11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

Oral Mini-Symposium 16: Ecosystem Assessment and Monitoring of Coral Reefs - New Technologies and Approaches
16-22
Interdisciplinary Environmental Assessments of Coral Reefs Using Remote Sensing
and Numerical Circulation Models
Serge ANDREFOUET 1 , Frank MULLER-KARGER* 2 , Jinyu SHENG 3 , Craig
STEINBERG 4 , Pascal DOUILLET 1 , Inia SOTO 2 , Bruce HATCHER 5 , Sylvain
OUILLON 1 , Chuanmin HU 2 , Bo YANG 3 , Severine CHOUCKROUN 4 , Guillaume
DIRBERG 1 , Christine KRANENBURG 2 , Christopher MOSES 2
1 Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Noumea, New Caledonia, 2 College of
Marine Science, University of South FLorida, St Petersburg, FL, 3 Dept of Oceanography,
Dalhousie University, Dalhousie, NS, Canada, 4 Australian Institute of Marine Science,
Townsville, Australia, 5 Center for Marine Ecosystem Research, Cape Breton University,
Sydney, NS, Canada
An interdisciplinary international team investigated oceanographic processes that
constrain coral reef ecosystems of the Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS),
Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and New Caledonia Lagoon (NCL). Reef connectivity, coral
bleaching and sediment transport were targeted for MBRS, GBR and NCL respectively.
These sites either lacked any in situ data (MBRS) or benefited from extensive time-series
of measurements (GBR and NCL). Our methodological goal was to combine numerical
circulation models and remote sensing to study the specific processes at each site.
The circulation of MBRS was simulated using a nested model to understand larvae
propagation between reefs and river runoff dispersals, including during hurricanes.
SeaWiFS climatology and time-series were used to investigate connectivity in MBRS and
validate model outputs. On the southern GBR, the objective was to enhance prediction of
thermal stress at reef-scale. In Both MAR and GBR shallow water bathymetry were
computed from Landsat images to improve high resolution model outputs in shallow reef
areas. GBR shallow bathymetry was validated against Lidar data. In NCL, numerical
models provided suspended matter concentrations under different forcing, and we
revisited local Landsat and MODIS optical algorithms for suspended matter estimation.
Remote sensing tools quickly provided synoptic information for each site (connectivity
matrices, bathymetry, suspended matter) with useful accuracies for model
calibration/validation. However, for each site, numerical models were more difficult to
adapt to these new calibration/validation data sets due to the computation time and
resources required to run new sensitivity analysis. The integration was faster for MBRS,
motivated by limited oceanographic field data. Combining numerical output with remote
sensing is promising to monitor and hindcast-forecast connectivity, thermal stress and
sediment transport and we conclude by the perspectives highlighted by this program.
16-23
Creios: Noaa’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System
Jessica A. MORGAN* 1 , C. Mark EAKIN 2 , Russell E. BRAINARD 3 , James C.
HENDEE 4 , Joyce E. MILLER 3 , Mark E. MONACO 5 , Tyler R.L. CHRISTENSEN 1 ,
Dwight K. GLEDHILL 1 , Scott F. HERON 2 , Gang LIU 1 , William J. SKIRVING 2 , Alan E.
STRONG 2
1 IMSG at NOAA Coral Reef Watch, Silver Spring, MD, 2 NOAA Coral Reef Watch,
Silver Spring, MD, 3 NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, Honolulu, HI,
4 NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory, Miami, FL, 5 NOAA
Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment, Silver Spring, MD
Coral reefs are complex ecosystems with high biodiversity and significant economic
importance. Modern in situ and satellite-based observations show declining trends of reef
health and extent on both local and global scales. With U.S. coral reef resources
stretching across 13 time zones, NOAA has responsibility for observing and managing
coral reefs over a wide area. To carry out this task, NOAA has implemented an
integrated coral reef ecosystem observing system to map and monitor coral reefs, their
biota, and their environments. The Coral Reef Ecosystem Integrated Observing System
(CREIOS) is an important component of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program
(CRCP) and provides a NOAA contribution to the Global Earth Observing System of
Systems (GEOSS). The current configuration of CREIOS includes a wide variety of
observing systems providing coverage of U.S. coral reef resources in the waters of States,
Territories, U.S. flag islands and Freely Associated States in both the Pacific and the
Atlantic. Key components include: (1) physical and environmental monitoring using
satellite, in situ, and paleoclimatic observations; (2) reef mapping and benthic habitat
characterization using satellite, airborne, ship-based, and diver observations; (3)
ecological monitoring of benthos, mobile invertebrates, and fishes by divers and
instruments; and (4) monitoring for coral bleaching and disease outbreaks by divers.
NOAA makes data from these observations accessible through the Coral Reef
Information System (CoRIS) and provides integrated information products to satisfy
scientific and management needs.
16-24
Ecological Count-Based Measures: How To Prevent And Correct Biases in Spatial
Sampling
Assaf ZVULONI* 1,2 , Yael ARTZY-RANDRUP 3 , Lewi STONE 3 , Robert VAN WOESIK 4 ,
Yossi LOYA 1
1 Department of Zoology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 2 The Interuniversity Institute
for Marine Sciences of Eilat, Eilat, Israel, 3 Biomathematics Unit, Department of Zoology, Tel-
Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel, 4 Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of
Technology, Melbourne, FL
Ecological count-based measures (ECBMs; i.e., measures which relate to the number of
individuals in an area), such as population density, size-frequency distribution, average size,
species richness and diversity, are often used to assess the ecological status of different
populations or communities in a variety of ecosystems. Incorrect evaluations of ECBMs may
lead to biased estimations of the ecological status of ecosystems and may result, among other
things, in erroneous nature reserve management policies. The major objective of the study is to
elucidate biases that can arise in the application of popular and traditional sampling methods
(e.g., quadrat, belt-transect and line-intercept) and to develop mathematical corrections, which
provide unbiased estimations for present and past collected data. We show that biases on the
estimated ECBMs may arise due to boundary effect of the sampling units and that the intensity
of the bias increases with proportion to the size-ratio between the sampled individuals and the
sampling unit in use. Our analysis is based on analytical calculations, simulations and field
observations. We developed simple mathematical corrections, which provide unbiased
estimations for presently and previously collected data acquired by these widely used methods.
In addition, we offer a decision rule, which do not suffer from these shortcomings. Eliminating
these types of sampling errors will not only provide better assessments of the status of a given
coral reef, but will also make way for more precise comparisons among coral reefs in different
regions. Although we discuss the biases of ECBMs in regard to reef coral populations, the work
is equally relevant in other marine and terrestrial ecosystems.
16-25
Considerations in The Design Of A Monitoring Program For Fish And Macrobenthos On
A Caribbean Fringing Reef
John MCMANUS* 1 , Lee-Ann HAYEK 2 , Felimon GAYANILO 1 , Daniel HOLSTEIN 1 ,
Kristine STUMP 1 , Marilyn BRANDT 1 , Wade COOPER 1
1 NCORE/Marine Biology and Fisheries, RSMAS, University of Miami, Miami, FL,
2 Smithsonian Institution NHB, Washington, DC
The highly heterogeneous nature of coral reefs in space and time complicates the process of
designing reasonably objective, representative monitoring programs focused on fish and
macrobenthos. In one-time sampling designs, one is sampling a defined space, in which the
characteristics of interest of the space are the abundances of fish and macrobenthos, and often
the spatial correlation relationships among these. The sample design may thus be focused on
accounting for the variance in one or more combinations of these parameters over space,
sometimes based on preliminary sampling. In monitoring, the characteristics of space of
primary concern are the changes over time anticipated in these abundances. Because change
over time may correlate weakly or unpredictably with abundance, the use of preliminary onetime
sampling as a design tool may be of limited value. For both sampling and monitoring
designs, factors such as high variability in sand and hard substrate patch sizes and dispersion,
and ‘intrusion’ into hard substrate of sandy grooves in spur-and-groove systems, create
problems in determining the sampling regime to be represented. These, in addition to extremes
in slope and holes of various sizes in the substrate, often cause the introduction of considerable
subjectivity into the design – often via decisions made in the field. We use a combination of
multiple prior surveys, satellite data analysis and computer simulation, analyzed with respect to
variance in time and space and practical field time limitations, to determine the pros and cons of
a variety of approaches to the design of a monitoring program for a fringing reef of
approximately 20 sq km in eastern Dominican Republic.
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