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Define Biocriteria
- Classify coral reefs
- Develop testable hypotheses
- Define data collection protocols
- Biological sampling
- Screen attributes to define metrics
- Determine appropriate sampling effort
- Define data protocols
- Validate decision processes
- Define biocriteria
- Implement monitoring programs
- Diagnose causes of degradation
- Evaluate management effectiveness
- Communicate results
Define expectations for each designated use.
For example, numeric biocriteria would be higher for reserve
areas than for urban bays.
The Clean Water Act requires states and territories to assess and report whether surface waters are supporting their designated uses. For the US Virgin Islands, surface waters are classified into three groups according to their designated uses:
- Class A "Waters are for the preservation of natural phenomena requiring special conditions with existing natural conditions that shall not be changed. Class A water standards are the most stringent of the three classes because of the pristine or near pristine state of waters in this classification."
- Class B "Waters are for the propagation of desirable species of marine life and for primary contact recreation."
- Class C "This classification is similar to Class B, except that it has slightly less stringent water quality standards for a limited number of parameters."
Two other programs under the Clean Water Act specifically require biological monitoring data in coastal marine areas. The 301(h) waiver program allows marine dischargers to defer secondary treatment if they can show the discharge does not affect biological communities. The 403(c) ocean discharger program requires all dischargers to marine waters to provide an assessment of the biological community in the area of the discharge (Jameson et al., 1998).
To define biocriteria in the US Virgin Islands, numeric expectations for coral metrics will be matched to the designated uses assigned to specific coastal waters. Expectations for coral condition may be higher, for example, in Buck Island Reef National Monument than in busy harbors with commercial traffic.
Figure. Shown are the percent of colonies diseased by area sampled in the Florida Keys. To read the graph: 80% of the area sampled had 5% or less of their colonies with evidence of disease. Light gray lines indicate confidence intervals associated with the estimate. Green, yellow, and red bars illustrate how biocriteria might be defined for this measure of coral condition.
Due to the influence of global climate events on coral reef condition, expectations for coral metrics in the US Virgin Islands may need to be linked to coral condition observed in local reference sites. Large-scale climate changes can cause unusual coral loss during a particular year. During these years, a decline in coral reef metric values may be tracking global changes rather than local disturbance. By setting expectations for coral based on observations at reference sites, managers can control for this source of variability.