Rapid assessment and monitoring of coral reef habitats in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: Quick Look Report: Summer 2005 Keys-Wide Sampling

Miller, Steven

This NURC/UNCW quick look report summarizes the accomplishments and significant findings from the 2005 benthic sampling of no-take zones and reference habitats in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) and Biscayne National Park (BNP). The sampling during 2005 represents a continuation of large-scale surveys of hard-bottom and coral reef habitats in the FKNMS conducted by UNCW since 1998, not including two expeditions to the Tortugas region during 1999 and 2000. The 2005 effort provides a synoptic picture of the status of hard-bottom and coral reef benthic resources on the inner shelf margin and outer shelf of the Florida Keys, as well as a time series for selected habitats and a subset of the no-take zones designated as Sanctuary Preservation Areas, Ecological Reserves, and Research Only Areas. The 2005 surveys assessed community structure and condition of hard-bottom and coral reef communities in a variety of habitat types from the inshore edge of Hawk Channel to 27 m depth: mid-channel patch reef, offshore patch reef, inner line reef tract, high-relief spur and groove, shallower and deeper hard-bottom, shallower and deeper low-relief spur and groove, patchy hard-bottom, and low-relief spur and groove and rocky outcrops on the deeper fore reef slope. The survey effort required 73 field days of SCUBA surveys by a three to four person benthic team between May 8 and October 2 and resulted in assessments of 195 sites from southwest of Key West to the northern end of Biscayne National Park Thirteen of the Sanctuary's 23 zones were sampled. The field sampling was accomplished using NURC/UNCW's Key Largo facilities (RN Research Diver) and a private charter (RN Expedition If). Benthic surveys by the project team were complemented by reef fish surveys conducted by personnel from RSMAS-University of Miami and NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service at a subset of the 195 sites. Variables measured during 2005 included coverage, species richness of sponges and benthic cnidarians, gorgonian density, stony coral density and size, coral condition, and still photography for archival purposes. We were also able to continue or add several variables to the 2005 assessment: urchin density and size; density of anemones, corallimorpharians and opisthobranch mollusks; density and predation by the flamingo tongue snails (Cyphoma gibbosum and C. signatum); in situ measurements of topographic complexity; and density and volume measurements for seven common sponges. All of the variables were collected underwater on pre-formatted plastic slates, facilitating relatively rapid data processing for manuscript preparation and report generation. We also took over 2,000 digital photographs for archives of sites and tools for taxonomic identification of Florida Keys coral reef and hardbottom habitat types. Below we provide a brief narrative on the overall goals of the UNCW zone monitoring effort and a variable-by-variable summary of significant findings from the 2005 field surveys. We also include a list of published and planned papers and other products developed from this effort. A suite of 21 appending tables summarize site-level coverage, species richness, and density estimates for most of the variables measured during 2005. Time series analysis is planned for 2006 that will compare the 2005 surveys with surveys previously conducted starting in 1999.