CORAL BLEACHING AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS Proceedings of the Workshop on Mitigating Coral Bleaching Impact Through MPA Design Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI May 29-31 2001 SEPTEMBER 2001 Published by: The Nature Conservancy, Asia Pacific Coastal Marine Program Citation: Salm, R.V. and S.L. Coles (eds). 2001. Coral Bleaching and Marine Protected Areas. Proceedings of the Workshop on Mitigating Coral Bleaching Impact Through MPA Design, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii, 29-31 May 2001. Asia Pacific Coastal Marine Program Report # 0102, The Nature Conservancy, Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A: 118 pp. © 2001 by The Nature Conservancy, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior permission from the copyright holder(s). Reproduction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without the prior written permission of the copyright holders(s). This publication was made possible through support provided by the Global Environment Bureau, U.S. Agency for International Development, under the terms of Contract No. PCE-I-00-96-00002-00, Task Order No. 17. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Cover design: Cathy Bennett Text Editing: Susan Arritt Available from: The Nature Conservancy Asia Pacific Region Coastal Marine Program 923 Nu’uanu Avenue Honolulu, HI 96817 Or via the worldwide web at: www.conserveonline.org CORAL BLEACHING AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS Proceedings of the Workshop on Mitigating Coral Bleaching Impact Through MPA Design Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI May 29-31 2001 CONTRIBUTORS: Rod Salm (Editor) Billy Causey Steve L. Coles (Editor) Peter Glynn Jordan M. West Will Heyman Ghislaine Llewellyn Paul Jokiel Terry Done David Obura Jamie Oliver SEPTEMBER 2001 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS From its beginnings as a germ of an idea through to the workshop that led to this report, a great many people have given critical encouragement for the concept that the impacts of coral bleaching could be mitigated through selection and design of marine protected areas. Some key people whose support was pivotal in development of the ideas include Carol Fox, Darrell Kitchener, Russell Leiman, Peter Mous, Jos Pet, Andrew Smith, and Scott Smith of The Nature Conservancy Asia Pacific Program, Paul Holthus of the Marine Aquarium Council, and many participants at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium in Bali. Special thanks are due to the World Wildlife Fund (U.S.) Climate Change Campaign for financial support for the workshop, to Meseret Taye for handling contractual logistics, to the Bishop Museum for co-hosting the workshop and providing the facilities, and to The Nature Conservancy for sup- porting the allocation of considerable staff time to development of the idea and preparation for the workshop and its outputs. The IUCN, through its Marine Programme and World Commission on Protected Areas, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Michael and Andrea Banks (MBA Financial Services), provided essential funding for the publication and distribution of the workshop report. Thanks are also due to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for enabling Jordan West to focus on the background research on environmental factors that influence coral resistance and resilience to bleaching for this workshop. This task consumed considerable time and effort and helped set a solid foundation for discussions during the work- shop. Special acknowledgment goes to the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources, especially Bill Devick, for releasing Athline Clark to facilitate the meeting, a task she executed with consummate skill and concentration. Athline Clark was ably assisted by her team of recorders—Ku’ulei Rodgers, Fenny Cox, Ellen Tong, and Will Smith. Shari Walker and Jordan West also helped capture notes of the meeting. Steve Coles coordinated preparations for the workshop and production of this interpretation of the workshop deliberations. The diligence of workshop participants in preparing their contributions and the open spirit of dialogue and debate proved invaluable in exploring and refining the concepts under discussion and were critical to the successful conclusion of the workshop and quality of its outputs. Shari Walker did a tremendous job of managing the workshop logistics—often-underestimated chal- lenges that are vital to the effective execution of any workshop and the attainment of its objectives. Rod Salm TABLE OF CONTENTS WORKSHOP SUMMARY. 1 INTRODUCTION . 4 WORKSHOP GOAL AND OBJECTIVES . 6 WORKSHOP OUTPUTS . 7 ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS THAT CORRELATE WITH CORAL BLEACHING RESISTANCE AND RESILIENCE . 8 MONITORING THE ROLE OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS IN MITIGATING BLEACHING DAMAGE ON CORAL REEFS . 13 LOOKING FORWARD: GLOBAL ACTION PROGRAM . 19 KEYNOTE PAPERS . 24 CORAL BLEACHING: WHAT DO WE KNOW AND WHAT CAN WE DO? Steve L. Coles . 25 HISTORY OF SIGNIFICANT CORAL BLEACHING EVENTS AND INSIGHTS REGARDING AMELIORATION Peter W. Glynn . 36 ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINANTS OF RESISTANCE TO CORAL BLEACHING: IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGEMENT OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS Jordan M. West . 40 SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLES FOR ESTABLISHING MPAS TO ALLEVIATE CORAL BLEACHING AND PROMOTE RECOVERY Terry Done . 53 LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE INTENSIFICATION OF CORAL BLEACHING FROM 1980-2000 IN THE FLORIDA KEYS, USA Billy D. Causey. 60 MEASUREMENT AND MONITORING, METHODS AND APPLICATIONS TO CORAL BLEACHING: METHODS AND FINDINGS OF THE HAWAII CORAL REEF MONITORING PROGRAM (CRAMP) Paul Jokiel . 67 MONITORING OF CORALS, BLEACHING AND PROTECTED AREAS ON THE GREAT BARRIER REEF Jamie Oliver and Ray Berkelmans. 72 CORAL REEF BLEACHING AND MONITORING IN THE INDIAN OCEAN David Obura . 82 APPENDIX 1 - WORKSHOP AGENDA. 97 APPENDIX 2 - WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS . 101 APPENDIX 3 - ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS QUESTIONNAIRE. 103 TABLES Table 1. Agreed list of factors that may correspond with coral bleaching resistance . 9 Table 2. Agreed list of factors that may contribute to coral community resilience . 11 Table 3. Parameters selected by workshop participants and ranked for their potential effectiveness in mitigating coral bleaching impacts. 14 Table 4. Hypotheses to test effectiveness of environmental factors in conferring coral bleaching resistance or resilience. 17 CORAL BLEACHING AND MARINE PROTECTED AREAS WORKSHOP SUMMARY Those of us who knew the corals reefs of the world 30 years ago or more have seen widespread deteri- oration in their condition and in the numbers of fishes and mollusks they shelter. Projecting the past 30 years of change ahead another 30 years might be enough to drag us into a vortex of despondency. On the other hand, inspired by our conservation successes, we could rise to the challenge and look for solutions. It makes good sense to prepare for what lies ahead in this new century by looking back at changes in the state of reefs and projecting these trends ahead to anticipate emerging threats. In doing so, we can position ourselves to be ready for them. Bleaching as a response by corals to stress caused by elevated seawater temperature is one of these emerging threats that has already led to the possible extinction of some coral species from reefs in the Panama and Okinawa regions, at opposite ends of the Pacific. Mass coral bleaching of the scale following the 1998 El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event is viewed by some as an intractable problem and by others as a challenge we need to do "something" about. Patterns of bleaching in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary show that each subsequent event has exceeded former thresholds of resistance and extended bleaching to new reefs. This is a mat- ter of concern that increases the stakes and warns us that we cannot wait any longer to act. Responding to rising global concern, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) joined with the World Wildlife Fund U.S. (WWF-US) to determine how to shape the "something" into practical actions that could be imple- mented to mitigate the impacts of bleaching on coral reef biodiversity. We convened a small working group of influential participants with significant experience in relevant coral reef research, monitoring, and marine protected area (MPA) management. Collectively, they embody comprehensive, direct knowledge of all major reef areas worldwide (Asia, Pacific, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, United States, and Australia). The group was united and stimulated by a shared concept that, counter to the prevailing sentiment of doom and gloom, something can be done to address the severe impacts of climate related bleaching on coral reefs, even if sources of climate change are beyond our control within meaningful timeframes. This first workshop was a determined attempt to explore and agree on some potential science-based principals that could guide management of current MPAs to mitigate the impacts of coral bleaching, optimize conditions for reef recovery, and steer the establishment of new MPAs. The intent was to build upon, not change, the many varied and excellent approaches to reef management by adding some com- plementary activities and approaches that are designed specifically to help managers address coral bleaching through mitigation strategies. Hopefully, the workshop will catalyze a succession of other small, focused meetings aimed at deter- mining how to control