Long-Term Reef Monitoring
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Florida Career College, Fort Lauderdale *
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Course
9
Subject
Geography
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
Pages
4
Uploaded by ConstableCheetah2024
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
Stetson Bank
Coral at first gains color
Coral begins to dull completely
Brown substances begin to appear rapidly
The brown begins to fade into other colors
The brown becomes pink and adds more colors
The colors once again begin to fade away till dull and grew
The colors drastically become bluer
The colors begin to become more green
The colors begin to fade but not as much as before
9
3.
What techniques did you use when comparing pictures? Did color make it harder or
easier? Did the subject matter (e.g. type of coral) make it easier or harder? Did it matter
how “busy” the picture was? (5 pts)
The techniques I used were that I compared them side by side and looked at the differences
between them. The color made it easier because it made the difference pretty obvious. Subject
matter also made it easier.
4.
Which station had the most change from when monitoring began through the present? (1
pt)
The East Flower Garden Bank (1989-2014)
5.
Were any stations easier to monitor and detect differences than others? Explain. (3 pts)
Stetson Bank had some of the most detected differences as they Showed when different
organisms began to arise and affect their environments.
6.
List the different types of life you can identify in the pictures (coral, fish, sponges, etc.).
(3 pts)
Fish and coral
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7.
Of the specimens you identified in question 5 (above), which of these species are likely
indicators of change over time? Which species are likely poor indicators? Why?
Hint:
Think about what species can leave an area if unfavorable environmental conditions
. (4
pts)
When I saw the fish in the last picture, I noticed that the environment was improving. Life can
now thrive in the area and benefit from it, unlike in the past. Also, the prominent coral
throughout the environment helped me see if conditions were getting better or worse, especially
by looking at the colors.
8.
Between what years were the most significant changes noted? What might have caused
these changes?
Hint: Do some research! What major events occurred in the Gulf of
Mexico in late summer 2005? What major event occurred on coral reefs worldwide
summer 2005?
(4 pts)
In the 2000s, I noticed a lot of changes, especially in how weather and ocean conditions
affected coral reefs. For example, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina damaged reefs in the Gulf of
Mexico. Then, in 2009, the Caribbean experienced high temperatures for weeks, causing 90
percent of coral reefs to bleach, with 60 percent of them dying later on.