Long-Term Monitoring of Coral Reef Organisms in Biscayne National Park

Porter, James; Meier, Ouida

In 1989 a coral reef monitoring project was established in Biscayne National Park in order to measure changes in coral reef community structure over time and to provide information about the natural resource to park management. Two reef sites in Biscayne National Park were chosen for intensive, ongoing study: Ball Buoy Reef, at the southern end of the Park, and Triumph Reef, towards the northern end. Methods employed at each site were: (1) a 1000 m2 visual swim survey to assess species richness and the species present in the area; (2) three permanent line transects, 25m long each, (3) a permanent 13.5 m2 photostation, and (4) a 100 m2 haphazard photographic survey to test the representativeness of the 13.5 m2 photostation. In 1990, we added to each station: (1) two additional permanent 25m long line transects; and (2) three permanent video transects, utilizing three of the five existing line transects. This volume of information contains reproductions of the mylar tracings resulting from each photostation during the 1989 and 1990 field seasons. The photostations sampled by this method were permanently fixed by stainless steel stakes that were cemented into holes drilled into solid dead substrate at the perimeter of each photostation. We expect that the sites can be reliably relocated for some years into the future.