SEAKEYS Abstract
Coral Health and Monitoring Program
coral at coral.AOML.ERL.GOV
Thu Jul 27 19:29:06 EDT 1995
As part of our continuing effort to distribute information regarding
coral health and monitoring, we are circulating the following
abstract:
Ogden,-J.C.; Porter,-J.W.; Smith,-N.P.; Szmant,-A.M.; Jaap,-W.C.;
Forcucci,-D.1994. A long-term interdisciplinary study of the
Florida Keys seascape. BULL.-MAR.-SCI. 54(3):1059-1071
The SEAKEYS (Sustained Ecological Research Related to Management
of the Florida Keys Seascape) program is a research framework
which encompasses the large geographic scale and long time scale
of natural marine processes and ecosystem variation upon which
human impact is superimposed. The need for interdisciplinary
long-term research in coastal ecosystems in critical as we
anticipate extraordinary resource management obligations and
scientific opportunities in the next decade. The core of the
program is six instrumented, satellite-linked monitoring stations
which span the 220 mile-long coral reef tract and Florida Bay and
which, since 1991, have documented the potential impact of summer
heating, winter cold fronts, storms, and distant floods. Meso-
scale physical oceanographic studies have documented the net flow
of water from Florida Bay to Hawk Channel which provides a
potential mechanism to link water quality in Florida Bay with the
waters of Sanctuary. Water column and sediment nutrient studies
have shown elevated nutrient levels in nearshore waters
decreasing sharply to low levels near the offshore coral reef
tract. There is a potential link of nearshore and offshore via a
seaward deflection in the near-bottom flow. Regional nutrient
dynamics are complicated by periodic upwelling driven by the
Florida Current. A series of long-term photomosaic stations have
tracked coral community dynamics for more than 5 years and have
indicated a loss of over 40% in coral cover at some sites. This
loss may be linked to declining water quality in Florida Bay. As
a large marine ecosystem, the new Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary and adjoining parks and reserve must be studied and
managed holistically if human use of the region is to be
sustained.
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