FloridaFlorida KeysKeys NationalNational MarineMarine Sanctuary:Sanctuary: Conservation/ManagementConservation/Management ProgramProgram BrianBrian D.D. KellerKeller RegionalRegional ScienceScience CoordinatorCoordinator SoutheastSoutheast Atlantic,Atlantic, GulfGulf ofof Mexico,Mexico, andand CaribbeanCaribbean RegionRegion NOAANOAA OfficeOffice ofof NationalNational MarineMarine SanctuariesSanctuaries National Marine Sanctuaries • America ’’s Ocean Treasures 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 South Florida Marine Ecosystem Evolution of Everglades Nat. Park 1934 Protection… John Pennekamp Coral Reef Biscayne Nat. State Park 1960 Park 1968/1980 Gulf of Mexico Dry Tortugas Florida Bay Research Nat. Nat. Park Great White Key Largo Area 2007 1935/1992 Heron NWR 1938 NMS 1975 Key West Nat. Key Deer N NWR 1908 Refuge 1957 Looe Key Florida Keys NMS 1990 W E NMS 1981 Tortugas Ecol. Res. 2001 Atlantic Ocean S 60 0 60 120 Miles National Marine Sanctuaries • America ’’s Ocean Treasures 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 National Marine Sanctuaries • America ’’s Ocean Treasures 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 National Marine Sanctuaries P America ’’s Ocean Treasures.