BLAGRRA Optional Belt Transects Rapid Surveys for Ecological Emergencies

1. St. John, USVI Sept. 2005 © C. Rogers BLAGRRA Optional Belt Transects Rapid Surveys for Ecological Emergencies . www.agrra.org

2. BLAGRRA Belt Transects For rapidly assessingpopulation-levelchanges incoral species during, and following, mass bleaching events, outbreaks of disease, or other acute ecological perturbations. Permission is granted to use the photographs in this presentation with the BLAGRRA Program and, with attribution, for other valid educational projects. All other uses are strictly prohibited.

3. Rationale Mass bleaching events and some diseases cause discoloration of live coral tissues. Elevated levels of coral mortality characterize ecological emergencies (severe environmental perturbations) in coral reefs. © C. Rogers

4. Bleaching Categories Normal, Pale, Bleached: should be specific for the species at the particular location & habitat deep Montastraea Codes: P = pale; BL= fully bleached normal shallowMontastraea normal Close-up © T. Turner P BL P © P. Dustan © C. Rogers

5. Codes for Common Diseases © A. Bruckner © C. Rogers DS= Dark Spots BB = Black Band © R. Ginsburg © J. Miller YB = Yellow Band WP= White Plague

6. Easily Confused with Bleaching Montastraea faveolata with Yellow Band Stephanocoenia intersepta with Dark Spots Close-up © M. Brandt Diseased tissues are pale or bleached. © A. Bruckner Diseased tissues are dark.

7. New Mortality White skeletons are intact (unless live tissues have just been bitten by a fish or abraded), with no sediment, algae, or other visible cover. Would have died within the previous seconds to 1 - 2 days. Conspicuousduring outbreaks of disease, bleaching-related mortality events, and just after hurricanes or other large-scale perturbations. Close-up new mortality live tissues © P. Dustan Diseased Mycetophyllia

8. Easily confused! New mortality: dead & white Bleached:translucent tissues without visible algal pigments Close-up Close-up and © P. Dustan © L. Benvenuti © G. Schmahl © C. Rogers © R. Ginsburg

9. Transitional Mortality Skeletons are mostly intact and covered with a thin layer of sediment, or biofilms, or tiny, multi-colored turf algae (unless they have just been bitten by a fish or abraded). Would have died within the previous days to months. Conspicuousafter outbreaks of disease, bleaching-related mortality events, hurricanes or other perturbations. Close-up new mortality transitional mortality © P. Dustan Turf algae on Acropora palmata

10. Close-up live tissues old mortality Old Mortality (OM) Skeletons are completely covered with thick algal turfs, seaweeds or encrusting animals that aren’t easily removed (unless these organisms have just been bitten by a fish or abraded). Would have died within the previous months to years or decades-centuries. Accumulate over time in long-lived corals. © J. Lang Turf algal-sediment mat on Diploria strigosa

11. Live tissues look “normal,” February, 2005 Tissues survive bleaching, November, 2005 Extensive old mortality by February, 2007 Tissues pale + abundant WP, March, 2006 WP WP © J. Miller © J. Miller © J. Miller © J. Miller Bleaching and Delayed Mortality in Montastraea faveolata Post-Bleaching Mortality Stony corals may survive a bleaching event but later succumb to disease or unknown causes.

12. Relevance to Managers Sites can be rapidly and repeatedly surveyed over a large spatial scale to capture the immediate + any delayed effects of a given mortality event. Results can be compared to mortality levels occurring during “routine” environmental conditions. For example: during a severe bleaching event, mortality from bleaching is scored as new mortality. Several months later, when this initial mortality has shifted into the transitional mortality category, any on-going, post-bleaching mortality is scored as new mortality.

13. © L. Benvenuti Stressed Colpophyllia natans What else can you see here? . old mortality transitional mortality new mortality bleached tissues black-band disease

14. Standing Dead (SD) Entire coral has died but can still be identified to species, to species complex, or to genus. transitional mortality old mortality © E. Muller Standing dead Acropora palmata

15. Personnel • 1-2 experienced divers (must know common coral species). Field Equipment • Clipboard or slate with BLAGRRA Basic or Detailed Belt UW-V2 datasheet & pencils. • 10-m long lead-core rope marked in 1-m increments, with tie-off loops at each end. • 50-cm and/or 100-cm PVC measuring pole marked in 10-cm increments + a 15-cm or 30-cm metric ruler. • 25 cm x 25 cm PVC quadrat around which to wrap the line. • Dive thermometer or other temperature recording device. \ SeeBLAGRRA Surveys & Gear-V2.pdffor Equipment details at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA

16. Surveys • Stratify reefs by zone and habitat. • Randomly sample sites (at least 5/habitat, total number to vary with spatial extent of the habitat) for a representative assessment of reef condition in the area affected by the perturbation, and/or • Strategically choose any sites of special interest for survey(e.g., within and outside an MPA). • Survey before (if possible), during, and at intervals after, the mortality event until conditions return to “normal.” See BLAGRRA Surveys & Gear-V2.pdf for Survey details at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA

17. Method-1 • Before diving:choose between basic- and detailed-level of surveys (see Method-5 slides); take relevant datasheet. • At dive site:try to record bottom temperature. • Haphazardly set line, avoiding other transects,reef edges, unusual features, etc. (unless instructed otherwise); note start & end depths. • Swim a 0.5-m wide belt transect along one side of the transect line, and examine each stony coral except Milleporaalcicornis that is ≥4 cm in max. length and for which any part, no matter how small is located inside the belt. Include all corals that underline the transect line. SeeBLAGRRA Belts UW Datasheets-V2for UW Datasheets & Methods details at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA

18. Method-2 • Identify each coral by its CARICOMP-based code: 1st letter of genus + 1st 3 letters of species e.g.,Diploriastrigosa = DSTR; or 1st 4 letters of the genus if unsure of the species e.g.,Montastraeaannularis complex = MONT. Include standing dead corals if they can still be identified at least to genus and are still mostly intact. See Coral ID-1.pps to Coral ID-4.ppsfor images of common AGRRA corals, and CORAL Codes-V5.4.pdf for a list of coral names and codes to take underwater at: www.agrra.org/method/trainingid.html

19. Colonies versus Clumps Colony:has distinct margins and represents one genetic individual, even if the soft tissues naturally subdivide into separate units. © A. Bruckner © R. Steneck © R. Steneck Clump: a large group of closely crowded, conspecific corals for which colony borders cannot be distinguished by visual inspection underwater. © C. Rogers © C. Rogers © C. Rogers

20. 2 3 1 1 © P. Humann © K. Marks Method-3 • For each ≥4 cmcolony or solitary coral, note the # of patches of soft tissue caused by pertubations. Ignore isolates that form naturally in some corals, e.g., Montastraeaannularis, Poritesporites, Mussaangulosa. Put 1 if no such disruptions and 0 if standing dead. If > 10, round to the nearest 5 (e.g.,15, 20…). • Write CLUMP for any clumps, and put FRAG for any broken or detached, and easily moved, corals.

21. Colony Borders Colony margins can be difficult to recognize when parts of a coral have died and are overgrown by other organisms–especially other corals of the same species. When uncertain, look for connections between the live tissues or basal skeleton, and for similarities in the size and colourof the separated live tissues. DSTR Palythoa (zoanthid) is covering part of a Diploria strigosa; number of isolates= 2. Palythoa DSTR © E. Chornesky

22. maximum height somewhere here maximum width maximum length © J. Lang Method-4 • For each colony, solitary coral or clump (ignore fragments), record its max. length, max. width and max. height. Try to measure to the nearest 1 cm up to 10 cm, to the nearest 5 cm up to 50 cm, and to the nearest 10 cm if > 50 cm.

23. Method-5-Basic Level Examine the entiresurfaceof everycolony, solitary coral or clump (but no fragments).Note any: • Disease–as X, or identify by disease code if so instructed by team leader. • Bleaching–as P(pale), PB (partly bleached) or BL (all soft tissues are fully bleached). • Mortality–as NM (new mortality), TM (transitional mortality), OM (old mortality), or SD (standing dead). • Comments–note if coral is loose or wedged or any other relevant observations. SeeBasic Belt Instructions in theBLAGRRA Basic Belts UW Datasheet-V2at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA

24. Round estimates to the nearest 5%; unless very small or large, in which case try to round to the nearest whole number (e.g., 3%, 99%). BL BL TM BL © E. Weil Method-5-Detailed Level1 For every colony or solitary coral, record the percent of the entireoutward-facing surfacewith: • Bleaching–as % P(pale) and/or % BL (fully bleached). • Mortality–as % NM (new mortality), % TM (transitional mortality), and/or % OM (old mortality).

25. OM L L OM L OM L XX L © R. Steneck Method-5-Detailed Level2 For every clump, use the 50-cm or 1-m pole to pointcount its condition at 10-cmintervals across the maximum length as: L = live, normal coloration NM = new mortality P = live, pale TM = transitional mortality BL = live, fully bleached OM = old mortality XX = another organism or substratum not part of the clump

26. Method-5-Detailed Level3 Examine the entire surfaceof everycolony, solitary coral or clump (but no fragments).Note presence of any: • Disease–identify any unambiguous disease by its code; put UK (unknown) when unsure. +Only if not recorded already on the outer surface: • Bleaching–as P(pale) and/or BL (fully bleached). • Mortality–as NM (new mortality), TM (transitional mortality), OM (old mortality), or SD (entire coral is standing dead). • Comments–note if coral is loose or wedged or any other relevant observations. SeeDetailed Belt Instructions in theBLAGRRA Detailed Belts UW Datasheet-V2at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA

27. Method-6 Periodically check your bottom time and air supply. After finishing the belt on one side of the transect line, survey all the ≥ 4 cm corals that are at least partially within a .5-m wide belt on the 2nd side of the line. Be careful not to resurvey corals beneath the line that would have been recorded during the 1st belt transect. If time or air are limited, or the number of corals is very large, and the 10 m x 1 m transect cannot be completed within one long dive: • note how many meters have been surveyed; • tally (e.g.,llll lll = 8) and record the numbers of each species remaining in the belt (as corals, clumps or fragments, and note how many meters were tallied.

28. Method-7 If any other kind of benthic organism is conspicuously perturbed by bleaching, disease, or some other perturbation, note: • its name or species code; • its approximate abundance by % cover or number; • the approximate % or number affected by the perturbation. Diseased: Gorgonia (octocoral) Aplysina (sponge) © J. Bruno © J. Garzón

29. Part of a BLAGRRA Basic Belt UW-V2.0 Datasheet Part of a BLAGRRA Detailed Belt UW-V2.0 Datasheet

30. Part of a BLAGRRA Basic Belt Data Entry-V2.0 Spreadsheet • Every day, enter all data for each dive in a separate copy of the BLAGRRA Basic Belt Data Entry-V2.0 spreadsheet. • Check for accuracy. • Store UW datasheets and data entry files in secure locations. • Send data entry files to data@agrra.org for processing, archiving, and possible posting online at www.agrra.org.

31. Part of a BLAGRRA Detailed Belt Data Entry-V2.0 Spreadsheet • Every day, enter all data for each dive in a separate copy of the BLAGRRA Detailed Belt Data Entry-V2.0 spreadsheet. • Check for accuracy. • Store UW datasheets and data entry files in secure locations. • Send data entry files to data@agrra.org for processing, archiving, and possible posting online at www.agrra.org.

32. Bleached October 2005 TM BL OM Dead June 2006 OM © R. Goodridge © R. Goodridge Also recommended Tag, repeatedly observe, and photograph if possible from the same angle, some corals in habitats most affected by the perturbation, to determine local timing of the shifts from: • stress to new mortality or recovery (either initial or permanent); • new mortality to transitional mortality (or recovery); • transitional mortality to old mortality.

33. BLAGRRA Belt Transects During an ecological emergency, go directly to: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA To rapidly assess stony coral mortality at the ecosystem-level during ecological emergencies, see BLAGRRA Belt Transects at: www.agrra.org/BLAGRRA For more about the AGRRA Project, see: www.agrra.org Prepared for the AGRRA Project by: Judith C. Lang, September 2010