Issue
Sediment plume impact on a coastal reef
Coral reefs are among the most valuable
and spectacular environments on earth, and are among the most
productive and diverse marine ecosystems. The United States'
coral reefs are valuable assets that contribute to a healthy
economy by providing food, jobs, and protection from storms.
Reefs create habitat for many fish and related species with commercial
and recreational value. They support tourism and recreational
industries by providing diving and snorkeling destinations, as
well as sheltering beaches from the effects of storm activity.
Coral reef related activities provide a significant economic
benefit for many regions of the United States and the rest of
the world.
Scientific evidence indicates that many coral reefs are deteriorating
rapidly worldwide. Symptoms of this decline include the loss
of hard corals, an increased abundance of algae, and a dramatic
increase in bleaching episodes and disease outbreaks. Scientists
and managers still lack critical information about many of the
causes of coral decline, but evidence points to stresses caused
by a variety of human factors (see inset above). Human impacts
act separately and in combination with natural factors such as
hurricanes, high water temperature, and disease to stress corals
and degrade reef systems.
Globally, coral reefs appear to be experiencing large-scale
ecological and physical changes. Both the amplitude and frequency
of these events have no recent historical equivalents. Scientists
and managers alike recognize that new and innovative programs
are needed to resolve constraints in scientific knowledge of
reef structure and function as it relates to issues of assessment,
monitoring, and restoration.
Approach
The National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI) at the Nova Southeastern
University Oceanographic Center was established by Congressional
mandate in 1998. NCRI's primary objective is the protection and
preservation of coral reefs through applied and basic research
on coral reef diversity, assessment, monitoring, and restoration
coupled with education and training of scientists, managers,
and educators. The Coastal Ocean Program (COP) of the Center
for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research (CSCOR), part of NOAA's
National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, continues to support
the NCRI. The NCRI conducts research and monitoring that meets
the research goals and objectives called for in the Coral Reef
Conservation Act of 2000. NCRI scientists conduct projects designed
to address coral reef issues which support both the mission of
NOAA and the efforts of the Coral Reef Task Force to improve
the definition of research and monitoring needs, thus enabling
better management of the nation's coral reefs.
Through active research and collaborative funding, NCRI undertakes
and facilitates hypothesis-based scientific research in emerging
reef issues and technologies. NCRI provides scientific synthesis
and evaluation criteria of existing programs for use by the research
and management community. These include the study of minimally
impacted, stressed, and imminently endangered reefs. Assessing
and monitoring biodiversity is a priority, especially as it affects
and interacts with ecological processes, overall reef function,
reef recovery, and restoration. NCRI's primary capability is
that of offering a strong scientific focus as well as innovative
approaches to relevant scientific issues in all aspects of coral
reef biology. NCRI collaborations include work with various branches
of NOAA such as the National Marine Fisheries Service and the
National Oceanographic Data Center, U.S. Navy Office of Naval
Research, City of Miami Beach, Broward County DPEP, National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Geological Survey, the State
of Florida, the National Park Service, the South Florida Ocean
Measurement Center, Florida Atlantic University, University of
South Florida, and the University of Miami.
In FY2005, Congress appropriated $1.0M to continue the work
of NCRI for year-8. NCRI's current and planned research projects
and collaborations include: innovative methods and programs to
assess and monitor coral reefs on a global scale; investigations
of ecological and genetic methods of and responses to coral reef
restoration; and, mapping, remote sensing, and biological inventories
of coral reefs. NCRI is active on coral reefs throughout the
US territorial seas, from the western Pacific to the Atlantic
and beyond .
Management and Policy Implications
Assessing coral reef health
NCRI close partnership state and federal agencies will ensure
that state of the science information is made available in a
timely manner to the agency responsible for the protection of
coral reefs in Florida . The collaboration in NCRI between scientists
and managers will result in scientifically sound management strategies
and policies. Finally, NCRI will also provide a mechanism through
which management practices can be evaluated and modified as necessary
in order to maximize their effectiveness.
Accomplishments
The NCRI published the Proceedings of the International Coral
Reef Conference as a special issue of the Bulletin of Marine
Science . This peer-reviewed scientific volume sets forth important
issues and priorities dealing with coral reef ecosystems and
restoration. A major focus of the conference was to evaluate
effectiveness of current restoration techniques and to identify
information gaps and needs. This publication and NCRI scientific
findings are providing the kind of information needed by resource
managers to mitigate or reverse coral reef degradation.
The NCRI's research efforts have impacted the coral reef management
community on both a local and global scale. Locally, NCRI has
worked closely with the Broward County Department of Environmental
Protection during their extensive mapping and monitoring efforts
in the area, as well as the development of an indicator for coral
stress that allows managers the ability to monitor the health
of the coral reef ecosystem during a beach renourishment project.
On a global scale, NCRI's innovative NCRI Monitoring Network
is providing a better understanding of both regional and world-wide,
large-scale coral reef ecosystem trajectories.
Current Projects
Assessment: Mapping
Assessment: Reef Function
Assessment: Molecular Genetics of Reef Populations
Assessment: Fishes
Assessment:Software
Monitoring
Restoration
Others
Related Links
National Coral Reef Institute
For More Information
Note: NCRI is a CSCOR coral reef core program contributing to
the mission of NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation
Program.