Guidelines for coral reef and small island vegetation surveys in the Maldives Charlie Dryden and Ahmed Basheer The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), USAID (United States Agency for International Development), Project REGENERATE or the Government of Maldives concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN, USAID, Project REGENERATE or the Government of Maldives. This publication has been made possible in part by generous funding from USAID. This publication has been made possible with the collaboration and expertise of Ministry of Environment, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The authors are grateful to Najfa Shaheem Razee, Fathimath Shihany Habeeb and Rifath Naeem for reviewing the report and providing feedback. Published by: IUCN and the Government of Maldives in collaboration with USAID Copyright: © 2020 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources and Government of Maldives. Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorised without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Authors: Charlie Dryden1 and Ahmed Basheer1 1 IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Maldives, Malé, Maldives Citation: Dryden C, and Basheer A. (2020). Guidelines for coral reef and small island vegetation surveys in the Maldives. Malé, Maldives: IUCN and Government of Maldives. xx pp. Cover photo: © Ahmed Basheer, IUCN Maldives Layout by: Produced by: IUCN Maldives, Malé, Maldives i Table of contents Table of contents ..................................................................................................................... ii List of tables ............................................................................................................................. v List of figures .......................................................................................................................... vii 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Overview ................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Scope of these guidelines ....................................................................................... 2 1.3 Survey objectives and design .................................................................................. 4 Survey objectives ................................................................................................ 4 What surveying approach to use? ....................................................................... 5 Indicator selection ............................................................................................... 6 2 Marine Surveys ................................................................................................................ 7 2.1 Site selection ........................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Benthic community ................................................................................................ 10 Benthic cover ..................................................................................................... 11 Coral community ............................................................................................... 11 Coral health ....................................................................................................... 12 Structural complexity ......................................................................................... 12 2.3 Fish community ..................................................................................................... 13 Taxonomic diversity ........................................................................................... 14 Fish groups ........................................................................................................ 14 ii 2.4 Manta tow .............................................................................................................. 16 Equipment ......................................................................................................... 17 Personnel .......................................................................................................... 18 Data collected .................................................................................................... 18 Procedure .......................................................................................................... 18 Safety ................................................................................................................ 19 Advantages ....................................................................................................... 20 Limitations ......................................................................................................... 20 2.5 Roaming surveys ................................................................................................... 22 Equipment ......................................................................................................... 22 Personnel .......................................................................................................... 23 Data collected .................................................................................................... 23 Procedure .......................................................................................................... 24 Safety ................................................................................................................ 25 Limitations ......................................................................................................... 25 2.6 Transect surveys ................................................................................................... 28 Equipment ......................................................................................................... 29 Personnel .......................................................................................................... 29 Data collected .................................................................................................... 29 Point intercept transect ...................................................................................... 29 Photoquadrat ..................................................................................................... 30 Belt transect for substrate ................................................................................. 31 iii Belt transect for fish ........................................................................................... 32 Procedure .......................................................................................................... 33 Safety ................................................................................................................ 34 Advantages ................................................................................................... 34 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 34 3 Terrestrial surveys ......................................................................................................... 38 3.1 Site selection ......................................................................................................... 38 3.2 Flora community .................................................................................................... 39 Abundance ........................................................................................................ 39 Canopy cover .................................................................................................... 39 Height ................................................................................................................ 40 Diameter at breast height .................................................................................. 40 Health ................................................................................................................ 40 Aerial surveying ................................................................................................. 41 3.3 Faunal community ................................................................................................. 42 Insects and arachnids ....................................................................................... 42 Birds .................................................................................................................. 44 Crabs ................................................................................................................. 44 Fish .................................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Habitat variables .................................................................................................... 45 Water quality