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- Title
Possible Return of Acropora cervicornis at Pulaski Shoal, Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida.
- Authors
Lidz, Barbara H.; Zawada, David G.
- Abstract
Seabed classification is essential to assessing environmental associations and physical status in coral reef ecosystems. At Pulaski Shoal in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, nearly continuous underwater-image coverage was acquired in 15.5 hours in 2009 along 70.2 km of transect lines spanning ∼0.2 km². The Along-Track Reef-Imaging System (ATRIS), a boat-based, high-speed, digital imaging system, was used. ATRIS-derived benthic classes were merged with a QuickBird satellite image to create a habitat map that defines areas of senile coral reef, carbonate sand, seagrasses, and coral rubble. This atypical approach of starting with extensive, high-resolution in situ imagery and extrapolating between transect lines using satellite imagery leverages the strengths of each remote-sensing modality. The ATRIS images also captured the spatial distribution of two species once common on now-degraded Florida-Caribbean coral reefs: the stony staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis, a designated threatened species, and the long-spined urchin Diadema antillarum. This article documents the utility of ATRIS imagery for quantifying number and estimating age of A. cervicornis colonies (n = 400, age range, 5-11 y) since the severe hypothermic die-off in the Dry Tortugas in 1976-77. This study is also the first to document the largest number of new colonies of A. cervicornis tabulated in an area of the park where coral- monitoring stations maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute have not been established. The elevated numbers provide an updated baseline for tracking revival of this species at Pulaski Shoal.
- Subjects
DRY Tortugas National Park (Fla.); ACROPORA cervicornis; REMOTE sensing; CORAL declines; DIADEMA antillarum; CORAL communities; HABITATS
- Publication
Journal of Coastal Research, 2013, Vol 29, Issue 2, p256
- ISSN
0749-0208
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-12-00078.1