Natural resource condition assessment: Virgin Islands National Park and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument

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

doi:10.36967/nrr-2293652

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. Virgin Islands National Park (VIIS) encompasses 7259 acres of terrestrial and shoreline habitat (~ 60% of the island of St. John in the US Virgin Islands) and 5,650 acres of adjacent submerged lands. Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument (VICR) extended the area of protected submerged lands by an additional 12,708 acres. Combined, the units include marine and terrestrial components, consisting of habitats ranging from rhodolith beds and patch reefs located 40–50 m below mean sea level to the highest elevations of the island of St. John (390 m) in moist tropical forest. Marine communities include soft bottom habitats of both mud and sand, colonized by seagrass and algae, and hardbottom habitats (pavement and rhodoliths) dominated by coral reefs and algae. Terrestrial habitats are dominated by dry tropical forests and woodlands, but also include areas of moist tropical forests, shrublands, mangroves, salt ponds, and beaches. The VIIS-VICR NRCA considers five focal resources within the Park and Monument categorized as either pertaining to the supporting environment or biological integrity. These include shoreline water quality in the framework category of supporting environment, and macroalgae, seagrass, corals, and reef fish, in the framework category of biological integrity. Full assessments were conducted for all above-listed resources. 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 Park and Monument are discussed separately and include impacts of hurricanes/tropical storms, land cover/land use changes, and human interactions related to boat traffic, marine debris, and poaching. Assessment of focal resources in VIIS-VICR resulted in the majority, four of five (80%), warranting significant concern. Only the supporting environment resource, water quality, warranted moderate concern. None of the focal resources was found to be in good condition. The focal resources assessed in this report are all marine resources, so we make no judgement on the condition of the many terrestrial resources found within the Park boundaries. The overall condition of the marine resources of VIIS/VICR suggests a system under a wide range of threats. Deteriorating trends were recorded for four of the five focal resources. Only reef fish were considered to be in an unchanging condition. No resources or indicators were found to be in an improving condition. Taken as whole, the assessment suggests that the marine resources of VIIS/VICR are experiencing degraded conditions compared to the reference conditions for these resources. Deteriorating conditions for seagrass and corals combined with a lack of recovery of the reef fish communities are especially concerning. The current conditions for these resources appear to have resulted from the interaction of disturbance events and anthropogenic impacts, including extent of hurricane damage, increasing sea surface temperatures, contaminants, introduction of invasive species and continued fishing pressure. Water quality as a supporting environmental resource is an important driver of change in the condition of biological integrity. The decision to assess the resource as warranting moderate concern with a declining trend was related to the condition and status of three water quality indicators with potential links to coral degradation, namely fecal indicator bacteria, terrestrial sediments, and contaminants. Additionally, increasing development outside the park in St. John is likely to result in increases in fecal indicator bacteria from...

Natural resource condition assessment: Virgin Islands National Park and Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument

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