Environmental studies of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St Croix, USVI Volume I
Gladfelter WB, Monahan RK, Ogden JC, Dill RK. 1977. Environmental studies of Buck Island Reef National Monument, St Croix, USVI Volume I. National Park Service
The present study was undertaken to provide the NPS a baseline of information on the structure and function of the reef ecosystem against which to compare the reef at some future time. There have been three principal objectives: 1) To determine in a general way what the principal resources of the underwater portion of the park are (reef structures, corals, fishes) and to map their distribution; 2) To determine the rates of accrual of the more important of these resources (especially major coral species); and 3) To assess the effects of important or potentially important agents destructive to living coral (man, disease, predators). These objectives have in large part been met but our understanding of the reef ecosystem is still in a rudimentary stage. It is hoped that more than anything, the present study will stimulate further research into the dynamics of the Buck Island reef community.
- Type
- Book
- Authors
- Gladfelter, William; Monahan, Rosemary; Ogden, John; Dill, Robert
- Date of Issue
- 1977
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- BUIS