Coral Reef Monitoring Protocol for the Overseas Territory Environmental Project British Virgin Islands

Transcription

1 Coral Reef Monitoring Protocol for the Overseas Territory Environmental Project British Virgin Islands Prepared by: Shannon Gore Marine Biologist - Conservation & Fisheries Department Ministry of Natural Resources & Labour Government of the British Virgin Islands Phone: / FAX: Sgore@gov.vg June 2006 Contacts: Finfun Peters Marine Coordinator- BVI National Parks Trust -P.O. Box 860 Road Town, Tortola British Virgin Islands - Tel: / 2069 Fax: Nancy Pascoe - Planning Coordinator -BVI National Parks Trust -P.O. Box 860 Road Town, Tortola British Virgin Islands - Tel: / 2069 Fax: Dr. Charles Sheppard Marine Scientist- University of Warwick charles.sheppard@warwick.ac.uk

2 CONTENTS I. Overview 3 Goals II. Equipment List 4 Monitoring site Setup Equipment 4 Monitoring Locations GPS Coordinates 4 III. Monitoring Station Set-Up 5 Monitoring Locations Map 6 Monitoring Stations- GPS Coordinates 7 IV. Coral Monitoring 8 Identification 8 Bio-indicators 8 Photography 9 V. Data Analysis 10 Intellectual Property Rights 10 APPENDICES 11 A. Identification of basic species 11 B. Identification of live versus recent & old mortality 15 C. Identification of coral diseases & predation 17 D. Identification of bleaching scales 19 E. Bio-indicators 20 *Cover photo by S. Gore 2

3 I. OVERVIEW This protocol is for monitoring coral reef / coastal ecosystems in the BVI as an indicator of overall coral reef health. Seven permanent monitoring stations were established in 2005 and more sites will be added as needed. Each monitoring station has five 20m transects. Each transect requires the person monitoring to identify (common name) what lies below the transect line at every 20 cm interval as well as identify the abundance of indicator species for overall reef health. Quantitative data collected will include percentages of coral coverage, recent mortality and coral disease. Digital photographs and video (Conservation & Fisheries Department) will also be taken along each transect to ensure qualitative and visual verification. Data will be collected on an annual basis or as needed. Monitoring staff require an open water scuba certification but since buoyancy is a critical skill to master for reef monitoring, an experienced diver should be used. The surveyors do not necessarily need a degree in marine biology, however, it is recommended those participating in coral monitoring have basic knowledge of coral identification and reef ecology. This protocol was established as part of the Overseas Territory Environmental Project (OTEP) entitled Assessment & Improved Management of New and Existing Marine Protected Areas in the British Virgin Islands. It is a collaborative project between the Conservation & Fisheries Department (CFD) and the BVI National Parks Trust (NPT). GOALS The goals of this protocol include: The establishment of permanent monitoring stations throughout the BVI that will be monitored annually or as needed, such as during a bleaching event in which reefs will be monitored on a monthly basis. Identifying the abundance and distribution of coral species as well as the abundance of bioindicators, diseases and recent mortality over a temporal scale. Identifying if Marine Protected Areas have aided in the sustainability of the natural resources found in the BVI. 3

4 II. EQUIPMENT LIST EQUIPMENT FOR MONITORING SITE SET-UP Boat w/ anchor Dive Flag Dive equipment (mask, fins, BCD & regs, weight belt, air tanks) 10 Rebar stakes (2 ft each) per site Mallet / hammer 5 Small buoys (will be cut in half for sub-surface rebar markers) Large reel of fine nylon line (used for attaching buoys to substrate) Knife (used for cutting buoys in half) Scissors (used for cutting fine nylon line to secure buoys) Flagging tape GPS unit with waterproof bag EQUIPMENT FOR CORAL MONITORING Boat w/ anchor Dive Flag Dive equipment (mask, fins, BCD & regs, weight belt, air tanks) GPS unit with waterproof bag At least 2 Transect tapes (minimum of 50 meters) OR what is preferred: (at least 2) 25 Meters of weighted nylon line, marked from zero to 20m every 20 cm with small colored tie wraps Small 1 x 1 quadrat to attach weighted line 1 (See Figure 1.) Underwater slates OR what is preferred: Clipboard with waterproof paper OR waterproof notebook Pencils ID cards (coral id, disease & color chart) - Supplied by CFD Underwater camera / video camera OPTIONAL: Extra buoys (small), flagging tape, string to repair stations Figure 1. 10m weighted nylon line with 1 x 1 quadrat. 1 To make 1x1 quadrat attach four ½ diameter / 12 length PVC pipes with 4 ½ elbow joints to make a square quadrat. Holes should also be drilled in the PVC in order for the quadrat to sink. 4

5 III. MONITORING STATION SETUP The general location for each monitoring stations is determined by location of proposed marine protected area. Monitoring stations should be a good representation of the habitat in the area. During the initial set-up, rebar will be permanently driven into the substrate. Once the first rebar is in place at the monitoring station, the rebar is tied with flagging tape and a small sub-surface buoy is affixed to a coral head near the rebar in order to relocate the start of the transect line. (This is the first point in which coral monitoring will begin). Once the 20 meters is measured out, the second rebar is hammered into the substrate. It is not always possible to find a place to put the rebar at exactly 20m, in fact, it is best to measure out to 20.5m-21m from the first rebar 2. Once the rebar is in place, it is marked with flagging tape and a small sub-surface buoy is affixed to a coral head near the rebar. This will be Transect #1. (See Figure 2). Buoy marker Transect line Rebar with flagging tape Figure 2. Monitoring station setup. The next transect line ( Transect #2 ) will run approximately 5 meters parallel from the first transect. However, some sites will have 2-3 of the 20m transects running continuously from the first transect (i.e. a transect may run 40m but will still have a break at 20m). There is a total of five 20meter transects for each site. During the actual monitoring, a consistent way of determining transect number should be applied. These same steps will be repeated for each of the other monitoring stations. 2 Because monitoring requires the surveyor to observe corals every 20cm, this will allow a total of 100 points that must be monitored per 20m transect. 5

6 MONITORING LOCATIONS MAP Sandy Cay - Soft Coral Reef Great Thatch Montastrea Reef Little Thatch Montastrea Reef Norman Island - Montastrea Reef Peter Island West Soft Coral Reef Peter Island South - Soft Coral Reef Beef Island Hans Creek - Montastrea Reef Eustatia Sound Montastrea Reef Brandywine Bay Seagrass Bed Figure 3. Map of monitoring locations 6

7 MONITORING LOCATIONS GPS COORDINATES OTEP MONITORING SITE GPS COORDINATES GPS Settings: UTM Zone 20, NAD 1983 Conus SITE NAME TRANSECT# NORTHING EASTING SITE NAME TRANSECT # NORTHING EASTING Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Great Thatch Hans Creek Norman Island Hans Creek Norman Island Brandywine Bay Norman Island Brandywine Bay Norman Island Brandywine Bay Norman Island Brandywine Bay Norman Island Hans Creek Norman Island Sandy Cay Norman Island Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Sandy Cay Peter Island west Little Thatch Peter Island west Little Thatch Peter Island west Little Thatch Peter Island west Little Thatch Peter Island south Little Thatch Peter Island south Little Thatch Peter Island south Little Thatch Peter Island south Little Thatch Peter Island south Peter Island south Peter Island south Peter Island south Peter Island south Peter Island south Figure 4. GPS coordinates to monitoring sites. 7

8 IV. CORAL MONITORING Coral monitoring is to be replicated annually or as needed. Other parameters to record during the monitoring survey include depth, water temperature (dive gear gauges will suffice), climatological data (air temperature, wind speed, cloud cover from local weather report) and underwater visibility. IDENTIFICATION Once the permanent markers (rebar and sub-surface buoys) have been placed, coral monitoring may commence. At the first point (where the first rebar was placed), tie the measuring tape / line to the rebar. Run the line out from the first point to the second rebar that was placed approximately 20m from the first point. Once the transect is laid, (preferably all transects at the same time) surveyors must swim away from the area for 5-10 minutes. This allows spooked fish to return to their normal behaviour and a fish count can then be taken. (See next section on Bio-indicators). Once the fish count is taken, other bio-indicators can be counted and coral monitoring can begin. The measuring tape or weighted line will have a few inches at the beginning so the first point is not directly on the point where the rebar is placed. A tie wrap marks 0 meters and every meter thereafter up to 20m. THE FIRST POINT IN WHICH MONITORING BEGINS IS AT THE FIRST 20CM MARK, NOT AT THE 0 MARK. If monitored correctly, there will be 100 points per transect. At every 20cm interval, the species that is DIRECTLY below the line is recorded (see Appendix A) on a dive slate or underwater data sheet. If a weighted line is used and tie wraps are placed at every 20cm interval, the same species will most likely be observed during each monitoring survey. If an underwater tape measure is used, there is a greater possibility different species will be recorded since tape measures have a tendency to sway with the current whereas the weighted line will not. Species should be identified, at a minimum, down to the common name, and if known, the scientific name. The colony needs to be observed and the following should also be identified: Classification of coral as Recent Mortality or Old Mortality (see Appendix B) Type of disease / predation present (See appendix C) In the event of a bleaching event a Bleaching Rating (See Appendix D) This is all written on the data sheet and later transferred to a spreadsheet for further analysis. This procedure will be repeated for each transect unless only one measuring tape / weighted lines is available because PHOTOS MUST BE TAKEN PRIOR TO THE TRANSECT LINE BEING REMOVED BETWEEN THE TWO REBAR (see later section Photography). BIOINDICATORS Surveyors will swim slowly along the transect line and count the total numbers of parrotfish, butterflyfish, blue tang and commercial species (grouper, grunt, snapper, trigger) seen along the line and one meter to each side of the transect..there will be four numbers for each transect for the fish count; one for total number of parrotfish seen, total number of butterflyfish, total number of tang and total number of commercial species. Other bio-indicators that must also be counted are spiny sea urchins (Diadema), rock urchins (Echinometra lucunter), flamingo tongues, lobster, and conch. (See Appendix E). These counts may be taken before, after or during the coral surveys. 8

9 PHOTOGRAPHY Once the identification of the corals is completed, digital photos and video need to be taken along each transect line while the measuring tape or weighted line is still laid out. This will provide physical verification of coral health. Before photos are taken of the reef, take a photo of a slate or data sheet that shows the date, transect # and the location of the stations. Once this has been done, photos are taken about 1m (if still photos) and 40cm if using video, from the top of the substrate, facing directly downwards to the ground along the transect line. Photos taken every meter will ensure all species along the transect are photographed. Once the photos are downloaded, it is best to keep each transect clearly named (with date) in a folder to easily retrieve specific transect points over a temporal scale. 9

10 V. DATA ANALYSIS Once data is entered into a database, the data is analyzed for each transect and an overall average per site for the following information: Percentage of coral identified as Live, Recent Mortality or Old Mortality Percentage of coral disease (for each disease) Overall disease per transect Average Bleaching Rating For video analysis, see Using Videography to Monitor Coral Reefs from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service; Virgin Islands National Park (45pp). INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS Monitoring data is collected and shared between the Project Partners (NPT and CFD). Authorship of any publications should include names of persons responsible for data collecting, analyzing and / or write-ups. Data may be used by Project Partners as part of the OTEP reporting to UK Government with full and proper citation and/or acknowledgement where relevant. Project Partners are encouraged to publish these data. Any planned publications are to be discussed with partner at their inception. All publications should give full acknowledgement of the OTEP project, BVI National Parks Trust and BVI Conservation & Fisheries Department.. 10

11 APPENDIX A - Identification of basic species (1) FIRE CORAL Millepora alcicornis * Note: Fire coral is one of the first species of coral to show signs of bleaching when water temperatures rise. (2) SOFT CORALS (GORGONIANS) Pteogorgia anceps Pseudopterogorgia sp. Iciligorgia schrammi (3) BRANCHING / PILLAR CORAL Acropora palmata. Porites ssp Acropora cervicornis Note: Elkhorn & Staghorn (Acropora palmata & Acropora cervicornis) are listed as threatened in the US. All photos this page by S. Gore Dendrogyra cylindrus 11

12 (4) BOULDER CORALS APPENDIX A - Identification of basic species (continued) Montastrea cavernosa Montastrea annularis *Note: Boulder star coral ( Montastrea Annularis) is the most common coral found in the BVI. sidereal Siderastrea Porites astreoides *Note: Mustard coral is one of the first species of coral to show signs of bleaching when water temperatures rise. Colpophyllia natans (5) BRAIN CORAL Diporia strigosa All photos this page by S. Gore Diploria Labyrinthiformis 12

13 (6) PLATE CORAL APPENDIX A - Identification of basic species (continued) Note: Lettuce coral (agaricia ssp) is one of the first species of coral to show signs of bleaching when water temperatures rise. Agaricia ssp. (7) FLESHY CORAL (8) CUP CORAL Mussa angulosa Mycetophyllia Scolymia ssp Eusamilia fastigiata (9) CALCAREOUS ALGAE Halimeda ssp 13

14 (10) FLESHY ALGAE APPENDIX A - Identification of basic species (continued) Dictyota Lobophora variegate (11) SPONGES Aplysina ssp (12) SEAGRASSES Thalassia testudinum Syringodium filiforme Halodule wrightii 14

15 APPENDIX B - Identification of live versus recent & old mortality LIVE CORAL RECENT MORTALITY Coral that has recently died will have a fine layer of turf algae growing over the white skeleton. Grooves and ridges are still easily seen. All photos this page by S. Gore 15

16 APPENDIX B - Identification of live versus recent & old mortality (continued) OLD MORTALITY Limestone skeletons are all that is left of old, dead coral. The older the skeleton, the more likely the surface will be eroded to a smooth surface and difficult to identify what species once inhabited it. Fleshy algae often overgrows on the coral skeletons. LIVE CORAL RECENT MORTALITY OLD MORTALITY All photos this page by S. Gore 16

17 APPENDIX C - Identification of coral diseases & predation Black Band Disease Yellow Band Disease Dark Spot Disease Aspergillosis 17

18 Bleaching APPENDIX C - Identification of coral diseases & predation(continued) White Band Disease (Acroporid species only) Photo by A. Bruckner White Plague Parrotfish Biting Damselfish Chimneys Photo by A. Bruckner * All photos this page by S. Gore 18

19 APPENDIX D - Identification of bleaching scales In the event of a mass bleaching event, there are two ways in which bleached corals may be monitored. The use of cards developed by CORALWATCH (see Figure 1) or by a scale of 1-5 (sees Figures 3-7). Specific colonies need to be identified and tagged, preferably 20 (five different species) colonies per monitoring station. Corals along the transect line should be used for ease of relocating the colonies. Once the colonies are tagged, one of two methods should be used to monitor the recovery of corals. METHOD 1 CORALWATCH cards may be used to identify the level of bleaching 1 being completely bleached. Place the card next to the coral colony and match to the nearest color. The lightest color as well as the darkest color found within a coral colony should be recorded to track the recovery of corals. Figure 1. CORALWATCH Cards Figure 2. CORALW ATCH cards in use. METHOD 2 The alternative method to monitoring bleached corals uses a scale of 1-5 depicting the different stages of bleaching. This may be the preferred method since the CORALWATCH cards are made for corals of the Pacific Ocean and differ in coloration from the Caribbean corals. The following scale may be used: 1 Fully bleached (white) 2 Mostly bleached (light yellow) 3 Patchy (25-75% white / yellow) 4 Pale 5 Normal All photos this page by S. Gore 19

20 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators 1. BUTTERFLYFISH Stipped Butterflyfish 4-eyed buttrflyfish 2. PARROTFISH Queen Parrtofish Initial Phase Queen Parrtofish Adult male Phase Princess Parrotfish Stoplight Parrotfish Initial Phase * All photos this page by Paul Humann 20

21 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators (cont) Stoplight Parrotfish super Male Stripped Parrotfish 3. COMMERCIAL SPECIES GROUPER Nassau Grouper Tiger Grouper Yellowfin Grouper Red Hind * All photos this page by Paul Humann 21

22 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators (cont) SNAPPER Black Margate Grey Snapper Yellowtail Snapper Schoolmaster Snapper Mahogany Snapper * All photos this page by Paul Humann 22

23 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators (cont) GRUNT French Grunt Bluestriped Grunt White Grunt Ceasar Grunt OTHER COMMERCIAL SPECIES Queen Trigger Blue Runner * All photos this page by Paul Humann 23

24 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators (cont) Photo by: Paul Humann Bar Jack 4. BLUE TANG Photo by: Paul Humann 4. SPINY URCHINS Photo by: Paul Humann 5. ROCK URCHINS Photo by: Paul Humann 24

25 APPENDIX E Bio-indicators (cont) 6. CONCH Photo from: 7. SPINY LOBSTER 8. FLAMINGO TONGUES Photo by: Paul Humann Photo by: Paul Humann 25