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Evaluation of stony coral indicators for coral reef management |
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| Authors: | Fisher William S Fore Leska S Hutchins Aaron Quarles Robert L Campbell Jed G LoBue Charles Davis Wayne S |
| Institution: | a US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Gulf Breeze, FL 32561, United States b Statistical Design, Seattle, WA 98107, United States c US Virgin Islands, Department of Planning and Natural Resources, Frederiksted, St. Croix, USVI 00840, United States d US Environmental Protection Agency, Region 2, New York, NY 10007, United States e US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Environmental Information, Ft. Meade, MD 20755, United States |
| Abstract: | Colonies of reef-building stony corals at 57 stations around St. Croix, US Virgin Islands were characterized by species, size and percentage of living tissue. Taxonomic, biological and physical indicators of coral condition were derived from these measurements and assessed for their response to gradients of human disturbance—a requirement for indicators used in regulatory assessments under authority of the Clean Water Act. At the most intensely disturbed location, five of eight primary indicators were highly correlated with distance from the source of disturbance: Coral taxa richness, average colony size, the coefficient of variation of colony size, total topographic coral surface area, and live coral surface area. An additional set of exploratory indicators related to rarity, reproductive and spawning mode and taxonomic identity were also screened. The primary indicators demonstrated sufficient precision to detect levels of change that would be applicable in a regional-scale regulatory program. |
| Keywords: | Coral reef assessment Coral bioassessment Biocriteria Stony corals Coral reef management Water quality Metric testing US Virgin Islands Caribbean Sea |
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