Coral Reef Health Assessment Workshop

1. Coral Reef Health Assessment Workshop By A. Bittinger

2. Outline… • Importance of Coral Reefs • Diagnosis • Identifying Problems • Mitigation Measures • Coral Reef Restoration

3. Introduction: Importance of Coral Reefs in the Environment. Why do we assess reef health? • Home to 25% of all marine fish • Support tourist economies • Source of drugs for medical use • Generate billions in revenue • Food source for 300 million people • Coastal protection from wave erosion • 20 million scuba divers • Great beauty and spiritual value • Climate change indicators Healthy Acropora prolifera coral

4. What do we monitor? • High-value fish typically targeted by aquarium collectors, spear fishermen and others. • Count at family level -- some species • Invertebrate species typically targeted as food species or collected for curio trade. • Substrate categories chosen to detect large scale changes.

5. How do you diagnose coral reef health? • Dive surveys – transects • Substrate Identification (Reef Check Substrate ID Training Module) • Species identification and quantification (Reef Check Instruction Manual, EcoReefs Site Surveys and Assessments) • Water quality measurements Example of a diver transect survey

6. Identifying Problems: Focusing on a spectrum of environmental factors • Identified Natural and Human-Induced Stresses • High sediment loads • High nutrient loads • Bleaching • Anchoring, Grounding, Vessel discharge • Too much algae • Disease • Destructive Fishing Practices (blast fishing, cyanide fishing, over fishing, reef gleaning, poor net practices, muro-ami) • Pollution (oil spills, sewage outflows, industrial outflows, agricultural runoff) • Mining • Trash • Invasive species (Crown of Thorns) • Coastal Development • Overuse from tourism • Habitat destruction • Climate change • Extreme biologic events • Tectonic activity (volcanoes, lava, uplift) • Storms and wave action (tropical cyclones) • Freshwater runoff Major coral reef sites are seen as red dots on this world map. Most of the reefs, with a few exceptions are found in tropical and semitropical waters, between 30° north and 30° south latitudes (NOAA, CoRIS).

7. Human-Induced Natural Spectrum of Stress Factors • Invasive Species (crown of thorns) • Storms and wave action (tropical cyclones) • Freshwater runoff • Tectonic activity • Disease • Algae Diseased Colpophyllia natans (Giant Brain Coral) - Southwater Cay, Caribbean, Belize

8. Human-Induced Natural Spectrum of Stress Factors • High Nutrients • High Sediments • Bleaching • Climate Change Sediment in water column from hurricane

9. Human-Induced Natural Spectrum of Stress Factors • Coastal Development • Overuse from Tourism • Habitat Destruction • Vessel Grounding • Anchoring Feeding humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) by divers. French Polynesia

10. Human-Induced Natural Spectrum of Stress Factors • Destructive Fishing Practices • Cyanide poisoning • Blast fishing • Muro-ami • Overfishing • Reef gleaning

11. Human-Induced Natural Spectrum of Stress Factors • Pollution (oil spills, vessel discharge) • Trash • Industrial Outfalls

12. Mitigation Measures • Development and Management of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). • Monitoring and Removal of Derelict Fishing Nets and Marine Debris. • Restoration of orphaned or adjacent sites. • Reduce pollution and coastal runoff. • Reduce or eliminate over-fishing. • Restrict stressful activities. • Remove coral predators. • Artificially shade or cool selected reefs to lessen the bleaching impacts. • Improve Aids to Navigation (ATONs). • Improve public education and community involvement.

13. Mitigation Measures: Development and Management of MPAs • Objectives • Provide shelter to biodiversity from climate related impacts that cause bleaching. • Allow for recovery of massive corals. • Reduce reef damage from destructive fishing practices and storm drainage. • Action: Identify patterns of bleaching, resilience, and recovery with respect to environmental factors. Survey bleached areas and select sites for monitoring regular long-term activity.

14. Mitigation Measures: Monitoring and Removal of Derelict Fishing Nets and Marine Debris. • Survey Methods • Beach – some sources recommend not removing debris because of further environmental damage, other sources have been cited as burning debris to prevent wildlife from entanglement. • Ocean – shows trends in debris location • Benthic – ability to remove debris by diver or boat • Ship site – no removal associated • Ship trawl – removal of sampled area only • Remote sensing – satellite ocean winds detect areas of convergence which are likely to contain large amounts of derelict nets and gear; currently being investigated by NMFS Honolulu Laboratory • Action: Removal of debris; better MARPOL enforcement

15. Mitigation Measures: Transplant Restoration • Methods: • Sowing bits and pieces of damaged collected material. • Planting with a portion of rock. • Clean surface and cement or epoxy around organism edges. • Establish ceramic reef kits for sown bits to attach and reproduce.

16. Mitigation Measures: Reduce pollution and coastal runoff– healthy ecosystems are more easily recover able. • Implement sewage treatment measures. • Implement solid waste removal procedures. • Filter and regulate plant outflow. • Reduce or eliminate nutrients and toxins on agricultural land and at the head of the watershed to reduce polluted runoff.

17. Mitigation Measures: Reduce over-fishing • Impose enforced fishing limits • Prohibit vessels from entering areas of impact or recovery • Prohibit destructive fishing, trawling, or netting procedures in reef areas

18. Mitigation Measures: Restrict stressful activities • Prohibit diving, snorkeling, boating, and fishing in impacted or recovery areas. Tourist standing on reef. • Mark prohibited and recovering areas with special purpose buoys.

19. Mitigation Measures: Remove coral predators • Collect and relocate crown of thorns. • Reduce coral-eating snails. • Create and enforce no-take zones in impacted or recovering areas.

20. Mitigation Measures: Artificial shade and cooling • Patches of algae are known to help prevent bleaching in shaded areas.

21. Mitigation Measures: Improve ATONs • Use special purpose buoys to mark impacted or recovering areas to prohibit entry • Provide awareness of shallow depths • Signify MPAs • Show direction of danger • Exhibit site and sound signals

22. Mitigation Measures: Improve public education and community involvement • Recruit community volunteers for clean-up activities and provide feedback on reef health due to clean-up. • Provide information to the public on the importance of coral reefs at: • Community board meetings • Local marinas • Schools • Libraries • Action: Get involved in your local community Post Loy Kratong Festival Beach Clean Up, Coral Reef Institute Beach & Underwater Clean-Up

23. Coral Reef Restoration • Intervention • Transplanting • Topography rebuilding with dislodged massive corals • Stabilizing widespread fractures • Non-intervention • Closures • Develop MPAs

24. Coral Reef Restoration: Transplanting Transplanting is a useful tool, however it is still in experimental stages. Careful consideration must be made in choosing species that are biologically, ecologically, and environmentally compatible with the region. • Pros • Immediate increase in coral coverage, diversity, rugosity, and herbivore shelter. • Survival of locally rare species and reintroduction where there is a limited larval supply. • Improve aesthetics for tourism areas. • Cons • Loss from donor areas • High mortality rates and loss from wave action • Reduced growth rates and fecundity due to stress

25. Coral Reef Restoration: Rebuilding Methods • Rescue damaged resources and store in a safe place for transplant • Right overturned boulders • Salvage broken pieces in crates • Remove or Stabilize Loose Debris • Stabilize with mortar • Cap with boulders • Use divers to transport • Structural Reconstruction • Repair or replace 3D relief • Replace dislodged or shifted formations to their original locations • Fabricate structures from limestone or molded cement Reef-building staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis)

26. Coral Reef Restoration: Success Criteria • Stability – Are the corals able to withstand currents and wave action? • Toxicity – Are there death or signs of stress due to leaching? • Aesthetics – Does the new habitat match the original natural habitat? • Rubble Stability – Are substrates secure? • Action: If 20% or more of structures are moved, deteriorated, or damaged then remedial action should be taken asap.

27. For further information… • Reef Check – Complete surveys, guides, and manuals to coral reef health assessment. http://www.reefcheck.org • NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch – http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov • NOAA’s Coral Health and Monitoring Program - http://www.coral.noaa.gov/

28. References • Corals are “IN HOT WATER”: How NOAA Satellites are Helping. NOAA Magazine. July 31, 2006. • Donohue, Mary J., Russell Brainard, Michael Parkel, and David Foley. Mitigation of Environmental Impacts of Derelict Fishing Gear Through Debris Removal and Environmental Monitoring.[Online 26 September 2006] http://hawaiihumpbackwhale.noaa.gov/graphics/special_offerings/Issue_Paper_5.pdf. • EcoReefs: Coral Reef Rehabilitation. [Online October 13, 2006] http://www.ecoreefs.com/home.php • Edwards, Alasdair J., and Susan Clark.  1998.  Coral Transplantation: A Useful Management Tool or Misguided Meddling? Marine Pollution Bulletin. Vol. 3.  Nos. 8-12.  pp. 474-487. • Jaap, W.C. 2002. Coral Reef Restoration. Ecological Engineering. Vol. 15. pp. 345-364. • NOAA Coral Reef Watch. Remote Sensing and Coral Reefs, Lesson 7: Threats to Coral Reefs: Natural and Human. [Online October 13, 2006] http://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/education/reef_remote_sensing.html • Reef Check - Publications http://www.reefcheck.org/infocenter/publications.asp • RC Instruction Manual 2004 • RC Teaching Materials • RC ID Training Presentation, Jos Hill • Salm, R.V., S.E. Smith and G Llewellyn. 2001. Mitigating the impact of coral bleaching through marine protected area design. Pp. 81-88 in Schuttenberg, H.Z. (ed.). Coral Bleaching: Causes, Consequences and Response. Selected papers presented at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium on “Coral Bleaching: Assessing and Linking Ecological and Socioeconomic Impacts, Future Trends and Mitigation Planning.” Coastal Management Report #2230, Coastal Resources Center, University of Rhode Island: 102 pp. • All videos are from http://www.reefvid.org