|
|
||
|
Search Archive | |
 |
 Using a digital video camera, a diver monitors the relative abundance of coral, sponges, algae, and other organisms at Virgin Islands National Park. The USGS developed several protocols that are now being used by the National Parks Service to monitor coral reefs, fish, nesting and juvenile sea turtles, sea grass beds, and water quality. USGS, Rob Waara
Jeff Miller |
 |
 By Jeff Miller In 1992 the National Park Service began an Inventory and Monitoring Program to gather baseline information and develop monitoring methods to better understand natural resources in the national parks. The focus of this program initially was in-depth, scientifically rigorous, long-term ecological monitoring in 10 biogeographic regions of the National Park System. As a result, Dr. Caroline Rogers, marine ecologist and director of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Caribbean Field Station in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other scientists worked with NPS resource managers to develop protocols to monitor coral reefs, reef fish, nesting and juvenile sea turtles, sea grass beds, and water quality (see “Movies for managers: An advance in coral reef monitoring” in Natural Resource Year in Review—1999). This investment of NPS funding and USGS time and expertise in the development of protocols is paying off for Virgin Islands National Park and many other marine reserves around the globe as they begin to use the protocols in resource monitoring. In 2001 the Inventory and Monitoring Division of Virgin Islands National Park began to implement the USGS monitoring protocols. A close working relationship between the USGS and the National Park Service facilitated the protocol “handoff.” In fact, many of the same individuals who were involved in the protocol development are now NPS employees using the protocols to monitor coral reef and sea grass communities in Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument. These parks have a history of successful resource monitoring, and these latest protocols are being used to build upon a wealth of data spanning decades. For example, the random sampling protocol using a sonar mapping system ensures statistical rigor for independent sampling during sea grass and video (coral) monitoring. Water quality protocols provide quality assurance and control during sampling, preservation, shipping, and analysis. The sea turtle monitoring protocol ensures essential information on threatened and endangered species for park managers. The protocols were specifically designed to extend beyond the Virgin Islands and be useful in many units of the National Park System or other natural areas with coral reef resources. For instance, the video protocol for monitoring coral reefs is being used by the governments of several Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Belize, Puerto Rico, and British and U.S. Virgin Islands. The fish monitoring protocol is consistent with methods used throughout the Caribbean and Hawaii, and the water quality monitoring protocol complements the U.S.Virgin Islands territorial monitoring, thus allowing for large spatial coverage. Biscayne and Dry Tortugas National Parks use the coral reef video monitoring protocol, and resource managers have expressed interest in applying this technique in the Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea. Additionally, the video, reef fish, and sea grass protocols will be used to establish valuable baseline data for resources in two of the most recently designated national park units: Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (including 12,708 acres of submerged lands adjacent to Virgin Islands National Park) and the 18,135-acre expansion of Buck Island Reef National Monument. These protocols have not only elevated the quality and scientific defensibility of monitoring but have also been the subject of more than 25 scientific publications. Protocol methods and data are regularly presented at numerous international scientific and general public meetings, and are taught in workshops and training seminars to scientists and resource managers around the world. What started out as a way to improve upon existing monitoring has developed into the creation of statistically rigorous, scientifically sound, peer-reviewed protocols that are benefiting not only national parks but also resource managers of critical marine habitats worldwide. |
|||
|
This material is from Natural Resource Year in Review--2001, published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, in May 2001 (publication D-2255) /YearInReview/yir/yir2001/04_marine/04_3_miller.html Last Updated: |
