Hurricanes And Anchors: Preliminary Results From The National Park Service Regional Reef Assessment Program
Rogers CS. 1993. Hurricanes And Anchors: Preliminary Results From The National Park Service Regional Reef Assessment Program. National Park Service, Virgin Islands National Park. St. John, USVI
The U .S . National Park Service (NPS) began a Regional Assessment Program for coral reefs in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Florida in 1988. Scientists from NPS and six other institutions have now established long-term monitoring sites at Virgin Islands National Park (St. John, USVI), Buck Island Reef National Monument (St. Croix, USVI), Biscayne National Park (Florida) and Fort Jefferson National Monument (Florida). Hurricane Hugo passed through the USVI in 1989, causing severe destruction in some reef areas while leaving others untouched. Patchy damage to reefs in Florida was also noted after Hurricane Andrew; damage from thisAugust 1992 storm is still being assessed. Fort Jefferson National Monument escaped the onslaught of Andrew. No significant recovery in live coral cover has been evident at the Buck Island or Virgin Islands National Park (VINP) study sites 3.5 years after Hurricane Hugo. Similarly, no recovery was evident at another site in St. John which was destroyed by a large anchor 4.5 years ago.
- Type
- Unpublished Report
- Authors
- Rogers, Caroline
- Date of Issue
- 1993
- Publisher
- National Park Service, Virgin Islands National Park
- Units
- SFCN , VIIS
- Keywords
- Aquatic Science, Caribbean Sea, Coral Reefs, Gorgonians, Hurricanes, Invertebrates, Management, Monitoring, National Park Service, sponges, US Virgin Islands