11th ICRS Abstract book - Nova Southeastern University

23-65
Development Of Resilience-Based Management Strategies For Florida's Coral Reefs
Chris BERGH* 1 , Phillip KRAMER 2 , William CAUSEY 3 , Mark EAKIN 4 , David
SCORE 3 , Chantal COLLIER 5 , Kent EDWARDS 6 , Stephanie BAILENSON 7 , Peter
CONE 8 , Paul MARSHALL 9 , Eric MIELBRECHT 10 , Frank MULLER-KARGER 11 ,
Robert VAN WOESIK 12 , David VAUGHAN 13 , David LOOMIS 14 , Robert
LEEWORTHY 4 , Joanne THOMAS 2 , Brian KELLER 3
1 Florida Keys Program, The Nature Conservancy, Sugarloaf Key, FL, 2 The Nature
Conservancy, Sugarloaf Key, FL, 3 NOAA, Key West, FL, 4 NOAA, Silver Spring, MD,
5 Florida DEP, Miami, FL, 6 Florida DEP, Key West, FL, 7 Florida DEP, Tallahassee, FL,
8 Commerical Fisher, Key West, FL, 9 Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority,
Townesville, Australia, 10 Emerald Coast Environmental Consulting, Washington, DC,
11 University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, 12 Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne,
FL, 13 Mote Marine Laboratory, Summerland Key, FL, 14 University of Massachusetts,
Amherst, MA
The Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP) is a collaborative effort among managers,
scientists, conservation organizations and reef users to develop resilience-based
management strategies for coping with climate change and other stresses on Florida’s
coral reefs. In 2004 the 400 km long reef tract from Martin County to Dry Tortugas was
classified into 59 discrete reef zones. A “Disturbance Response Monitoring (DRM)”
procedure, consisting of a probabilistic sampling design and a stony coral condition
monitoring protocol, was developed and applied across these zones during the annual
period of peak thermal stress in 2005, 2006 and 2007. DRM results show spatial and
temporal patterns in coral bleaching and colony size frequency distribution, indicating
that some zones and coral species may be more resilient to stress than others. Data on
water quality parameters, volunteer observations of bleaching occurrence and remotelysensed
sea-surface temperature and accumulated thermal stress were analyzed to help
explain variability in stress responses. This biophysical analysis of reef resilience was
paralleled by social science research focused on reef users’ perceptions of reef condition,
reef management strategies and the economics of reef-dependent recreational and
commercial activities. Results of FRRP research and other relevant studies were
communicated with stakeholders during a series of workshops designed to gather input
about optimization of existing reef management and reef use strategies and to identify
novel strategies. The resulting recommendations are wide ranging and include; preferred
anchoring methods, voluntary avoidance of stressed reefs, timing of coastal construction
activities to minimize cumulative stress on corals, changes in fishing practices and new
goals for spatial coverage, distribution and type of marine protected areas in the region.
23-66
Hurricane Dean impacts on Chinchorro Bank coral reefs, Mexico: Bases to implement
ecosystem-based fisheries management
Alvaro HERNÁNDEZ* 1 , Fabián RODRÍGUEZ-ZARAGOZA 2 , Gilberto ACOSTA-
GONZÁLEZ 3 , Miguel RUIZ-ZARATE 4 , José CASTRO-PÉREZ 5 , Alicia MEDINA-
HERNANDEZ 6 , María GARCÍA-RIVAS 7
1 Mesoamerican Reef, World Wildlife Fund, Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 2 Ecology,
Universidad de Guadalajara, Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico, 3 Recursos del Mar, CINVESTAV-
Merida, Mérida, Yucatan, Mexico, 4 Quimica y Biologia, Instituto Tecnologico de Chetumal,
Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 5 Quimica y Biologia, Intituto Tecnologico de Chetumal,
Chetumal, Quintana Roo, Mexico, 6 Mesoamerican Reef Program, World Wildlife Fund, San
José, Costa Rica, 7 Reserva de la Biosfera Banco Chinchorro, Comision Nacional de Areas
Protegidas, Distrito Federal, Mexico
As part of the activities to implement the ecosystem-based fisheries management in Chinchorro
Bank Biosphere Reserve (ChBBR), Mexico, an inter-institutional work team initiated a
systematic monitoring to evaluate its coral reef conditions. In April 2007, the team, integrated
by World Wildlife Fund, ChBBR administration, and Chetumal Technologic Institute, in
collaboration with local fishermen collected data through 120 transects in five sites. This
information allowed us to calculate biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. On August 2007,
the eye of Hurricane Dean (category 5) hit ChBBR. In September 2007, the inter-institutional
team organized a second monitoring to assess the impact of this hurricane in three sites with
highest biodiversity: 1) La Caldera, 2) La Baliza and 3) Chancay.
The community parameters of fish assemblages and the conditions of habitat structure were
estimated through visual census; topographic complexity (“chain” technique); Horizontal
heterogeneity (video-transects); and benthic groups and type of substrate (point intercept).
The comparison of the community parameters before and after the hurricane showed a higher
impact on the benthic community of La Baliza. In this site, there were significant differences in
both, shallow and deep habitats due to a coverage reduction of the following groups: sand,
macro-algae, and hard coral. On the other hand, in La Caldera and Chancay the impact was
moderate; which registered a significant reduction of macro-algae and large reef extensions
covered by mold. In the three sites, fish biodiversity and biomass was similar before and after
the hurricane, but the structure of fish assemblage was significantly different. After the
hurricane, key invertebrates abundance increased significantly, particularly Panulirus argus,
Strombus gigas, and Diadema antillarum. These results suggest that fish resources as well as
invertebrates maintained a similar biomass, although we recommend that further fisheries
exploitation must be cautious to enhance natural resilience and avoid a potential collapse of the
resources.
Oral Mini-Symposium 23: Reef Management
23-67
Climate Change Leads: Linking Environmental Analysis To Decision Support in Florida
Alex SCORE 1 , Eric MIELBRECHT 2 , Daniel WAGNER 3 , Debra HARRISON 1 , Lara
HANSEN* 4
1 World Wildlife Fund, Marathon, FL, 2 Emerald Coast Environmental Consulting, Washington,
DC, 3 Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, 4 World Wildlife
Fund, Washington, DC
Coral reefs were one of the first ecosystems where the effects of climate change were readily
apparent. As a result of their high vulnerability to climate change there is a pressing need for
coral reef resource managers, including those in Florida, to manage for climate change.
Florida’s stakeholders and decision-makers urgently need targeted research, clear
communications, and accessible tools to better understand the impacts of climate change and
coral bleaching so they can develop and implement successful management and mitigation
initiatives. The Climate Change: Linking Environmental Analysis to Decision Support
(LEADS) initiative brought together scientists, natural resource managers and decision-makers
at the local, state and federal levels, with a full range of stakeholders to analyze patterns in coral
resilience to climate change and transform these findings into effective management strategies.
A GIS based tool was created that illustrates patterns of coral resilience within the Florida Keys
National Marine Sanctuary and allows users to manipulate layers of environmental data in
prescribed and unique ways. The creation of this management tool, which promotes a better
understanding of local environmental parameters that are associated with assemblages of
resilient coral, was based on research that synthesized existing and emerging coral bleaching
and water quality data for the Florida Keys in a GIS framework and identified patterns in
bleaching occurrence and recovery with respect to environmental variables. The resource
management applications of this GIS-based tool will be presented along with a description of
the stakeholder and decision-maker outreach process utilized in the Climate Change LEADS
initiative in the Florida Keys.
23-68
Large Scale Transplantation Of Corals in A Small Island State
Stephanie DOORN-GROEN 1 , Eugene GOH* 1 , Karenne TUN 1 , Thomas FOSTER 1 , Clint
TIWOL 1
1 DHI Water & Environment (S) Pte. Ltd., Singapore, Singapore
Singapore is a small, highly urbanized and industrialized island state, with extensive marine
industries fringing most of her Southwestern coast and offshore islands which are fringed by
coral reefs. Land intensive port operations and petrochemical industries have played a pivotal
role in the island’s economic success. As these industries expand, increased demand for land
has lead to land reclamation works. While some of Singapore’s reef habitat has been lost as a
result of this development, coral species extinctions are not evident. Moreover, although reef
area has been reduced and population abundance decline is apparent, the rate of this decline also
appears to have been reduced through increased management and awareness of the importance
of the reef habitats.
While the transplantation of corals as a compensation measure is viewed as a poor alternative to
the conservation of entire reef communities, it provides an essential management tool whenever
direct impact is inevitable. In 2006, one of the largest transplantation programs ever undertaken
in Asia led to the relocation of about 4,200 mature coral colonies in Southwest Singapore with
diameters up to 2m. Subsequent monitoring indicated a high survival rate; 12 months after the
transplantation, about 80% of the monitored corals continue to thrive in their new home. This is
a positive contrast to the survival reported in previous relocation programs in Singapore during
the 1990’s.
This paper reports on the key elements and processes that influenced and led to the successful
execution of the transplantation exercise. The paper also discusses the systematic approach
undertaken as well as the selection criteria used for the receiving site, which is considered the
key to the success of the transplantation works.
212