Williams, D.

Demographic monitoring of Acropora species (Permit Number: FKNMS-2008-080)

2010

2

Final Report

"Acropora spp. populations in the Florida Keys and throughout the Caribbean have declined by greater than 90% since the 1980s. The remaining population faces a variety of natural and anthropogenic pressures that threaten population level recovery. This study has two main objectives: 1. Determine the current population status and trends including recruitment from both asexual and sexual sources 2. Determine the relative importance of the various threats facing Acropora spp. in the Florida Keys. Permanent study plots were established at haphazardly selected locations on reefs in the upper Florida Keys and have been monitored since following the protocol outlined by Williams et al. 2006. Fifteen plots were established in 2004 and 15 additional plots were established in 2009-10 under the auspices of this permit at French Reef (2), Sand Island (3), Turtle Rocks (3) and White Bank Dry Rocks (3) Carysfort (1) Key Largo Dry Rocks (1) and Grecian Rocks (2)"

FY2010 CRCP Project ID: 20430; Project Title: Evaluation of Acropora Status for Management, Recovery and Climate Response; Principal Investigator: Margaret Miller