Status of Caribbean Reefs: Initial Results from the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) Program

Since June, 1998, over twenty large-scale ARGRRA assessments have been undertaken in the western Atlantic covering approximately 300 reef sites. At each site, nonpermanent 10-m line transects were used to measure a suite of standardized benthic parameters including coral cover, coral mortality (recent and old), coral size (diameter and height), coral condition, coral recruits, relative abundance of algae (turf, crustose coralline, and macro), macroalgal height, and Diadema antillarum abundances. In addition, the sizes and abundances of selected fish families were assessed using nonpermanent 30x2 m belt transects and overall fish diversity was measured with a roving diver census. All data have been compiled into a single ACCESS database using standardized species codes and hierarchically defined location codes. These data establish a baseline scale of Caribbean-wide reef condition and can be used to identify degraded, normal, or luxuriant areas

Status Of Coral Reefs In The U.S. Caribbean And Gulf Of Mexico: Florida, Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Navassa.

Mapping, monitoring, and management of coral reefs of Florida, the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) northwestern Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Navassa have all improved with increased awareness and funding from the Government of the USA. Quantitative baseline surveys of coral reef communities have been completed in Puerto Rico at three current or proposed Natural Reserves. Monitoring is demonstrating trends in reef community health and structure in other sensitive coastal areas. The Tres Palmas Marine Reserve has been designated recently, and existing MPAs and revisions to fishing laws were evaluated based on these results. In the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), the Buck Island Reef National Monument has been expanded and a new park, the St. Croix East End Marine Park established in 2003. The monitoring programs in the USVI are now detecting changes in fish and coral community structure in and around the managed areas with a specific focus on elkhorn coral stands. Monitoring of water quality, reef diversity, growth, and populations of dominant fish and benthic organisms in Flower Garden Banks, Stetson Bank, and Navassa has assisted in evaluating impacts of climate change, tropical storms, fishing, and tourism pressures. An expanded Florida monitoring program is now completing the first integrated assessment of the reefs northwards from the Florida Keys. It is hoped that this increased attention to coral reef issues will continue, and that advances in the understanding of how coral reef ecosystems respond to anthropogenic stresses will result in better management plans that protect coastal resources by reducing those stresses. However, an improved understanding of the relative importance of how stresses contribute to or cause coral decline is needed. There is a need also to understand the linkages between water flows and the functioning of coral reef ecosystems. It is essential to strengthen cross-boundary and cross-jurisdictional agreements to facilitate ecosystem-based management and information and technology transfer