s Ocean Ocean Treasures s Ocean Treasures s ’ ’
America America • • Program Program Brian D.Brian Keller Brian D.Brian Keller Caribbean Region Caribbean Caribbean Region Caribbean Florida Keys Florida Florida Keys Florida Regional Science Coordinator Regional Regional Science Coordinator Regional Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and and Mexico, of Gulf Atlantic, Southeast Southeast Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and and Mexico, of Gulf Atlantic, Southeast Conservation/Management Conservation/Management Conservation/Management Conservation/Management NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Marine National of Office NOAA National Marine National Sanctuary: NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries Marine National of Office NOAA National Marine National Sanctuary:
National Marine Sanctuaries Sanctuaries Marine National Sanctuaries Marine National Southeast Florida/Florida Keys •Florida Keys Reef Tract 350 km long – S. of Miami to Dry Tortugas •Part of Florida Reef Tract, which extends to Martin County •Only system of shallow coral reefs in North America •Florida Keys: fossilized coral reefs and oolitic mud banks that formed ~125 kya
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures E Key Largo Largo Key NMS 1975 NMS S N Biscayne Nat. Biscayne Park 1968/1980 Park W Park 1934 Park
s Ocean Ocean Treasures s Ocean Treasures s ’ ’ Refuge 1957 Refuge Everglades Nat. Everglades Nat. Key Deer Deer Key Nat. Florida Bay Florida Florida Bay Florida 60 120 Miles Looe Key Key Looe NMS 1981 NMS
America America
Atlantic Ocean Atlantic • • Great White White Great Heron NWR 1938 NWR Heron 0 Key West West Key NWR 1908 NWR Area 2007 Area Research Nat. Research Gulf of of Mexico Gulf John Pennekamp Coral Reef Reef Coral Pennekamp John 1960 Park State South Florida Marine Ecosystem Marine Florida South
Florida Keys NMS 1990 NMS Keys Florida Sanctuaries Marine National Sanctuaries Marine National Tortugas Ecol. Res. 2001 Ecol. Res. Tortugas Nat. Park Park Nat. 1935/1992 Dry Tortugas Tortugas Dry 60 Evolution of of Evolution Protection… Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
• Designated by Congress in 1990 to protect the coral reef ecosystem surrounding the Florida Keys • Multiple-use marine protected area • Management plan 1997: 23 highly protected (no-take) marine zones • Tortugas Ecological Reserve implemented in 2001 • Total proportion no-take = 6% Florida Bay Gulf of Mexico
Atlantic 9,844 km 2 Ocean National Marine Sanctuaries • America ’s Ocean Treasures Caribbean-wide Loss of Live Coral Cover
White Band Disease
Bleaching
Bleaching
Diadema Die-off
FKNMS tail end …
From Gardner et al. 2003 and Courtesy S. Miller Aronson & Precht 2006 CREMP:CREMP: OverallOverall CoralCoral CoverCover OverOver TimeTime
http://www.floridamarine.org
Mass Bleaching Hurricane Georges Bleaching Four Hurricanes
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures CREMP:CREMP: CoralCoral CoverCover OverOver TimeTime byby HabitatHabitat
25% .
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Mean % Stony Coral Cover 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05
Hardbottom Deep Shallow Patch
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures Mid-channel Patch Reefs South of Marathon
Marker 49
Sunshine Key
Cheeca Rocks SPA s Ocean Ocean Treasures s Ocean Treasures s ’ ’
America America • •
National Marine Sanctuaries Sanctuaries Marine National Sanctuaries Marine National
25,000 septic tanks
9,000 cess pits
900 shallow wells for treated wastewater
Excellent wastewater ~75,000 treatment in Key West residents in the Florida Keys (~130,000 during winter season)
124 miles of dredged Canals >3 million visitors annually
(>12 million visitor days) From this…
“An average day of grouper fishing in the Keys in the 1950’s!”
Courtesy J. Ault (UM/RSMAS) … to this
Catch of the day, 2007 Courtesy L. McClenachan (UCSD/SIO) Drivers/Pressures/Stressors
• Serial overfishing & other fishing impacts • Degraded water quality – GOM via Loop/Florida Current, W Florida Shelf, Keys waste- & stormwater • Heavy human uses – nearly 30K recreational vessels, > 3M tourists/year • Climate change
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures FKNMS Management Plan
1997 http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/ 2007 National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures Purpose: balance of resource protection and human uses (compatible with conservation)
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures 1. Science Management & Administration 2. Research and Monitoring 3. Education and Outreach 4. Volunteer 5. Regulatory 6. Enforcement 7. Damage Assessment & Restoration 8. Maritime Heritage Resources 9. Marine Zoning 10. Mooring Buoys 11. Waterway Management 12. Water Quality 13. Operations 14. Evaluation National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures FKNMS Science Program Coastal Ocean Observations: field (fixed platforms & cruises) and remote sensing Water Quality Protection Program: water quality, seagrass, and coral reef monitoring Marine Zone Monitoring Program: reef fishes, spiny lobster, coral recruitment, and benthic community composition Florida Reef Resilience Program: includes surveys of coral bleaching interpreted at a sub-regional scale Also, numerous short-term research projects, most of which are relevant to management
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures FKNMS Information Needs
• Sea Level Rise – Focus on Keys inundation and expansion of Florida Bay/SW shelf into the Everglades + associated impacts (including land -based sources of pollution as Chris Bergh noted yesterday) – Reefs have not accreted all that much over the past 6,000 - 7,000 years, so may not be all that much need to investigate reef drowning/keeping up with SLR – Investigate effects on Florida Bay mud banks/circulation and GoM/Atlantic tidal exchanges between Middle and Lower Keys (consider Flagler causeways) – Further modeling and development of scenarios … (e.g., Ross et al. 2009; TNC Big Pine Key inundation; Everglades/Shark River Slough inundation)
National Marine Sanctuaries • America’’s Ocean Treasures s Ocean Ocean Treasures s Ocean Treasures s ’ ’
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National Marine Sanctuaries Sanctuaries Marine National Sanctuaries Marine National