My primary area of research is marine spatial ecology, with particular focus on the application of landscape ecology concepts and tools to marine ecosystems. A central theme of my research has been the influence of spatial structure on the patterning of marine animal diversity, distribution and movement across multiple spatial scales. Much of my research has supported decision making in marine spatial planning and the management of marine protected areas. My analytical and technical skills include GIS, spatial pattern analysis, multivariate statistics, remote sensing image interpretation and acoustic telemetry. Recently, I have focused on social-ecological systems through a seascape ecology lens. I enjoy projects that are ecologically challenging and environmentally and socially useful.
Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of ... more Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of landscape ecology to the seas and provides guidance for future research priorities. The first book devoted exclusively to this rapidly emerging and increasingly important discipline, it is comprised of contributions from researchers at the forefront of seascape ecology working around the world. It presents the principles, concepts, methodology, and techniques informing seascape ecology and reports on the latest developments in the application of the approach to marine ecology and management. A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include: The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, marine management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
This report describes a spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integ... more This report describes a spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integrated management plan for Puerto Rico’s Northeast Marine Corridor. The Northeast Marine Corridor is a large, land-sea reserve network, making it unique in the region for both its size and the integrated land-sea geographical scope. Here we map and model ecological priorities and threats to support managers with risk assessment and prioritization of management actions. The best available data, including local expert knowledge of special ecological places and threats, were compiled to map key marine features, important habitat types and marine species of concern. Ecological priority areas were identified and ranked based on the number of ecologically important attributes across the region and analyzed relative to the distribution of threats and stressors to help managers identify and prioritize areas of concern. The methods and data used for spatial prioritization are described in this report and resultant maps showing ecological priorities and potential stressors are provided. The approach was implemented through a partnership between NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, or Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, with funding from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.
This document presents a comprehensive overview of results from more than a decade of work by the... more This document presents a comprehensive overview of results from more than a decade of work by the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Biogeography Branch and the Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS) to assess status and trends within and around federally managed marine protected areas (MPAs) of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
The report provides: (1) an overview of the history of MPAs, types of MPAs and associated regulations, and a list of all MPAs in the USVI; (2) an ecological performance report for three intensively surveyed MPA units managed by NPS, including 20 biological metrics for fish and benthic habitat; (3) sightings of large-bodied fishes with moderate to high vulnerability to fishing; and (4) synthesis, summary and recommendations for management. This report is the first time that an assessment of ecological performance has been conducted for MPAs in the USVI. A decade of underwater surveys was analyzed to detect trends on coral reefs inside MPAs and for a similar range of habitats outside of MPAs. The information, data synthesis, interpretation and recommendations are intended to help focus management actions and goal setting, inform outreach products and adjust expectations regarding ecological performance for MPAs in the region. The data presented here provide important baselines required for tracking MPA performance through future monitoring efforts.
A new paradigm has emerged for management of coral reefs in an era of changing climate – managing... more A new paradigm has emerged for management of coral reefs in an era of changing climate – managing for resilience. A fundamental need for such management to be effective is our ability to measure and map coral reef resilience. We review the resilience concept and factors that may make a coral reef more or less resilient to climate-driven impacts, and focus on recent advances in a trio of technologies: remote sensing, spatial distribution modeling, and ecosystem simulation; that promise to improve our ability to quantify coral reef resilience across reefs. Remote sensing allows direct mapping of several ecosystem variables that influence reef resilience, including coral and algal cover, as well as a range of coral reef stressors, as exemplified by three case studies. Spatial distribution modeling allows exploitation of statistical relationships between mappable environmental variables and factors that influence resilience but which cannot be mapped directly, such as herbivore biomass. Ecosystem simulation modeling allows predictions to be made for the trajectories of reef ecosystems, given their initial state, interactions between ecosystem components, and a realistic current and future disturbance regime. Together, these technologies have the potential to allow production of coral reef resilience maps. We conclude with a fourth case study that illustrates
integration of resilience maps into a multi-objective decision support framework. Implementation of the managing for resilience paradigm is still in its infancy, but the rapidly advancing technologies reviewed here can provide the resilience maps needed for its successful operationalization.
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of three reports that provide a quantitative spatia... more This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of three reports that provide a quantitative spatial and
temporal characterization of marine biological communities associated with marine protected areas in the
U.S. Caribbean. This work was conducted as part of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project; a partnership effort between NOAA’s National
Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring
and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural
Resources – Division of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Park Service (NPS), the
University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), and the University of Hawaii (UH). The integration of NOAA/NPS led
efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provide spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities
to characterize St. John coral reef ecosystems. The data and analyses in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support management decision making. This project was funded
by CRCP, NOAA’s NCCOS, and the NPS Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Virgin Islands
National Park (VIIS) and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program (SFCN).
This report is the second in a series from a project to assess land-based sources of pollution (L... more This report is the second in a series from a project to assess land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) and effects in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, USVI, and is the result of a collaborative effort between NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the University of the Virgin Islands, and The Nature Conservancy. Passive water samplers (POCIS) were deployed in the STEER in February 2012. Developed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) as a tool to detect the presence of water soluble contaminants in the environment, POCIS samplers were deployed in the STEER at fi ve locations. In addition to the February 2012 deployment, the results from an earlier POCIS deployment in May 2010 in Turpentine Gut, a perennial freshwater stream which drains to the STEER, are also reported. A total of 26 stormwater contaminants were detected at least once during the February 2012 deployment in the STEER. Detections were high enough to estimate ambient water concentrations for nine contaminants using USGS sampling rate values. From the May 2010 deployment in Turpentine Gut, 31 stormwater contaminants were detected, and ambient water concentrations could be estimated for 17 compounds.
This report contains a chemical and biological characterization
of sediments from the St. Thomas... more This report contains a chemical and biological characterization
of sediments from the St. Thomas East End
Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
(USVI). The STEER Management Plan (published in
2011) identifi ed chemical contaminants and habitat loss
as high or very high threats and called for a characterization
of chemical contaminants as well as an assessment of
their effects on natural resources. The baseline information
contained in this report on chemical contaminants,
toxicity and benthic infaunal community composition can
be used to assess current conditions, as well as the effi -
cacy of future restoration activities.
Marine debris is a growing problem in the marine environment with impacts to many user groups. To... more Marine debris is a growing problem in the marine environment with impacts to many user groups. To fully understand the causes and impacts of marine debris requires collaboration from all stakeholders. This project represents a unique partnership, funded by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, to address the economic and ecological impacts of marine debris. Project partners consisted of federal and territorial agencies, academia,
and local commercial fi shermen, whose contributions added greatly to the knowledge of derelict fi sh traps in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the overall success of the project. The purpose of the collaboration was threefold: 1) to assess the causes and potential impacts of lost fi sh traps in the USVI; 2) develop experiments to evaluate potential impacts from ghost fishing, assess trap fouling as a indicator of time-at-sea and quantify trap movement and impacts to benthic communities due to storms; and 3) to assess the efficiency of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) as a tool to detect and verify derelict traps in a coral reef ecosystem. Information regarding fi shing effort and specifi c areas of trap loss provided by the St. Thomas Fisherman’s Association (STFA) were instrumental in understanding the spatial scope of the problem and to provide a baseline to direct AUV surveys. The expertise of the U.S.
Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center’s AUV operations was a valuable asset in searching for derelict traps; and novel field experiments conducted at the the University of the Virgin Islands increased our understanding of the ecological implications of derelict traps. Products from this project include: a text report, a masters thesis, a database on fi shing effort and trap loss in the USVI, and a database on the abundance and distribution of derelict traps that were identified during this project.
This report provides a synthesis of marine monitoring activities that have taken place in the nea... more This report provides a synthesis of marine monitoring activities that have taken place in the nearshore waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands between 1990 and the end of 2009. Summary metadata are provided that describe the monitoring programs, their implementing agency, the ecosystem components that are measured together with maps showing where the measurements were taken. This information is intended to facilitate data sharing and synergies between monitoring programs, inform and enhance strategic planning for regional and national monitoring, avoid duplication of effort and increase knowledge and awareness of the spatial, temporal and compositional characteristics of monitoring in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Coastal and marine classifications, both spatially explicit in the form of maps and nonspatial re... more Coastal and marine classifications, both spatially explicit in the form of maps and nonspatial representations of the environment, are critical to the effective implementation of management strategies such as marine spatial planning. This chapter provides a wide range of classifications and classified maps developed to simplify and communicate biological, physical, social, and economic patterns in support of enhanced management decision making. Examples are provided from around the world and span a range of spatial scales from global classifications to those for individual bays and estuaries. Limitations, future challenges, and priority management needs are discussed.
The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities o... more The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily within the La Parguera Natural Reserve. The reserve is a multi-use area that spans the continental shelf from the extensive mangrove forests fringing the shoreline
to the complex shelfedge coral reefs that support a diverse and productive fish community. The coral reef ecosystem of La Parguera supports a locally important fishery, as well as recreational activities such as boating, snorkeling and diving. The data and synthesis in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support future management decision making. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and was conducted through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Government’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER).
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to DNER by CRCP. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA.
Connectivity across the seascape is expected to have profound consequences for the behavior, grow... more Connectivity across the seascape is expected to have profound consequences for the behavior, growth, survival, and spatial distribution ofmarine species. A landscape ecology approach offers great utility for studying ecological connectivity in tropical marine seascapes. Landscape ecology provides a well developed conceptual and operational framework for addressing complex multi-scale questions regarding the influence of spatial patterning on ecological processes. Landscape ecology can provide quantitative and spatially explicit information at scales relevant to resource management decision making. It will allow us to begin asking key questions such as ‘how much habitat to protect?’, ‘What type of habitat to protect?’, and ‘Which seascape patterns provide optimal, suboptimal, or dysfunctional connectivity for mobile marine organisms?’. While landscape ecology is increasingly being applied to tropical marine seascapes, few studies have dealt explicitly with the issue of connectivity. Herein, we examine the application of landscape ecology to better understand ecological connectivity in tropical marine ecosystems by: (1) reviewing landscape ecology concepts, (2) discussing the landscape ecology methods and tools available for evaluating connectivity, (3) examining data needs and obstacles, (4) reviewing lessons learned from terrestrial landscape ecology and from coral reef ecology studies, and (5) discussing the implications of ecological connectivity for resource management. Several recent studies conducted in coral reef ecosystems demonstrate the powerful utility of landscape ecology approaches for improving our understanding of ecological connectivity and applying results to make more informed decisions for conservation planning.
This Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008 report is the 5th global report since the GCRMN (Gl... more This Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008 report is the 5th global report since the GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network), was formed in 1996 as an operational network of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). The catalyst for GCRMN was the inability of international agencies to report objectively on the health or otherwise of the world’s coral reefs. The US government then provided initial funding to set up a global network of coral reef workers to facilitate reporting on reef status; and has continued to be the major supporter of GCRMN and ICRI since the first strategies and action plans were developed in 1995. Each report (1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004) has aimed to present the current status of the world’s coral reefs, the threats to the reefs, and the initiatives being undertaken under the umbrella of ICRI to arrest the decline in the world’s coral reefs. These reports have been produced using the data and information from many coral reef experts around the world. For example 372 experts from 96 countries have contributed to this Status report. Many regional, national and local organisations, governmental, academic, NGO and volunteers have supported the functions of GCRMN. The united goal is to inform the global community on the status of coral reefs, the threats to them and, importantly, to list recommendations to improve coral reef conservation. There is widespread recognition that action is needed urgently, not only to conserve the enormous biodiversity on coral reefs, but also to assist local user communities to improve their livelihoods by ensuring the sustainable use of the reefs.
The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities o... more The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of Buck Island Reef National Monument and the surrounding seascapes of northeastern St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and the National Park Service (NPS). The project integrates field data on coral condition, living marine resources and benthic habitats through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), NPS, U.S. Geological Survey and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VI-DPNR).
This Technical Memorandum is part one of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to the VI-DPNR by CRCP. The integration of the NOAA/NPS lead efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provides robust spatial and temporal data to characterize St. Croix coral reef ecosystems. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA and CSCOR, NPS’s Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Buck Island Reef National Monument and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program.
The effective management and conservation of cetaceans within SBNMS and the wider Gulf of Maine r... more The effective management and conservation of cetaceans within SBNMS and the wider Gulf of Maine requires baseline information in the form of accurate and spatially explicit maps of cetacean abundance, as well as characterizations of cetacean-environment relationships. Information on the spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans can be a valuable tool in the analysis and mitigation of threats from human activity. In addition, investigating
cetacean-environment relationships can be extremely useful for: (1) identification and characterization of
high-use areas; (2) prediction of spatial and temporal shifts associated with environmental change (Hamazaki, 2002; Redfern et al., 2006); (3) interpretation of historical population trends estimated from sightings data; and
(4) optimization of cetacean survey designs (Forney, 2000).
To examine cetacean-environment relationships and the spatial and temporal patterns of relative abundance in the southern Gulf of Maine, cetacean abundance across the region was mapped and seasonal species patterns were interpreted. A wide range of environmental variables that include key ambient water parameters, bathymetric structure, and prey densities were also mapped for each season. The spatial extent of the study area included known feeding grounds and other high-use areas, such as corridors of cetacean movement within the SBNMS and the surrounding southern Gulf of Maine.
Marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based approaches to marine environmental management require... more Marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based approaches to marine environmental management require spatially and temporally explicit information describing the distributions of key marine organisms and their linkages with the environment at relatively broad scales (10-100 km2 and intra- and inter-annual patterns). Even for data rich areas like the Gulf of Maine (Northeast Atlantic) much of the biological survey data is patchy at the scales relevant to resource management decision making. We addressed this problem for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) and southern Gulf of Maine region by developing a spatial eco-informatics approach for modeling cetacean-environment relationships. This approach coupled biological survey data with in situ oceanographic measurements and satellite remote sensing data using a suite of Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and machine learning algorithms for predictive modeling (CART and MARS). Interpolations of cetacean distributions were mapped for seven cetacean species including the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Predictive models were developed to examine ecological relationships between cetacean distributions and their environment using 29 spatially continuous environmental variables including geographic setting, prey distributions, sea surface conditions, bathymetric features, water depth and water stratification. This project was undertaken as part of a broader ecological characterization of the Gulf of Maine, and the results have contributed to several management strategies including: (1) the SBNMS management review process, (2) assessing threats to cetaceans from a proposed liquified natural gas installation, and (3) identification of important marine areas to support implementation of the 2008 Massachusetts Ocean Act.
Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of ... more Seascape Ecology provides a comprehensive look at the state-of-the-science in the application of landscape ecology to the seas and provides guidance for future research priorities. The first book devoted exclusively to this rapidly emerging and increasingly important discipline, it is comprised of contributions from researchers at the forefront of seascape ecology working around the world. It presents the principles, concepts, methodology, and techniques informing seascape ecology and reports on the latest developments in the application of the approach to marine ecology and management. A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include: The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, marine management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
This report describes a spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integ... more This report describes a spatial characterization conducted to support the development of an integrated management plan for Puerto Rico’s Northeast Marine Corridor. The Northeast Marine Corridor is a large, land-sea reserve network, making it unique in the region for both its size and the integrated land-sea geographical scope. Here we map and model ecological priorities and threats to support managers with risk assessment and prioritization of management actions. The best available data, including local expert knowledge of special ecological places and threats, were compiled to map key marine features, important habitat types and marine species of concern. Ecological priority areas were identified and ranked based on the number of ecologically important attributes across the region and analyzed relative to the distribution of threats and stressors to help managers identify and prioritize areas of concern. The methods and data used for spatial prioritization are described in this report and resultant maps showing ecological priorities and potential stressors are provided. The approach was implemented through a partnership between NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources, or Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambientales, with funding from NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.
This document presents a comprehensive overview of results from more than a decade of work by the... more This document presents a comprehensive overview of results from more than a decade of work by the NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) Biogeography Branch and the Department of the Interior National Park Service (NPS) to assess status and trends within and around federally managed marine protected areas (MPAs) of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI).
The report provides: (1) an overview of the history of MPAs, types of MPAs and associated regulations, and a list of all MPAs in the USVI; (2) an ecological performance report for three intensively surveyed MPA units managed by NPS, including 20 biological metrics for fish and benthic habitat; (3) sightings of large-bodied fishes with moderate to high vulnerability to fishing; and (4) synthesis, summary and recommendations for management. This report is the first time that an assessment of ecological performance has been conducted for MPAs in the USVI. A decade of underwater surveys was analyzed to detect trends on coral reefs inside MPAs and for a similar range of habitats outside of MPAs. The information, data synthesis, interpretation and recommendations are intended to help focus management actions and goal setting, inform outreach products and adjust expectations regarding ecological performance for MPAs in the region. The data presented here provide important baselines required for tracking MPA performance through future monitoring efforts.
A new paradigm has emerged for management of coral reefs in an era of changing climate – managing... more A new paradigm has emerged for management of coral reefs in an era of changing climate – managing for resilience. A fundamental need for such management to be effective is our ability to measure and map coral reef resilience. We review the resilience concept and factors that may make a coral reef more or less resilient to climate-driven impacts, and focus on recent advances in a trio of technologies: remote sensing, spatial distribution modeling, and ecosystem simulation; that promise to improve our ability to quantify coral reef resilience across reefs. Remote sensing allows direct mapping of several ecosystem variables that influence reef resilience, including coral and algal cover, as well as a range of coral reef stressors, as exemplified by three case studies. Spatial distribution modeling allows exploitation of statistical relationships between mappable environmental variables and factors that influence resilience but which cannot be mapped directly, such as herbivore biomass. Ecosystem simulation modeling allows predictions to be made for the trajectories of reef ecosystems, given their initial state, interactions between ecosystem components, and a realistic current and future disturbance regime. Together, these technologies have the potential to allow production of coral reef resilience maps. We conclude with a fourth case study that illustrates
integration of resilience maps into a multi-objective decision support framework. Implementation of the managing for resilience paradigm is still in its infancy, but the rapidly advancing technologies reviewed here can provide the resilience maps needed for its successful operationalization.
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of three reports that provide a quantitative spatia... more This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of three reports that provide a quantitative spatial and
temporal characterization of marine biological communities associated with marine protected areas in the
U.S. Caribbean. This work was conducted as part of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project; a partnership effort between NOAA’s National
Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring
and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural
Resources – Division of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Park Service (NPS), the
University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), and the University of Hawaii (UH). The integration of NOAA/NPS led
efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provide spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities
to characterize St. John coral reef ecosystems. The data and analyses in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support management decision making. This project was funded
by CRCP, NOAA’s NCCOS, and the NPS Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Virgin Islands
National Park (VIIS) and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program (SFCN).
This report is the second in a series from a project to assess land-based sources of pollution (L... more This report is the second in a series from a project to assess land-based sources of pollution (LBSP) and effects in the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, USVI, and is the result of a collaborative effort between NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the USVI Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the University of the Virgin Islands, and The Nature Conservancy. Passive water samplers (POCIS) were deployed in the STEER in February 2012. Developed by the US Geological Survey (USGS) as a tool to detect the presence of water soluble contaminants in the environment, POCIS samplers were deployed in the STEER at fi ve locations. In addition to the February 2012 deployment, the results from an earlier POCIS deployment in May 2010 in Turpentine Gut, a perennial freshwater stream which drains to the STEER, are also reported. A total of 26 stormwater contaminants were detected at least once during the February 2012 deployment in the STEER. Detections were high enough to estimate ambient water concentrations for nine contaminants using USGS sampling rate values. From the May 2010 deployment in Turpentine Gut, 31 stormwater contaminants were detected, and ambient water concentrations could be estimated for 17 compounds.
This report contains a chemical and biological characterization
of sediments from the St. Thomas... more This report contains a chemical and biological characterization
of sediments from the St. Thomas East End
Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
(USVI). The STEER Management Plan (published in
2011) identifi ed chemical contaminants and habitat loss
as high or very high threats and called for a characterization
of chemical contaminants as well as an assessment of
their effects on natural resources. The baseline information
contained in this report on chemical contaminants,
toxicity and benthic infaunal community composition can
be used to assess current conditions, as well as the effi -
cacy of future restoration activities.
Marine debris is a growing problem in the marine environment with impacts to many user groups. To... more Marine debris is a growing problem in the marine environment with impacts to many user groups. To fully understand the causes and impacts of marine debris requires collaboration from all stakeholders. This project represents a unique partnership, funded by NOAA’s Marine Debris Program, to address the economic and ecological impacts of marine debris. Project partners consisted of federal and territorial agencies, academia,
and local commercial fi shermen, whose contributions added greatly to the knowledge of derelict fi sh traps in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the overall success of the project. The purpose of the collaboration was threefold: 1) to assess the causes and potential impacts of lost fi sh traps in the USVI; 2) develop experiments to evaluate potential impacts from ghost fishing, assess trap fouling as a indicator of time-at-sea and quantify trap movement and impacts to benthic communities due to storms; and 3) to assess the efficiency of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) as a tool to detect and verify derelict traps in a coral reef ecosystem. Information regarding fi shing effort and specifi c areas of trap loss provided by the St. Thomas Fisherman’s Association (STFA) were instrumental in understanding the spatial scope of the problem and to provide a baseline to direct AUV surveys. The expertise of the U.S.
Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center’s AUV operations was a valuable asset in searching for derelict traps; and novel field experiments conducted at the the University of the Virgin Islands increased our understanding of the ecological implications of derelict traps. Products from this project include: a text report, a masters thesis, a database on fi shing effort and trap loss in the USVI, and a database on the abundance and distribution of derelict traps that were identified during this project.
This report provides a synthesis of marine monitoring activities that have taken place in the nea... more This report provides a synthesis of marine monitoring activities that have taken place in the nearshore waters of the U.S. Virgin Islands between 1990 and the end of 2009. Summary metadata are provided that describe the monitoring programs, their implementing agency, the ecosystem components that are measured together with maps showing where the measurements were taken. This information is intended to facilitate data sharing and synergies between monitoring programs, inform and enhance strategic planning for regional and national monitoring, avoid duplication of effort and increase knowledge and awareness of the spatial, temporal and compositional characteristics of monitoring in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Coastal and marine classifications, both spatially explicit in the form of maps and nonspatial re... more Coastal and marine classifications, both spatially explicit in the form of maps and nonspatial representations of the environment, are critical to the effective implementation of management strategies such as marine spatial planning. This chapter provides a wide range of classifications and classified maps developed to simplify and communicate biological, physical, social, and economic patterns in support of enhanced management decision making. Examples are provided from around the world and span a range of spatial scales from global classifications to those for individual bays and estuaries. Limitations, future challenges, and priority management needs are discussed.
The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities o... more The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of southwestern Puerto Rico, primarily within the La Parguera Natural Reserve. The reserve is a multi-use area that spans the continental shelf from the extensive mangrove forests fringing the shoreline
to the complex shelfedge coral reefs that support a diverse and productive fish community. The coral reef ecosystem of La Parguera supports a locally important fishery, as well as recreational activities such as boating, snorkeling and diving. The data and synthesis in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support future management decision making. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and was conducted through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Government’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER).
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to DNER by CRCP. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA.
Connectivity across the seascape is expected to have profound consequences for the behavior, grow... more Connectivity across the seascape is expected to have profound consequences for the behavior, growth, survival, and spatial distribution ofmarine species. A landscape ecology approach offers great utility for studying ecological connectivity in tropical marine seascapes. Landscape ecology provides a well developed conceptual and operational framework for addressing complex multi-scale questions regarding the influence of spatial patterning on ecological processes. Landscape ecology can provide quantitative and spatially explicit information at scales relevant to resource management decision making. It will allow us to begin asking key questions such as ‘how much habitat to protect?’, ‘What type of habitat to protect?’, and ‘Which seascape patterns provide optimal, suboptimal, or dysfunctional connectivity for mobile marine organisms?’. While landscape ecology is increasingly being applied to tropical marine seascapes, few studies have dealt explicitly with the issue of connectivity. Herein, we examine the application of landscape ecology to better understand ecological connectivity in tropical marine ecosystems by: (1) reviewing landscape ecology concepts, (2) discussing the landscape ecology methods and tools available for evaluating connectivity, (3) examining data needs and obstacles, (4) reviewing lessons learned from terrestrial landscape ecology and from coral reef ecology studies, and (5) discussing the implications of ecological connectivity for resource management. Several recent studies conducted in coral reef ecosystems demonstrate the powerful utility of landscape ecology approaches for improving our understanding of ecological connectivity and applying results to make more informed decisions for conservation planning.
This Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008 report is the 5th global report since the GCRMN (Gl... more This Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2008 report is the 5th global report since the GCRMN (Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network), was formed in 1996 as an operational network of the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI). The catalyst for GCRMN was the inability of international agencies to report objectively on the health or otherwise of the world’s coral reefs. The US government then provided initial funding to set up a global network of coral reef workers to facilitate reporting on reef status; and has continued to be the major supporter of GCRMN and ICRI since the first strategies and action plans were developed in 1995. Each report (1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004) has aimed to present the current status of the world’s coral reefs, the threats to the reefs, and the initiatives being undertaken under the umbrella of ICRI to arrest the decline in the world’s coral reefs. These reports have been produced using the data and information from many coral reef experts around the world. For example 372 experts from 96 countries have contributed to this Status report. Many regional, national and local organisations, governmental, academic, NGO and volunteers have supported the functions of GCRMN. The united goal is to inform the global community on the status of coral reefs, the threats to them and, importantly, to list recommendations to improve coral reef conservation. There is widespread recognition that action is needed urgently, not only to conserve the enormous biodiversity on coral reefs, but also to assist local user communities to improve their livelihoods by ensuring the sustainable use of the reefs.
The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities o... more The report provides a spatial and temporal characterization of the fish and benthic communities of Buck Island Reef National Monument and the surrounding seascapes of northeastern St. Croix, United States Virgin Islands. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and the National Park Service (NPS). The project integrates field data on coral condition, living marine resources and benthic habitats through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), NPS, U.S. Geological Survey and the Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources (VI-DPNR).
This Technical Memorandum is part one of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to the VI-DPNR by CRCP. The integration of the NOAA/NPS lead efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provides robust spatial and temporal data to characterize St. Croix coral reef ecosystems. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA and CSCOR, NPS’s Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Buck Island Reef National Monument and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program.
The effective management and conservation of cetaceans within SBNMS and the wider Gulf of Maine r... more The effective management and conservation of cetaceans within SBNMS and the wider Gulf of Maine requires baseline information in the form of accurate and spatially explicit maps of cetacean abundance, as well as characterizations of cetacean-environment relationships. Information on the spatial and temporal distribution of cetaceans can be a valuable tool in the analysis and mitigation of threats from human activity. In addition, investigating
cetacean-environment relationships can be extremely useful for: (1) identification and characterization of
high-use areas; (2) prediction of spatial and temporal shifts associated with environmental change (Hamazaki, 2002; Redfern et al., 2006); (3) interpretation of historical population trends estimated from sightings data; and
(4) optimization of cetacean survey designs (Forney, 2000).
To examine cetacean-environment relationships and the spatial and temporal patterns of relative abundance in the southern Gulf of Maine, cetacean abundance across the region was mapped and seasonal species patterns were interpreted. A wide range of environmental variables that include key ambient water parameters, bathymetric structure, and prey densities were also mapped for each season. The spatial extent of the study area included known feeding grounds and other high-use areas, such as corridors of cetacean movement within the SBNMS and the surrounding southern Gulf of Maine.
Marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based approaches to marine environmental management require... more Marine spatial planning and ecosystem-based approaches to marine environmental management require spatially and temporally explicit information describing the distributions of key marine organisms and their linkages with the environment at relatively broad scales (10-100 km2 and intra- and inter-annual patterns). Even for data rich areas like the Gulf of Maine (Northeast Atlantic) much of the biological survey data is patchy at the scales relevant to resource management decision making. We addressed this problem for the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary (SBNMS) and southern Gulf of Maine region by developing a spatial eco-informatics approach for modeling cetacean-environment relationships. This approach coupled biological survey data with in situ oceanographic measurements and satellite remote sensing data using a suite of Geographical Information System (GIS) tools and machine learning algorithms for predictive modeling (CART and MARS). Interpolations of cetacean distributions were mapped for seven cetacean species including the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. Predictive models were developed to examine ecological relationships between cetacean distributions and their environment using 29 spatially continuous environmental variables including geographic setting, prey distributions, sea surface conditions, bathymetric features, water depth and water stratification. This project was undertaken as part of a broader ecological characterization of the Gulf of Maine, and the results have contributed to several management strategies including: (1) the SBNMS management review process, (2) assessing threats to cetaceans from a proposed liquified natural gas installation, and (3) identification of important marine areas to support implementation of the 2008 Massachusetts Ocean Act.
Coral reefs are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress from global warming, ocean acidificat... more Coral reefs are experiencing unprecedented levels of stress from global warming, ocean acidification, fishing, and water pollution. In the Caribbean and Western Atlantic, multiple stressors have resulted in widespread losses of the dominant reef‐building Acroporid corals, two of which are listed as threatened species under the 1973 U.S. Endangered Species Act. In response, active coral reef restoration through the outplanting of live corals has become a widespread intervention technique. To increase restoration success, active coral reef restoration requires significant investment and careful planning, and selection of suitable sites for coral outplanting is an essential early step with considerable influence on restoration outcomes. We applied a maximum entropy model to predict and map habitat suitability for the reef‐building coral species, Acropora palmata, around the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Based mostly on bathymetry and benthic habitat type, the highest performing model predicted approximately 21.75 km2 of the highest probability of suitable habitat, of which over half occurred within existing marine protected areas (MPAs). Outplanted coral at 60% of sites coincided with predicted maximum habitat suitability index values greater than 0.75 and 35% with values greater than 0.90. The model reveals that all three statutory MPAs with shallow water coral reefs have a considerable area (13.24 km2) of predicted high suitability seabed with potential for active A. palmata restoration efforts. The predictive spatial modeling approach provides a cost‐effective tool to inform future coral restoration design and to evaluate the habitat suitability of coral outplanting sites.
Mesophotic (30–150 m) and rariphotic (150–300 m) deeper reef habitats are important from an ecolo... more Mesophotic (30–150 m) and rariphotic (150–300 m) deeper reef habitats are important from an ecological and conservation perspective, yet remain understudied. Key knowledge gaps exist on the environmental patterns and processes that drive and shape their geographical distributions. Understanding these is particularly important for regions as the Western Indian Ocean, where deeper reefs are poorly known but support food security and host economically important species. Spatial predictive models of assemblage occurrences, using terrain variables as predictors, offer a solution to address knowledge gaps around deeper reef distributions. We identified relationships between seafloor geomorphology, quantified at multiple scales, and sessile benthic assemblages in four atoll seascapes in Seychelles using terrain models derived from high-resolution multibeam sonar and underwater video surveys. Using random forests and boosted regression trees, we demonstrated that terrain derivatives extract...
ContextSeamounts are abundant geomorphological features creating seabed spatial heterogeneity, a ... more ContextSeamounts are abundant geomorphological features creating seabed spatial heterogeneity, a main driver of deep-sea biodiversity. Despite its ecological importance, substantial knowledge gaps exist on the character of seamount spatial heterogeneity. ObjectivesThis study aimed to map, quantify and compare seamount seascapes to test whether individual habitats and seamounts differ in geomorphological structuring, and to identify spatial pattern metrics useful to discriminate between habitats and seamounts.MethodsWe mapped and classified geomorphological habitat using bathymetric data collected at five Southwest Indian Ridge seamounts. Spatial pattern metrics from landscape ecology are applied to quantify and compare seascape heterogeneity in composition and configuration represented in resulting habitat maps. ResultsWhilst part of the same regional geological feature, seamounts differed in seascape composition and configuration. Five geomorphological habitat types occurred across...
Most of ecological theories have been based on terrestrial systems although about 71% of the Eart... more Most of ecological theories have been based on terrestrial systems although about 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water (nearly 96.5% of which is contained in the oceans). Since Darwin, oceanic islands have long been used as “natural laboratories” for developing and testing ecological and evolutionary theories. Yet, terrestrial and marine systems had been studied separately with little scholarly communication until the 1980s when scientists began to compare and connect them in order to understand the earth as a whole ecosystem (e.g., Steele 1985, Steele 1991a, Levin et al. 1993, Okubo and Levin 2001). The past few decades have witnessed a wave of new research fronts that cut across marine and terrestrial systems. One of these exciting and emerging cross-system fields is seascape ecology, the topic of this book. Here I compare and contrast this new field with landscape ecology and discuss how they can benefit each other.
Transient fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) are critical life‐cycle events for many commercially ... more Transient fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) are critical life‐cycle events for many commercially important species, in which fish congregate in huge numbers to spawn at predictable times and places. This behavior makes them exceptionally vulnerable to fishing. The “illusion of plenty” and poor access to monitoring tools and techniques has resulted in some FSAs being overfished or unwittingly eliminated. We present a co‐conservation network, formally linking site‐focused partners who cooperatively monitor and actively manage multispecies FSAs. FSA sites and networks offer great potential as conservation bright spots to replenish fished populations, rehabilitate marine ecosystems, and ensure the flow of ecosystem services to the millions of people that rely upon them for their wellbeing. We call for urgent global recognition of FSAs as effective spatial nexus for addressing multiple interconnected global policy targets for a sustainable ocean.
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A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include:
The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea
The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes
Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions
A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives
Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, marine management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
The report provides: (1) an overview of the history of MPAs, types of MPAs and associated regulations, and a list of all MPAs in the USVI; (2) an ecological performance report for three intensively surveyed MPA units managed by NPS, including 20 biological metrics for fish and benthic habitat; (3) sightings of large-bodied fishes with moderate to high vulnerability to fishing; and (4) synthesis, summary and recommendations for management. This report is the first time that an assessment of ecological performance has been conducted for MPAs in the USVI. A decade of underwater surveys was analyzed to detect trends on coral reefs inside MPAs and for a similar range of habitats outside of MPAs. The information, data synthesis, interpretation and recommendations are intended to help focus management actions and goal setting, inform outreach products and adjust expectations regarding ecological performance for MPAs in the region. The data presented here provide important baselines required for tracking MPA performance through future monitoring efforts.
integration of resilience maps into a multi-objective decision support framework. Implementation of the managing for resilience paradigm is still in its infancy, but the rapidly advancing technologies reviewed here can provide the resilience maps needed for its successful operationalization.
temporal characterization of marine biological communities associated with marine protected areas in the
U.S. Caribbean. This work was conducted as part of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project; a partnership effort between NOAA’s National
Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring
and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural
Resources – Division of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Park Service (NPS), the
University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), and the University of Hawaii (UH). The integration of NOAA/NPS led
efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provide spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities
to characterize St. John coral reef ecosystems. The data and analyses in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support management decision making. This project was funded
by CRCP, NOAA’s NCCOS, and the NPS Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Virgin Islands
National Park (VIIS) and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program (SFCN).
of sediments from the St. Thomas East End
Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
(USVI). The STEER Management Plan (published in
2011) identifi ed chemical contaminants and habitat loss
as high or very high threats and called for a characterization
of chemical contaminants as well as an assessment of
their effects on natural resources. The baseline information
contained in this report on chemical contaminants,
toxicity and benthic infaunal community composition can
be used to assess current conditions, as well as the effi -
cacy of future restoration activities.
and local commercial fi shermen, whose contributions added greatly to the knowledge of derelict fi sh traps in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the overall success of the project. The purpose of the collaboration was threefold: 1) to assess the causes and potential impacts of lost fi sh traps in the USVI; 2) develop experiments to evaluate potential impacts from ghost fishing, assess trap fouling as a indicator of time-at-sea and quantify trap movement and impacts to benthic communities due to storms; and 3) to assess the efficiency of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) as a tool to detect and verify derelict traps in a coral reef ecosystem. Information regarding fi shing effort and specifi c areas of trap loss provided by the St. Thomas Fisherman’s Association (STFA) were instrumental in understanding the spatial scope of the problem and to provide a baseline to direct AUV surveys. The expertise of the U.S.
Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center’s AUV operations was a valuable asset in searching for derelict traps; and novel field experiments conducted at the the University of the Virgin Islands increased our understanding of the ecological implications of derelict traps. Products from this project include: a text report, a masters thesis, a database on fi shing effort and trap loss in the USVI, and a database on the abundance and distribution of derelict traps that were identified during this project.
to the complex shelfedge coral reefs that support a diverse and productive fish community. The coral reef ecosystem of La Parguera supports a locally important fishery, as well as recreational activities such as boating, snorkeling and diving. The data and synthesis in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support future management decision making. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and was conducted through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Government’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER).
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to DNER by CRCP. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA.
This Technical Memorandum is part one of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to the VI-DPNR by CRCP. The integration of the NOAA/NPS lead efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provides robust spatial and temporal data to characterize St. Croix coral reef ecosystems. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA and CSCOR, NPS’s Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Buck Island Reef National Monument and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program.
cetacean-environment relationships can be extremely useful for: (1) identification and characterization of
high-use areas; (2) prediction of spatial and temporal shifts associated with environmental change (Hamazaki, 2002; Redfern et al., 2006); (3) interpretation of historical population trends estimated from sightings data; and
(4) optimization of cetacean survey designs (Forney, 2000).
To examine cetacean-environment relationships and the spatial and temporal patterns of relative abundance in the southern Gulf of Maine, cetacean abundance across the region was mapped and seasonal species patterns were interpreted. A wide range of environmental variables that include key ambient water parameters, bathymetric structure, and prey densities were also mapped for each season. The spatial extent of the study area included known feeding grounds and other high-use areas, such as corridors of cetacean movement within the SBNMS and the surrounding southern Gulf of Maine.
A growing number of marine scientists, geographers, and marine managers are asking questions about the marine environment that are best addressed with a landscape ecology perspective. Seascape Ecology represents the first serious effort to fill the gap in the literature on the subject. Key topics and features of interest include:
The origins and history of seascape ecology and various approaches to spatial patterning in the sea
The links between seascape patterns and ecological processes, with special attention paid to the roles played by seagrasses and salt marshes and animal movements through seascapes
Human influences on seascape ecology—includes models for assessing human-seascape interactions
A special epilogue in which three eminent scientists who have been instrumental in shaping the course of landscape ecology offer their insights and perspectives
Seascape Ecology is a must-read for researchers and professionals in an array of disciplines, including marine biology, environmental science, marine management, and environmental protection. It is also an excellent supplementary text for university courses in those fields.
The report provides: (1) an overview of the history of MPAs, types of MPAs and associated regulations, and a list of all MPAs in the USVI; (2) an ecological performance report for three intensively surveyed MPA units managed by NPS, including 20 biological metrics for fish and benthic habitat; (3) sightings of large-bodied fishes with moderate to high vulnerability to fishing; and (4) synthesis, summary and recommendations for management. This report is the first time that an assessment of ecological performance has been conducted for MPAs in the USVI. A decade of underwater surveys was analyzed to detect trends on coral reefs inside MPAs and for a similar range of habitats outside of MPAs. The information, data synthesis, interpretation and recommendations are intended to help focus management actions and goal setting, inform outreach products and adjust expectations regarding ecological performance for MPAs in the region. The data presented here provide important baselines required for tracking MPA performance through future monitoring efforts.
integration of resilience maps into a multi-objective decision support framework. Implementation of the managing for resilience paradigm is still in its infancy, but the rapidly advancing technologies reviewed here can provide the resilience maps needed for its successful operationalization.
temporal characterization of marine biological communities associated with marine protected areas in the
U.S. Caribbean. This work was conducted as part of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP)
Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project; a partnership effort between NOAA’s National
Ocean Service (NOS), National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), Center for Coastal Monitoring
and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural
Resources – Division of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), National Park Service (NPS), the
University of the Virgin Islands (UVI), and the University of Hawaii (UH). The integration of NOAA/NPS led
efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provide spatial and temporal patterns in fish and benthic communities
to characterize St. John coral reef ecosystems. The data and analyses in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support management decision making. This project was funded
by CRCP, NOAA’s NCCOS, and the NPS Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Virgin Islands
National Park (VIIS) and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program (SFCN).
of sediments from the St. Thomas East End
Reserves (STEER) in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
(USVI). The STEER Management Plan (published in
2011) identifi ed chemical contaminants and habitat loss
as high or very high threats and called for a characterization
of chemical contaminants as well as an assessment of
their effects on natural resources. The baseline information
contained in this report on chemical contaminants,
toxicity and benthic infaunal community composition can
be used to assess current conditions, as well as the effi -
cacy of future restoration activities.
and local commercial fi shermen, whose contributions added greatly to the knowledge of derelict fi sh traps in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) and the overall success of the project. The purpose of the collaboration was threefold: 1) to assess the causes and potential impacts of lost fi sh traps in the USVI; 2) develop experiments to evaluate potential impacts from ghost fishing, assess trap fouling as a indicator of time-at-sea and quantify trap movement and impacts to benthic communities due to storms; and 3) to assess the efficiency of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) as a tool to detect and verify derelict traps in a coral reef ecosystem. Information regarding fi shing effort and specifi c areas of trap loss provided by the St. Thomas Fisherman’s Association (STFA) were instrumental in understanding the spatial scope of the problem and to provide a baseline to direct AUV surveys. The expertise of the U.S.
Navy’s Naval Surface Warfare Center’s AUV operations was a valuable asset in searching for derelict traps; and novel field experiments conducted at the the University of the Virgin Islands increased our understanding of the ecological implications of derelict traps. Products from this project include: a text report, a masters thesis, a database on fi shing effort and trap loss in the USVI, and a database on the abundance and distribution of derelict traps that were identified during this project.
to the complex shelfedge coral reefs that support a diverse and productive fish community. The coral reef ecosystem of La Parguera supports a locally important fishery, as well as recreational activities such as boating, snorkeling and diving. The data and synthesis in this report are intended to provide
essential baseline biological information to support future management decision making. The project is a component of NOAA’s Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring (CREM) project of NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and was conducted through an ongoing multi-agency collaboration between NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment Biogeography Branch (CCMA-BB), the University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Government’s Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER).
This Technical Memorandum is part of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to DNER by CRCP. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA.
This Technical Memorandum is part one of a series of reports that focus on providing a quantitative spatial and temporal characterization of living marine resources and benthic communities associated with marine protected areas in the U.S. Caribbean. This project complements the National Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring Program’s (NCREMP) Coral Reef Ecosystem Monitoring grants awarded to the VI-DPNR by CRCP. The integration of the NOAA/NPS lead efforts with data generated by VI-DPNR provides robust spatial and temporal data to characterize St. Croix coral reef ecosystems. This project was funded by NOAA’s CRCP and National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science’s CCMA and CSCOR, NPS’s Natural Resource Preservation Program (NRPP) at Buck Island Reef National Monument and NPS’s South Florida/Caribbean Inventory and Monitoring Program.
cetacean-environment relationships can be extremely useful for: (1) identification and characterization of
high-use areas; (2) prediction of spatial and temporal shifts associated with environmental change (Hamazaki, 2002; Redfern et al., 2006); (3) interpretation of historical population trends estimated from sightings data; and
(4) optimization of cetacean survey designs (Forney, 2000).
To examine cetacean-environment relationships and the spatial and temporal patterns of relative abundance in the southern Gulf of Maine, cetacean abundance across the region was mapped and seasonal species patterns were interpreted. A wide range of environmental variables that include key ambient water parameters, bathymetric structure, and prey densities were also mapped for each season. The spatial extent of the study area included known feeding grounds and other high-use areas, such as corridors of cetacean movement within the SBNMS and the surrounding southern Gulf of Maine.