Natural resource condition assessment: Buck Island Reef National Monument

Ogurcak, Danielle; Donoso, Maria; Duran, Alain; Ennis, Rosmin; Gann, Daniel; Gulick, Alexandra; Olivas, Paulo; Smith, Tyler; Stoa, Ryan; Vargas, Jessica; Wachnika, Anna; Whitman, Elizabeth

doi:10.36967/nrr-2293288

Natural Resource Condition Assessments (NRCAs) provide managers with concise assessments for select focal resources within National Park Service (NPS) units. These assessments evaluate indicators of condition for a resource and determine status and trends over time for best management of the resources within a unit. Buck Island Reef National Monument (BUIS) is a 19,015 acre unit located within the Caribbean, situated just north of the island of St. Croix. Consisting of both marine and terrestrial components, environments of BUIS range from the deepest water in the NPS (1812 m below sea level) to an elevation of just over 100 m above sea level in the dry tropical forest. Marine communities include soft bottom habitats predominantly occupied by seagrasses and hardbottom habitats dominated by patch reefs. Terrestrial habitats are dominated by shrublands and forests, with beaches that stretch from northwest to southwest corner of the island. The forest on Buck Island is mainly lowland tropical/subtropical semi-deciduous forest, whereas the shrubland is mostly covered by low stature tropical/subtropical broad-leaved evergreen shrubland. The BUIS NRCA considers 12 focal resources within the Monument categorized as either pertaining to the supporting environment or biological integrity. These include shoreline dynamics and water quality, in the framework category of supporting environment, and dry tropical forest, coastal forest, terrestrial reptiles, seagrass, corals, reef fish, and sea turtles, both green and hawksbill, in the framework category of biological integrity. Full assessments were conducted for all above-listed resources except for lobsters and queen conch which were restricted to limited assessments due to a lack of data. In each focal resource section, a discussion of threats, stressors, and data gaps relevant to the resource accompanies the assessment of condition. Resource issues relevant to all components within the Monument are discussed separately and include impacts of hurricanes/tropical storms, landcover/landuse changes, and human interactions related to boat traffic, marine debris, and poaching. Assessment of the focal resources in BUIS resulted in the majority being considered as warranting moderate concern. Three focal resources warranted significant concern, including reef fish, corals, and shoreline dynamics. Only water quality and queen conch were found to be in good condition. Trends in condition were more evenly split across focal resources between unchanging, deteriorating, and improving conditions. Deteriorating trends were recorded for seagrass, corals, and coastal forest. Whereas improving trends were recorded for terrestrial reptiles, dry tropical forest, conch, and green sea turtles. Trends for both supporting environment resources, water quality and shoreline dynamics, were assessed as unchanging. Lobsters, reef fish, and hawksbill sea turtles were also considered to have stable, unchanging trends in condition. The low number of resources recorded as being in good condition, combined with several resource showing deteriorating conditions suggests that resources of BUIS are significantly threatened and in need of continued monitoring and management. Improving conditions for conch and green sea turtles are encouraging and may suggest that implementation of local and regional policies and conservation strategies have made positive impacts on these populations. However, a lack of improving condition in for the BUIS reef fish community suggests that the multiple stressors that impact recovery have not been sufficiently addressed, including illegal harvesting, habitat degradation, and the impact of introduced species. The continued decline of coral coverage and condition is alarming, especially given the increase in the number of thermal stress events observed and appearance of novel diseases. The improved conditions found for dry tropical forest and terrestrial lizards are very likely...

Natural resource condition assessment: Buck Island Reef National Monument

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