Coral Reef Restoration in the Tropical West Atlantic Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
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University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School November 2020 Coral Reef Restoration in the Tropical West Atlantic Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic Linden Cheek University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Climate Commons, Environmental Engineering Commons, and the Other Earth Sciences Commons Scholar Commons Citation Cheek, Linden, "Coral Reef Restoration in the Tropical West Atlantic Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic" (2020). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/8524 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Coral Reef Restoration in the Tropical West Atlantic Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic by Linden Cheek A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering University of South Florida Major Professor: Maya Trotz, Ph.D. James Mihelcic, Ph.D. Rebecca Zarger, Ph.D. Date of Approval: November 6, 2020 Keywords: pandemic, disaster response, resilience, operational adaptation, Caribbean Copyright © 2020, Linden Cheek Dedication I dedicate this thesis to coral reef restoration practitioners and all others who work tirelessly to keep this planet livable and beautiful for all creatures. Acknowledgments I would like to thank my advisor Dr. Maya Trotz and committee member Dr. Rebecca Zarger, for their invaluable guidance in this subject matter to which I was a newcomer. I would also like to thank Dr. James Mihelcic for his role on my committee and for his continual mentorship during my graduate career, both in person and while abroad. This project also benefited greatly from the input of Kris-An Hinds and Michelle Platz, both of whom lent their experienced eyes and unique worldviews to improve my work. A special thanks to Mr. John Hunte from Barbados, who I have never met, but who did not hesitate to find and compile data for me, absolutely free. Thank you to the McKenna’s for graciously dedicating a room in their house for me to work, and especially to Sue for building me a functional desk. Thank you too, to Rory, for the continual support, feedback, and encouragement, and for decorating my workspace with ocean themed choochkies. Finally, thank you to the coral reef restoration practitioners who took the time to complete my survey. Their responses were interesting and insightful, and this thesis would most definitely not exist without them. This material is based on work supported by the U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) and the National Science Foundation Collaborative National Research Traineeship (NRT) award #1735320 (Strong Coasts). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funding agencies. Table of Contents List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iv Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 1.2 Research Goal, Research Questions and Tasks .............................................................4 1.3 Organizational Overview ...............................................................................................5 Chapter 2: Background and Literature Review ...............................................................................7 2.1 Climate Change and Coastal Hazard .............................................................................7 2.2 Coral Reefs: Nature Based Solution to Coastal Hazard Reduction ...............................8 2.3 Coral Reefs: Ecosystem Services ................................................................................11 2.3.1 Regulating, Provisioning, and Cultural Services ..........................................11 2.3.2 Supporting Services ......................................................................................14 2.3.3 Coral Reefs: State, Function, and Service ................................................................14 2.4 Study Site: Tropical West Atlantic ..............................................................................15 2.5 Threats to Coral Reefs .................................................................................................20 2.5.1 Local Threats ................................................................................................21 2.5.1.2 Nutrients………….……………………………..…....………..…21 2.5.1.2 Construction/Development………..……...………..….....………21 2.5.1.3 Overfishing….……………….……………………...………...… 22 2.5.1.4 Other Local Impacts…..……………………….…………...…… 23 2.5.2 Global Factors ...............................................................................................24 2.5.2.1 Ocean Warming………………….…………………...……….…24 2.5.3.2 Ocean Acidification….…..……….…………………...…………26 2.5.3 Natural Factors ..............................................................................................29 2.6 Reef Restoration Techniques .......................................................................................31 2.6.1 Defining Restoration .....................................................................................31 2.6.2 Passive Restoration .......................................................................................31 2.6.3 Active Restoration ........................................................................................32 2.6.3.1 Artificial Reefs, Substratum Alteration and Substratum Stabilization……..……...........…...…………………….……………32 2.6.3.2 Direct Transplantation…...….…… …………………...…………33 2.6.3.3 Asexual Coral Propagation, Coral Gardening……………………33 i 2.6.4 Socio-Ecological Aspects of Restoration .....................................................40 2.7 COVID-19, Disaster and Resilience ........................................................................... 41 2.7.1 COVID-19: Appearance and Spread ............................................................41 2.7.2 Disaster Management Cycle and Resilience Cycle ......................................42 2.7.3 Disaster, Resilience, and Restoration ...........................................................44 Chapter 3: Materials and Methods ................................................................................................ 47 3.1 Survey of TWA CRR Practitioners ............................................................................. 47 3.1.1 Research Question 1 (RQ1): Task 1a, 1b, and 1c .........................................48 3.1.2 Research Question 2 (RQ2): Task 2a and 2b ................................................49 3.1.3 Research Question 3 (RQ3): Task 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d ....................................49 3.2 Country COVID-19 Timeline ..................................................................................... 50 3.3 Data Analysis .............................................................................................................. 51 3.4 Ethics........................................................................................................................... 51 Chapter 4: Results and Discussion ................................................................................................ 53 4.1 Research Question 1: The Impact of COVID-19 on Tropical West Atlantic Coral Reef Restoration Programs ............................................................................... 55 4.1.1 Task 1a: What CRR Activities were/are Impacted? .....................................55 4.1.2 Task 1b: Why These CRR Activities were/are Impacted .............................61 4.2 Results for RQ2: Impact of COVID-19 on Reef Health ............................................. 68 4.3 Research Question 3: Resilience of CRR Programs and the Reefs They Serve ......... 72 4.3.1 Current and Planned Adaptations to COVID-19 by CRR Programs ............72 4.3.2 Comparing Adaption Strategies to Major Disruption Causes ......................77 4.3.3 Intersections with Civil and Environmental Engineering .............................78 4.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 5: Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................................... 88 5.1 Summary of Findings .................................................................................................. 88 5.2 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 91 5.3 Future Research .........................................................................................................