Incorporating Coral Reef Bleaching Resilience in South Florida into Restoration and Conservation Activities

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1 Incorporating Coral Reef Bleaching Resilience in South Florida into Restoration and Conservation Activities Meaghan Johnson Marine Science Coordinator The Nature Conservancy Florida Keys Office

2 Overview Brief overview of the Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP) Disturbance Response Monitoring Program (data and results) Guiding large scale Acropora coral restoration

3 FRRP Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP) Collaborative effort among managers, scientists, conservation organizations and reef users Resilience based management concept Goals 1) Identify resilient reef areas along the south Florida reef tract 2) Guide the protection and management of those reef areas

4 A Public and Private Partnership

5 Benefits of Coral Reefs Biodiversity Food Recreation Tourism Coastal Protection Medicine Livelihood Economic value of FL coral reefs is $4.4 billion annually

6 Human Impacts Destructive Fishing Coastal Development (c) Wolcott Henry 2005/Marine Photobank Pollution (c) Wolcott Henry 2005/Marine Photobank Steve Spring/Marine Photobank Recreational Fishing & Diving

7 FRRP Questions 1) Under a global climate change scenario, are there reef areas/coral populations that are destined to become the winners 1 and others destined to become the losers? 2) If so, what are some of the driving factors influencing this pattern? 3) If so, how will reef ecosystem services (fishing, diving, etc.. ) be affected? 4) Are there management strategies that can confer/enhance resistance/tolerance/recovery to S. Florida reefs? 1. Loya Y, Sakai K, Yamazato K, Nakano Y, Sambali H, Van Woesik R (2001) Ecology Letters 4:

8 Where is FRRP? The FRRP spans the reefs from St. Lucie Inlet to the Dry Tortugas Dry Tortugas Key West St. Lucie Inlet Miami Marathon

9 Spatial Framework Provides a unified method of dividing up and looking at the reef tract Created by reviewing existing maps, data, and biophysical info Currently made up of 9 sub-regions and 59 zones

10 FRRP Disturbance Response Monitor coral reef health after disturbances Monitoring (DRM) focused coral bleaching Trained experts survey stony corals on FL reef tract during peak annual temperatures (6-8 weeks) Follow-up surveys after moderate/severe bleaching years (e.g. 2005) Can be used for other disturbances (e.g. hurricanes, cold water)

11 DRM Field Methods Random sites generated and assigned to teams 1 x 10m belt transects (2/site) Measure/assess all corals (>=4 cm) Species level identification Bleaching and disease (visually) Data entered online Database queried for results

12 Surveyed Sites FRRP Survey Sites

13 2005 Bleaching Extent By Zone Pilot surveys- 118 surveyed sites Mild to moderate bleaching (0-50%) Moderate bleaching occuring in all sub-regions Highest in the Middle Keys inshore zone (severe)

14 2005 Temperature Stress 2005 In-situ summer water temperatures at Mid-channel -Hens & Chickens-10 feet Reef Margin-Molasses reef- 20 feet 33 Hurricane Katrina In-situ temp (C) Hurricane Dennis Hurricane Rita 26 6/20/05 7/10/05 7/30/05 8/19/05 9/8/05 9/28/05 10/18/05 Harold Hudson of FKNMS Date

15 202 surveyed sites Mild to moderate bleaching (0-50%) Moderate bleaching occurring in the Lower, Middle, Upper Keys and Biscayne sub-regions 2010 Bleaching Extent by Zone

16 FRRP Data Analysis Results Martin Palm Beach Broward Yellow dots = broadcast spawning corals Brain corals Star corals Biscayne Upper Keys Red dots = large coral heads >~3000 cm 2 total area

17 Water Temperature as low as 8 C 15 C is critical low temperature for Corals Most Severe Cold Water in Upper Keys and Middle Keys Nearshore Zones 2010 January Cold Water Event

18 2010 January Cold Water Event

19 78 surveyed sites 3 week period (Jan 25-Feb 12) Moderate bleaching in the Upper Keys 2010 Cold Water Event

20 2010 Cold Water Event

21 Staghorn Coral Restoration Goals To compare genetic fitness in staghorn coral across four sub-regions of the south Florida reef tract To evaluate sub-regional and sub-zonal variation in growth and survival Determine reef areas where large-scale restoration efforts will provide the greatest returns.

22 Pilot Project Results Results Each sub-region had significantly different growth rates within different zones Zones with the highest percent survivorship don t always have the highest mean growth rates (eg. Inshore) Genotypes that had significantly higher mean growth rates in the nursery, don t necessarily have the highest when outplanted Highest survivorship in the Mid-Channel and Forereef zones

23 ARRA Acropora Coral Restoration When American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) money became available, four nurseries were up and running, existing partners were ready to expand, and new partners were looking to join.

24 Project Goals and Objectives Short term: - Produce at least 12,000 additional acroporid coral colonies in nursery - Outplant at least 5,000 coral colonies to no less than 34 degraded coral reef sites throughout Florida and the USVI Long term: - Restore degraded coral reefs - Increase acroporid larval production and genetic diversity by increasing the likelihood of successful cross-fertilization between genetically distinct colonies - Determine the most resilient coral strains and optimum environmental factors which foster the best coral reef recovery

25 Choosing Restoration Sites Where do we put them? Maximize success and restoration dollars

26 Summary Large-scale monitoring program is in place to respond to disturbances and document coral condition across the South Florida reef tract Spatial and temporal data indicate that some reef areas may be more resilient Bleaching and pilot scale data being used to guide restoration activities

27 Thank You!!