Long-Term Reef Monitoring

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Florida Career College, Fort Lauderdale *

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9

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Geography

Date

Apr 3, 2024

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pdf

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4

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Name: _____________________________________________ Period: ___ Date: _________ Long-Term Reef Monitoring Modified from NOAA ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ) Learning Objectives ● Describe how a reef habitat is marked for monitoring ● Explain what techniques are used to make monitoring work more efficient and why ● Identify habitat changes in reef monitoring images and potential causes of those changes ● Discuss challenges in monitoring techniques and image evaluation Background Information Monitoring Data Long-term monitoring data has been collected at East and West Flower Garden Banks within a national marine sanctuary on a continuous basis since 1978. A second monitoring project was added in 2002 These monitoring activities constitute one of the longest monitoring programs of a coral reef anywhere in the world! Monitoring activities include, but are not limited to, repetitive photo stations. Reef Photo Stations Stations on the reef are marked with metal pins and assigned numbers or letters. This is the least destructive way to mark a spot on a reef. These pins help researchers return to the exact same location each year to take photos. To make the photos the same every year, researchers mount the camera on a special Tframe. The camera is positioned in the middle of the crossbar at the top of the ‘T’ with the lens facing down toward the ground. A compass, a level, and camera flashes are also mounted on the crossbar. The base of the T-frame is placed at the pin location. The frame is rotated until it is facing north and the level is used to make sure the camera is perpendicular to the sea floor. Then, the picture is taken. This system allows the camera to capture the exact same area in the image every year. By comparing photos from year to year, scientists can evaluate any changes occurring on the reef. Instructions Study changes in coral reefs by comparing pictures from monitoring activities at 3 locations in the Gulf of Mexico: East Flower Garden Bank, West Flower Garden Bank, and Stetson Bank. Through these comparisons, you will see exactly how coral growth, coral cover, loss of tissue, and incidents of bleaching and disease change with time. This is exactly how real coral biologists study changes in coral communities over time.
Stations: 1. East Flower Garden Bank (1989 - 2014) www.flowergarden.noaa.gov/image_library/efgbmonitoringimages.html 2. West Flower Garden Bank (1989 - 2014) www.flowergarden.noaa.gov/image_library/wfgbmonitoringimages.html 3. Stetson Bank (2002 - 2011) www.flowergarden.noaa.gov/image_library/stetsonmonitoringimages.html Questions 1. Before you begin photo comparisons, what technique(s) do you plan to use? (1 pt) 2. Compare the pictures from year to year per station using the links above. Under “Noticeable Differences”, write at least 4 major noticeable differences between pictures. Be as specific as possible. Differences may include, but are not limited to, color change, change in size of objects, new objects, missing objects , etc. Under “# of Differences”, estimate how many differences you were able to find per station. (15 pts) Station Noticeable Differences # of Differences East Flower Garden Bank Color goes from blue to bleached Color is beginning to become green as new objects appear color begins to reappear and more green populates the area Green takes over more of the surrounding area The green begins to diminish and blue once more begins to take over Blue fully taking over Color drains more as it becomes a dullish green Color completely goes away The color becomes more blue Color once more fades all the way to dull Green begins to return to the coral Coral turns blue 13 West Flower Garden Bank Algae grew on it More coral Fish slowly disappeared coral turned more green/purple Large corals turned whitish Coral grew larger and took on the whole picture 6
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