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A National Status Report on United States Coral Reefs Based on 2012–2018 Data From National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Coral Reef Monitoring Program

Authors :
Erica K. Towle
E. Caroline Donovan
Heath Kelsey
Mary E. Allen
Hannah Barkley
Jeremiah Blondeau
Russell E. Brainard
Annie Carew
Courtney S. Couch
Maria K. Dillard
C. Mark Eakin
Kimberly Edwards
Peter E. T. Edwards
Ian C. Enochs
Chloe S. Fleming
Alexandra S. Fries
Erick F. Geiger
Laura Jay Grove
Sarah H. Groves
Matthew Gorstein
Adel Heenan
Matthew W. Johnson
Justine Kimball
Jennifer L. Koss
Tye Kindinger
Arielle Levine
Derek P. Manzello
Nathan Miller
Thomas Oliver
Jennifer C. Samson
Dione Swanson
Bernardo Vargas-Ángel
T. Shay Viehman
Ivor D. Williams
Source :
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 8 (2022)
Publication Year :
2022
Publisher :
Frontiers Media S.A., 2022.

Abstract

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program supports the National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NCRMP) in the United States Pacific, Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico. NCRMP conducts standardized observations of biological, climatic, and socioeconomic indicators across American Samoa, Guam, the Main Hawaiian Islands, the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Pacific Remote Islands, Florida, the Flower Garden Banks, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands. NCRMP provides periodic, national-level assessments of the status of United States coral reef ecosystems and communities connected to them. In 2014, NCRMP partnered with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science on an unprecedented collaboration between federal and jurisdictional/state agencies, academia, and non-governmental organizations to synthesize NCRMP data into a reporting format designed to be accessible and relevant to the public and policy makers. The process involved multi-year data analyses of key benthic, fish, and climate indicators. In populated jurisdictions, socioeconomic data were integrated to assess public support for management actions, participation in pro-environmental behaviors, and awareness of threats to coral reefs. Jurisdictions were scored using a report-card scale (0–100%) by establishing references for each indicator using best-available historical data or expert opinion where historical data did not exist or were not statistically comparable. Despite overall ecosystem scores of Fair for all combined Atlantic (70%) and Pacific (74%) jurisdictions, the current trend is downward with a majority of United States coral reefs declining and vulnerable to further degradation. Remote, uninhabited reefs had an advantage with respect to reef fish population scores, i.e., Flower Garden Banks (85%) and Pacific Remote Islands (93%), when compared to populated location scores, i.e., Puerto Rico (63%) and Main Hawaiian Islands (66%). All coral reefs are highly impacted by climate change, and climate impacts were more pronounced than expected on remote reefs, i.e., the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (58%). Presenting results in a report-card style facilitates communication to the public and policy makers, and provides a useful mechanism to garner support for management actions such as expanding protected areas; enforcing existing regulations; increasing climate change education; reducing land-based sources of pollution; and other actions to improve the trajectory of coral reef ecosystem conditions.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
22967745
Volume :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Frontiers in Marine Science
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b580c37f02d54de78de17724bf16508e
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.812216