11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

23-41
Water Quality Standards For Coral Reef Protection
William FISHER* 1 , Aaron HUTCHINS 2 , Leska FORE 3 , Wayne DAVIS 4 , Charles
LOBUE 5 , Heidi BELL 6
1 Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Gulf
Breeze, FL, 2 Department of Planning and Natural Resources, U.S. Virgin Islands,
Frederiksted, United States Minor Outlying Islands, 3 Statistical Design, Seattle, WA,
4 Office of Environmental Information, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Ft.
Meade, MD, 5 Region 2, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, New York, NY, 6 Office
of Water, Office of Science and Technology, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Washington, D.C., DC
Resource managers have few tools to counteract the growing impacts of human coastal
and watershed activities on coral reefs. Water quality standards for coral reef
protection—including biological criteria (biocriteria)—have enormous potential but are
not currently used by any U.S. jurisdiction. The Environmental Protection Agency is
promoting coral reef biocriteria through collaborative development of bioassessment
procedures and monitoring strategies suitable for regulatory activities. A rapid
bioassessment protocol (RBP) for reef-building stony corals (Scleractinia) was developed
and tested as an initial step. Scleractinia were selected because much of the ecological
and economic value of coral reefs is directly attributable to the physical structure of stony
corals. The RBP requires only three underwater observations but provides both colony
and surface area characteristics and incorporates a three-dimensional approach to
document colony size (indicator of ecosystem services) and the amount of live tissue
(coral capacity for growth and reproduction). Preliminary testing in the Florida Keys
showed that information gained through the RBP had relevance to coral reef management
and sufficient precision to distinguish spatial and temporal differences. Further validation
was completed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, where corals were sampled across human
disturbance gradients to determine which indicators were responsive to anthropogenic
stress, a requirement for regulatory enforcement. Several RBP indicators, including taxa
richness, colony size, total and live surface area were found to be positively correlated
with distance from human activity. These indicators also had sufficient precision to be
effective in most monitoring programs, and are now considered strong candidates for
application in a regulatory context. Implementation of enforceable biocriteria will depend
on the application of responsive metrics in a defensible long-term monitoring program.
Once established, such a program will provide valuable, long-term records of coral
condition and regulatory compliance.
23-42
Spillover Of Reef Fishes From No-Take Marine Reserves: An Evaluation Using The
Before-After Control-Impact (Baci) Approach
Ronaldo FRANCINI-FILHO* 1 , Rodrigo MOURA 1
1 Marine Program, Conservation International, Caravelas, Brazil
No-take marine reserves may promote recovery of exploited populations within their
boundaries and spillover of fishes to adjacent fishing grounds, thus potentially benefiting
the local fisheries. Although some studies have measured spillover by examining
gradients of fish abundance and body size across reserve boundaries, there are no such
studies to date including information from before reserve establishment, thus seriously
limiting interpretation of results. We measured reef fish spillover from a no-take marine
reserve in Eastern Brazil by estimating biomass and body size across the reserve
boundary before (2001) and after (2002-2005) initiation of protection. Replicate sites
were sampled inside and outside the reserve, with unprotected sites included in three
distance categories from the reserve boundary: 0-400, 400-800 and 800-1200 m. This
latter category surpass the scales over which spillover is expected to influence patterns of
fish abundance outside reserves (generally < 500 m), thus acting as a control for the
reserve effect. Habitat measurements were undertaken at the same sites, from 2003 on.
Biomass of the greenbeak parrotfish Scarus trispinosus, a major fishery resource and the
dominant species in terms of biomass (37.4% of total biomass), was lower inside the
reserve area before its establishment. During this same period, no individuals of two
primary target species, the black grouper Mycteroperca bonaci and the gray parrotfish
Sparisoma axillare, were recorded inside the reserve. Coral cover was consistently lower
inside the reserve from 2003 on. Biomass and body size of M. bonaci, as well as biomass
of the yellowtail snapper Ocyurus chrysurus, increased continuously inside the reserve
after initiation of protection, with no similar increases recorded in control sites.
Evidences of spillover (i.e. higher biomass inside the reserve and in unprotected sites
closer to its boundary) were obtained for M. bonaci, O. chrysurus and S. trispinosus,
although this pattern was only marginally significant for O. chrysurus. Despite the
aforementioned positive signs, recovery and spillover of S. trispinosus were probably
inhibited by increased poaching from 2003 on. Our results indicate that the no-take
reserve at Itacolomis Reef was established a priori on poor quality habitats. Thus, future
spatial comparisons between protected and unprotected sites would underestimate
changes due to protection. These findings highlight the importance of baseline
information and continued monitoring for adequately understanding the effects of no-take
marine reserves.
Oral Mini-Symposium 23: Reef Management
23-43
Modularizing Coral Reef Monitoring Methodologies for Better Management Effectiveness
Karenne TUN* 1 , Eugene GOH 2 , Loke Ming CHOU 1 , Tom FOSTER 2
1 Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore, 2 DHI Water &
Environment, Singapore, Singapore
To a large extent, effective management of coral reefs depends on access to relevant reef
monitoring data, and their translation into useful management indices. Several globally
established monitoring methodologies are currently used by coral reef monitoring practitioners
(eg, AIMS LIT, Reef Check, AGGRA and Vitareef), with many modifications or enhancement
to suit local situations and needs. The fact is that there is no shortage of methodologies that
practitioners can employ to monitor coral reefs – yet there is little compelling evidence to
demonstrate a link between monitoring and management. In many instances, monitoring results
appear to be no more than a cursory tool used in management. Analysis of a variety of
documents (manuscripts, technical reports, management papers, etc) that link monitoring and
management show a general lack of tools that effectively translate monitoring information into
useful management indices to support management decisions. Most monitoring outcomes are
reported as percent benthos cover, which is not an ideal index for assessing coral reef condition,
and even less ideal as a management tool for making management decisions. This paper
addresses the issue of translating monitoring outcomes into relevant indices for more effective
coral reef management in a highly urbanized environment with extensive anthropogenic
influences. The approach focuses on identifying key management questions for the specific area
being managed, which are then addressed in the form of add-on modules that are linked to
existing reef monitoring methodologies,. In essence, we propose that monitoring programmes
retain their existing coral reef monitoring methodologies, but tackle specific management
questions by appending relevant monitoring modules to their existing protocols.
23-44
Community-Based Monitoring Of Marine Ecosystem Health For St. Kitts And Nevis,
Lesser Antilles: Development Of A Relational Database Based On Local And Scientific
Marine Stakeholder Knowledge.
Raphaela STIMMELMAYR* 1 , Mike KAPLAN 2 , Jose JUGEREY 2 , Nikki BANFIELD 2 ,
Maureen SULLIVAN 3
1 Ross University Veterinary School, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis, 2 RUSVM, Basseterre,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, 3 St.Kitts Reef Ecology Watch Group, Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
A current comprehensive assessment of coral reef health, distribution of marine species
including sea turtles and coral reef fishes that occur in the waters of St. Kitts-Nevis does not
exist. Tourism in the wider Caribbean is the most important economic sector, having largely
replaced the formerly important agricultural economy (i.e. banana and sugar cane). Ecotourism
activities such as diving and other non-consumptive resource uses such as whale and sea turtle
watching are an important local tourism component. Local marine stakeholder knowledge is a
largely untouched and valuable source of information relevant to Caribbean marine ecosystem
health and resources. Marine data was collected from roving diver surveys (dive masters and
recreational divers) and snorkel surveys using standardized fish survey sheets. Local fish names
have been compiled from semi-directed interviews. Coral reef photo data (1992/93 and
2006/2007) has been digitized and a registry created. Both can be linked to survey site data. The
constructed relational database allows for seamless integration with local available geographical
information systems. Community based approach to marine ecological monitoring is a viable,
sustainable and economical tool for the generation of scientifically valid ecological baseline
data for small island developing states that otherwise lack infrastructure and resources to engage
in marine research needed for development of management guidelines. Furthermore the
integration of local traditional knowledge provides insight into the local shifting baseline
syndrome and can generate evidence for new hypotheses.
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