md.: U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, 2008. Print.
Smith, T. B., et al. "Assessing Coral Reef Health Across Onshore to Offshore Stress Gradients in the US Virgin Islands." Marine pollution bulletin 56.12 (2008): 1983-91. ProQuest. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
http://www.npca.org/about-us/center-for-park-research/stateoftheparks/virginislands/viis_lo.pdf