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Define Data Collection Protocols
- 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
Collect appropriate biological data
The variety and diversity of organisms found in coral reefs provide many choices regarding which species to monitor. Biocriteria could be developed for fish, corals, macroinvertebrates, zooplankton, macrophytes, or phytoplankton. Because stony (scleractinian) corals create the complex 3D structure that many of these species depend on, they will be monitored to asses reef condition in the US Virgin Islands.
In the US Virgin Islands, a radial transect will be delineated around each sampling location and within the transect the identify, size, and percent live tissue will be recorded for each coral colony. Because corals are fragile, divers collect the measurements without touching them. From the three measurements, endpoints related to 3D surface area, topographic complexity, percent of live coral, and total amount of live coral are calculated.
Document type and magnitude of human activity for each sample site
For corals, disturbance occurs at two spatial scales. Global climate patterns associated with increased temperature and solar radiation can damage corals as can local land use patterns that generate sediment and nutrients.
For the US Virgin Islands, narrative descriptions of human influence will be developed for each sampling location. Proximity to agriculture or urban development, presence of docks or moorings, physical damage to coral, and similar evidence will be used to document minimally influenced and degraded sites. Other information related to water quality, e.g., bacterial counts from beaches, will be used when available to quantify the intensity of human influence.
For each coral colony, three measurements are made: width (pictured), length, and height. Please see the Stony Coral Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (EPA/600/R-06/167, July 2007) (72pp, 4.87MB, About PDF) for more information.