Cook Islands Marine Park Rapid Reef Assesment
Teina Rongo Office of the Prime Minister Cook Islands Disturbances that influence coral reef ecosystems in the southern Cook Islands
Crown-of-thorn starfish
Photos from Dr. Robert van Woesik Cyclones
Photos by Cook Islands Herald, pacificbusinessonline.com, & feww.wordpress.com Cyclone tracks in the Cook Islands
Tracks of 104 cyclones in the Cook Islands from 1820– 2006 (de Scally, 2008) Hard coral cover for Rarotonga
40
35
30
25
20
15
Percent cover 10
5
0 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Year Friedman test (2006 – 2011) χ2 = 63, p < 0.001 Ciguatera fish poisoning 1994 – 2006: 1,790 per 100,000 population per year Rongo et al. (2009)
Lewis (1986) Marine Fisheries Review 48, p. 8. Globe: http://www.free-extras.com/images/pacific_ocean_globe-12033.htm
Rapid Assessment of Coral Reefs in the southern Cook Islands
Aitutaki
Manuae
Takutea Mitiaro
Atiu Mauke
Rarotonga
Capacity Building Coral cover
40 Mean 35 Mean±0.95 Conf. Interval
30
25
20
15
10
Average percent coral cover (%) cover coral percent Average 5 Atiu Manuae Mitiaro Takutea Rarotonga Is land
Average coral cover of the four islands surveyed in 2013; coral cover for Rarotonga was taken the 2011 survey (Rongo, 2011). Dotted line indicated the average coral cover of 22.1% in 2003 estimated from 2,667 reefs within the Indo-Pacific (Bruno & Selig, 2007) Giant Clam (Tridacna maxima)
On average clam density is around 3 Individuals per m2. In some cases up 50 individuals per m2.
Healthy Reefs Degradation and Recovery
Aitutaki
Manuae
Takutea Mitiaro
Atiu Mauke
Rarotonga Aitutaki Aitutaki
Manuae
Takutea Mitiaro
Atiu Mauke
Rarotonga
COTS Predation 2008 2013 Coralline Lethal Orange Disease
Dead tissue
Live tissue Eutrophic conditions and macro-algal dominated Aitutaki Manuae
Takutea Mitiaro
Atiu
Coral disease (yellow-band) Colony Size
Aitutaki Manuae
20 D Man 2 2 Mit 1 10 Tak 4 Mit 2 Ati 4 Tak 4 Man 5 ManMan 2 5 Tak 4 Ati 5 8 Ati 5 Mit 2 Ati 1 2 2 Ati 1 D Mit 2 C C 0 Mit 3E Tak 1 Takutea
P Ati 5 Ati 2 Ati 3 Man 2 Mit 1 14 AtiAti 4 3 Mit 1 A Ati 3 Man 4 AtiTak 2 1C Ati 1 Mit 3 Ati 4 Mitiaro Tak 1 Man 5 -10 Man 4 20 Ati 2 20 Atiu A Mit 3 Man 2 4 B Mit 1 -20 10 Tak 4 Mit 2 Ati 4 Tak 4 Man 5 ManMan 2 5 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 Ati 5 16 PC1 Ati 5 Tak 4 Mit 2 Ati 1 2 Ati 1 D Mit 2
C C E 0 Mit 3 Tak 1 P Ati 5 Ati 2 Ati 3 Man 2 Mit 1 28 A AtiAti 4 3 Mit 1 C Man 4 Ati 3AtiTak 2 1 Ati 1 Mit 3 Ati 4 Tak 1 Man 5 -10 Ati 2 Man 4 40 Mit 3 B -20 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 PC1 Summary
• Reefs are recovering • High degree of similarity • Baseline Information for some islands • Managing the island of Aitutaki may benefit the rest of the island chain