Mike Buchman

2015

2016

2017

Populations of reef-building corals have not recovered significantly in Florida even though management actions focused on achieving this goal have escalated over the last several decades. There is a general consensus among scientists that recruitment failure and poor juvenile survivorship have contributed to this lack of coral recovery, but the extent to which these processes have impeded reestablishment is unclear. To date, studies quantifying coral recruitment and juvenile survivorship in Florida have provided valuable information, but have not been conducted at temporal and spatial scales (e.g., have focused on a few sites, or a single year of data) that will allow adequate assessment of reef resilience to be made. This lack of available information is constraining efforts to manage coral reefs in southern Florida.In this study, we will use a combination of methods to compare coral recruitment rates and juvenile survivorship on tiles and natural reef substrata across a large expanse of the Florida Reef Tract (FRT). The study will elucidate temporal and spatial patterns of coral recruitment by monitoring over 3 years at 30 sites along the FRT:, 18 in the Florida Keys, and 12 in Southeast FL (Appendices I & II). Existing long-term monitoring stations employed by the Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP) will be used as the study sites, thus allowing comparative analysis of the role that extant biological communities and water temperatures play in the recruitment and survival of juvenile corals. Very young coral recruits (<3 months old) are often difficult to identify to the species level using morphology alone, so a further transformative aspect of this project will be the development of a rapid throughput PCR based system that will incorporate species specific molecular markers to identify newly settled recruits. Correlating these molecular markers with recruit morphological characters will improve our ability to make assessments at the species level. In sum, completion of this study will inform reef management and restoration efforts within the FRT by identifying “recruitment hotspots”, as well as identifying those sites and species having limited ability to recover through natural recruitment processes.This project will be highly collaborative. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute FWRI will work directly with the laboratories of Dr. Nicole Fogarty (NOVA SE University) and Dr. Daniel Gleason (Georgia Southern University). Combined, both co-PIs have over 30 years of experience studying aspects of coral recruitment. The FWRI corals program, in partnership with the U.S. EPA, NOAA, NPS, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has successfully managed the CREMP and SECREMP programs since 1996. Collectively, they monitor 80 reefs throughout Florida and their findings have been invaluable in contributing to policy and management decisions in the region. Implementation of a comprehensive effort to evaluate coral recruitment and juvenile survivorship in Florida has remained elusive because such studies are labor intensive and require large numbers of qualified personnel. The team assembled to carry out this study is uniquely qualified, given their collective experience, geographical location, and ongoing research priorities in Florida.

The outcomes from our project will strengthen the science needed to support the holistic management of the FRT. Determining how recruitment and juvenile survivorship varies across species, years, reefs, regions, and management zones while characterizing the physical (water temperature) and biological (adult community composition) parameters that promote success or failure of these processes will support targeted actions to protect coral reef ecosystems. Our study aids in managing for ecosystem resilience, as it evaluates functions necessary for coral reef recovery. This information directly benefits management because regions and/or reefs exhibiting insufficient recruitment are likely incapable of recovery and require restoration. Conversely, regions or reefs identified as “recruitment hotspots” may merit specialized conservation because of their potential to serve as larval sources. A quantitative method to evaluate recruitment success now and in the future will be provided and to identify areas that are potentially resilient to climate change stressors. Species specific results will benefit those interested in coral restoration as our findings will identify those species which have little potential to recover naturally and require active propagation. The spatial framework of the study encompasses a variety of management zones, ranging from full protection (“no take”) to no active management. Evaluating whether “protection” has conferred resilience and promotes greater recruitment and juvenile survivorship is a critical question resource managers need addressed. Lastly, we will produce a tangible product: a comprehensive guide to the identification of coral recruits from the techniques used in this study that will aid researchers for generations to come.

• Florida

• N/A

Other Domestic or Global Project

Closed

Completed

https://www.coris.noaa.gov/search/rest/find/document?searchText=projectNumber%3A1079%20OR%20projectTitle%3A"Investigating%20How%20Coral%20Recruitment%20and%20Juvenile%20Survivorship%20Varies%20Along%20the%20Florida%20Reef%20Tract"&start=1&max=10&f=searchPage