Overall Accomplishments in Coral Reef National Parks
Reducing the Adverse Impacts of Fishing
NPS and State of Florida Approve Regulations to Protect Dry Tortugas NP.
The Department of the Interior and State of Florida signed an agreement in 2005 reaffirming the critical partnership between the National Park Service and Florida in conserving Dry Tortugas National Park, and maintaining its tremendous biological, cultural and recreational values. The agreement facilitated NPS implementation of the Dry Tortugas NP Research Natural Area (RNA), a "no-take" marine reserve occupying 46% of the park, including much of the coral reef habitat. Florida Governor Jeb Bush and the Cabinet Council subsequently approved regulations to establish the RNA on November 14th, 2006. The primary purposes of the RNA are to restore and protect biological diversity, restore depleted reef gamefish populations and protect sea grass, coral reefs, and other benthic habitats from anchor damage (anchoring is prohibited). The RNA sets aside these critical shallow-water habitats as part of the 197 square-mile Tortugas Ecological Reserve, the largest marine reserve in North America. The National Park Service will work closely with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and other partners to monitor and adapt the management area to meet its long-term conservation goals.
Biscayne National Park Fisheries Plan Moves Forward. NPS and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission published a proposed Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the joint fisheries management plan for Biscayne NP. The joint plan is the first of its kind in the National Park System to be based on quantifiable, desired future conditions for restoring and maintaining fish stocks. The plan will transcend jurisdictional boundaries to address declines in coral reef fish and shellfish in the park, and help to ensure future recreational opportunities. The plan received extensive public input from the public and a working group of recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, scuba divers and conservation groups.
Monitoring Coral Reef Health
NPS Monitoring Network Tracks Hurricane and Bleaching Impacts. The NPS Inventory and Monitoring Networks acquire and integrate scientific information to enable park managers to conserve natural resources in the National Park System. Scientists with the South FloridaCaribbean Inventory and Monitoring Network (SFCN) monitor coral reefs within four parks: Dry Tortugas National Park and Biscayne National Park in Florida and Virgin Islands National Park (St. John, U.S.V.I) and Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, U.S.V.I). Hurricanes, bleaching events and coral disease outbreaks brought unprecedented change and stress to coral reefs in these parks in 2004 and 2005. Using statistically rigorous and peer-reviewed methods, SFCN scientists are able to track changes and advise managers of conditions within these coral reefs before, during, and after major reef-altering events. The network tracked damage to corals from a total of seven hurricanes at Dry Tortugas NP, and five hurricanes at Biscayne NP.
Integrating Scientific Information to Support Pacific Park Management.
The NPS Pacific Island Coral Reef Program (PICRP) advanced several partnerships with the NPS Pacific Islands Inventory and Monitoring Network, University of Hawaii, State of Hawaii, NOAA and USGS to advance scientific understanding of coral reefs in National Parks and at regional scales. NPS PICRP supports park inventories of marine algae, including alien species, marine invertebrates, and develops scientifically and statistically rigorous monitoring of coral reef benthic communities, reef fishes, and fisheries harvest. These cooperative efforts are being integrated in a geospatial, relational database for assessing park watershed condition, land use and development and changes in marine environments. The NPS marine geodata base is being featured as a case study in a new book on Marine GIS, to be published by ESRI Press.
NPS and USGS Respond to Major Caribbean Coral Bleaching Event
Longterm Monitoring Reveals Critical Disease Outbreak. Environmental stress from high sea temperatures can cause corals to lose their symbiotic algae that live inside their tissue, which leaves the tissue transparent and reveals the white skeleton underneath. This potentially fatal reaction gives the coral a “bleached” appearance. In 2005, record warm ocean surfaces temperatures contributed to the most severe coral bleaching event in the Virgin Islands ever recorded, causing nearly 50% loss of live coral cover in six NPS longterm monitoring sites at Virgin Islands National Park and Buck Island Reef National Monument. The NPS South Florida/Caribbean I&M Network and USGS Caribbean Field Station were able to begin assessing the scale and extent of coral bleaching as soon as water temperatures began to rise in fall 2005. Moreover, increased monitoring enabled NPS and USGS to observe that many coral colonies suffered from severe outbreaks of disease after bleaching. This “one-two punch” from bleaching and disease caused the ultimate loss of nearly 50% of live coral cover among major reef building species. USGS and NPS also increased monitoring of elkhorn corals (A.palmata), a species that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in May 2006. Of 400 colonies monitored on St. John, an average 50% bleached, and of those that bleached, 36% died partially, and 15% died completely. For more information, see Coral Disease and Bleaching Deliver “One-Two Punch” to Coral Reefs in U.S. Virgin Islands.
Reducing Pollution
War-in-the-Pacific NHP Completes Sedimentation Study. NPS completed its cooperative research with the University of Guam and Territory of Guam into the effects of vegetation burning on sedimentation and water quality. The study found that intentional fires cause changes in native plant communities and denude areas of vegetation, which result in wildfires and high sediment runoff rates. Sediments in the marine environment can smother corals and reduce light availability, as well as adversely affect coral survival, reproduction and recruitment. Preliminary park studies in Asan Bay indicate declining levels of coral recruitment (settlement of coral larvae). The study will provide a basis to formulate fire prevention and watershed restoration options in and around War-in-the-Pacific National Historical Park.
Invasive Algae Control Assessed at Kaloko Honokahau NHP. NPS and the University of Hawaii conducted joint studies on removing and controlling invasive algae (A. spicifera) from the park. Alien algae invaded an historic native Hawaiian fish pond and could spread to the nearby reef during physical and ecological restoration of the pond. The study tested various removal methods for eliminating or reducing algae from the pond and preventing dispersal into nearshore waters. A. spicifera can smother coral reefs and disrupt reef ecosystems. Surveys found no existing algae invasions to the reef area in the park.