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Informes Finales: Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2004-2008
Up one levelInforme Final Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2008: Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities Isla Desecheo, Isla de Mona, Rincon, Guánica, Ponce, Caja de Muertos, and Mayaguez 2007-2008
A total of 15 reefs from seven Natural Reserves were included in the 2008 national coral reef monitoring program of Puerto Rico. These included reef sites at Isla Desecheo, Isla de Mona, Rincon, Mayaguéz, Guánica, Isla Caja de Muerto and Ponce. At each reef, quantitative measurements of the percent substrate cover by sessile-benthic categories and visual surveys of species richness and abundance of fishes and motile megabenthic invertebrates were performed along sets of five permanent transects. Time series analyses of the biological monitoring data was performed to examine trends in the community structure of reef systems.
Informe Final Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2007 : Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities at Isla Desecheo, Rincon, Guanica, Ponce, Isla Caja de Muertos and Mayaguez
A total of 12 reefs from six Natural Reserves were included in the 2007 national coral reef monitoring program of Puerto Rico. These included reef sites at Isla Desecheo, Rincon, Mayaguéz, Guánica, Isla Caja de Muerto and Ponce. At each reef, quantitative measurements of the percent substrate cover by sessile-benthic categories and visual surveys of species richness and abundance of fishes and motile megabenthic invertebrates were performed along sets of five permanent transects. The sessile-benthic community at the reef systems of Puerto Botes and Puerto Canoas (Isla Desecheo), Tourmaline Reef (Mayaguez), Cayo Coral (Guánica), West Reef (Caja de Muerto – Ponce), and Derrumbadero Reef (Ponce) presented statistically significant differences of live coral cover. Live coral cover during the present 2007 monitoring survey presented a pattern of mild reductions relative to 2006 levels for almost all reef sites monitored. Declines of live coral cover between the 2007 and 2006 surveys were statistically significant (ANOVA; p < 0.05) at Tourmaline Reef (depth: 20 m) and at Puerto Canoas Reef (depth: 30m) in Isla Desecheo. Such reductions of live coral cover are here considered as lingering effects of the 2005 coral bleaching event. The decline of (total) live coral cover at the reef community level during 2006, and now extending into 2007 was largely driven by mortality of Boulder Star Coral, Montastrea annularis (complex), a highly dominant species in terms of reef substrate cover and the principal reef building species. Fish populations presented a general trend of declining abundance and species richness within belt-transects. Variations between surveys were mostly associated with reductions of abundance by numerically dominant populations that exhibit highly aggregated distributions in the immediate vicinity of live coral heads, such as the Masked Goby (Coryphopterus personatus) and the Blue Chromis (Chromis cyanea). It is uncertain at this point if such reductions of abundance by reef fishes closely associated with coral habitats are related to the massive coral mortality exhibited by reef systems in the monitoring program.
Informe Final Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2006 : Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities at Isla Desecheo, Rincon, Mayaguez Bay, Guanica, Ponce, and Isla Caja de Muertos
A total of 12 coral reef stations from six Natural Reserves were included as part of the 2006 Puerto Rico - U.S. National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NOAA/DNER). The sessile-benthic community structure at the reef systems of Puerto Botes and Puerto Canoas (Isla Desecheo), Tourmaline Reef (Mayaguez), Cayo Coral (Guánica), West Reef (Caja de Muerto – Ponce), and Derrumbadero Reef (Ponce) presented statistically significant reductions of live coral cover. The maximum decline of live coral cover between the 2005 and the 2006 monitoring surveys was of 59.1 % at Derrumbadero Reef. In all cases, the decline of (total) live coral cover at the community level was driven by mortality of Boulder Star Coral, Montastrea annularis (complex), a highly dominant species in terms of reef substrate cover and the principal reef building species. The sharp decline of live coral cover at many of the reefs included in this monitoring program is associated with a massive regional coral bleaching event that affected the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico between September and late October, 2005. The massive bleaching of corals coincided with an extended period of elevated sea surface temperatures (SST). As much as 14 Degree Heating Weeks (DHW), an indicator of thermal stress acting upon shallow reef communities were measured from daily temperature records produced by a NOAA/NESDIS satellite infrared radiometer. During our 2006 coral monitoring survey, approximately 6 to 9 months after the bleaching event, a relatively high proportion of live corals, particularly Montastrea annularis were observed to still retain partially bleached conditions. The potential recuperation of these corals is uncertain at this point.
Informe Final Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2005 : Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities at Isla Desecheo, Rincon, Mayaguez Bay, Guanica, Ponce, and Isla Caja de Muertos
A total of 12 coral reef stations from six Natural Reserves were included as part of the 2005 Puerto Rico - U.S. National Coral Reef Monitoring Program (NOAA/DNER). The study included the third annual monitoring cycle of Puerto Botes Reef at Isla Desecheo and the second monitoring of Tourmaline Reef in Mayaguez Bay. The report also presents the first monitoring observations of Cayo Coral Reef (Guánica), Derrumbadero Reef (Ponce), West Reef of Isla Caja de Muertos (Ponce), Puerto Botes Reef at 15 and 30 m, Tourmaline Reef at 20 and 30 m, and Tres Palmas Reef (Rincon) at 5, 10, and 20 m.
Informe Final Datos Monitoría Arrecifes de Coral en Reservas Naturales 2004 : Baseline Characterization and Monitoring of Coral Reef Communities at Isla Desecheo, Rincon, and Mayaguez Bay
This work is part of the US National Coral Reef Monitoring Program sponsored by NOAA and administered by the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) in Puerto Rico. It includes the third monitoring cycle of marine communities associated with the coral reef systems at Puerto Canoas/Puerto Botes in Isla Desecheo and at El Tourmaline Reef in Mayaguez Bay. The report also contains the initial baseline characterizations of marine communities at the Tres Palmas Reef system in Rincón. The Tres Palmas Reef in Rincón is a newly designated Marine Protected Area (MPA) with a “no-take zone”, due to the presence of perhaps the most extensive and “healthy” biotope of Elkhorn Coral (Acropora palmata) in the island. El Tourmaline Reef in outer Mayaguez Bay is a shelf-edge “spur-and-groove” formation which extends across a depth range of 10 – 30 meters and presents one of the most diverse coral communities in the Island. Puerto Canoas and Puerto Botes of Isla Desecheo represent reef systems with the highest live coral cover, fish density and fish species richness of Puerto Rico. The first monitoring cycle of coral reef communities under the US National Coral Reef Monitoring Program in Puerto Rico was held during 2001-02 and included 18 reefs from seven Natural Reserve sites (DNER, 2003).
