Community Coral Reef Monitoring Training Location: Adelup Point Marybelle Quinata Community Monitoring Coordinator NOAA NOAA Hafa Adai, my name is Agenda • Marine Preserves • Coral Reefs & Their Threats • Overview of Piti-Asan watershed • Ridge-to-Reef Conservation • Survey Methods • Monitoring Exercises • In-Water Training §63116.1. Purpose of Marine Preserves The purpose of the marine preserve is to protect, preserve, manage, and conserve aquatic life, habitat, and marine communities and ecosystems, and to ensure the health, welfare and integrity of marine resources for current and future generations by managing, regulating, restricting, or prohibiting activities to include, but not limited to, fishing, development, human uses.” History of MPAs 1986 1993 1997 Decline in 1st hearing of 3 Legislation passed on Fisheries 5 permanent preserves 1990 1995 2001 Proposal for Marine Full Enforcement 2nd hearing of 3 Preserves Begins NOAA Habitats • Reef Flat • Seagrass • Mixed Coral Stands • Staghorn Thickets • Soft Coral • Sand • Coral Rubble • Pavement/Algae • Reef Margin • Coral • Channels • Fore Reef • Coral • Pavement/Algae • Sand • Channels Burdick 2006 CORALS! What are corals? How do they survive and grow? Why are coral reefs important? Individual Corals Coral Polyp Colonies People Can Disturb The Balance… Fish, Recreational Invertebrates, Overfishing Impacts Turtles, etc. Corals Algae Lack of Public Coral Land-based Bleaching Sources of Awareness & Disease Pollution ©guamreeflife.com ©guamreeflife.com ©guamreeflife.com Burdick et al. 2008 Burdick et al. 2008 Photo by D. Burdick How do we deal? • Join beach clean-ups • Participate in tree plantings • Practice reef etiquette Let’s continue to work on… Ridge-to-Reef Approach • “BIG PICTURE” Approach to Conservation • Traces land-based pollution to marine resources from the mountain ridge to our coral reefs • Collective conservation efforts to address source of land-based pollution What is a Watershed? • Waters journey from the top of a mountain ridge through rivers and finally to its ocean outlet Residential Areas MASSO Erosion ASAN MATGUE TAGUAGCoastal Development Piti-Asan Watershed border Piti Bomb Holes MPA Rivers/ Tributaries GCMP Piti-Asan Restoration Projects Dredging out & Water Restocking Quality Monitoring Tree Planting Stream Bank Stabilization Why monitor coral reefs? NOAA Benthic Monitoring Benthic Cover Survey What’s on the sea bottom? Materials • Transect tape • ½ m Quadrat Includes: • Benthic Data sheet – Sand • Clipboard & pencil – Algae • Snorkel gear – Corals – Rubble – Rock Procedure 1. Assign teams to transects (25m/team) 2. Place quadrat along side measuring tape 3. Record benthic cover under each point of quadrat (6 Benthic ID) 4. Move to next meter – Do on both sides Benthic Monitoring w/ Quadrats 2m 25m 1 2 1m 3 4 5 6 NOAA CHLOROPHYTA Cladophoropsis sp. Caulerpa racemosa Caluerpa serrulata Halimeda spp. PHAEOPHYTA Padina sp. Dictyota sp. Sargassum cristaefollum Turbinaria ornata RHODOPHYTA Acanthophyta spicifera Dichotomaria marginata Gracilaria salicornia Actinotrichia sp. Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring CYANOBACTERIA Hydrolithon reinboldii Crustose coralline sp. Schizothrix sp . ALGAE CORALLINE SEA GRASSES SEA Halophila minor Enhalus acoroides Halodule uninervis BOTTOM COVER BOTTOM Turf Algae Rubble Sand Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring Benthic Cover CORALS ©guamreeflife.com ACROPORA Acropora sp. Acropora muricata Acropora quelchii PORITES Porites lobata. Porites cylindrica Porites rus GONIOPORA Gonipora sp. Goniopora sp. Gonipora fruticosa Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring FAVIA Golf ball coral ball Golf Favia stelligera Favia pallida Favia favus Big Lip Lip Coral Big LOBOPHYLIA Lobophyllia corymbosa Lobophyllia sp. Lobophyllia corymbosa Lettuce Coral PAVONA Pavona frondifera Pavona sp. Pavona decussata Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring Brain Coral LEPTORIA Honey Comb Coral Comb Honey LEPTASTREA Leptastrea pupurea Leptoria phyrgia POCILLOPORA Pocillopora damicornis Pocillopora damicornis Pocillopora meandrina ! ! ! Fire Coral MILEPORA MILEPORA Milepora sp. Milepora sp. Milepora platyphyllia Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring Exercise 1 NOAA NOAA NOAA NOAA On to Macro Invertebrates! What’s a macro- Animals without backbones; invertebrate? large enough to see in plain view • Help keep the beach clean Why are they important? • Key indicators of reef health Macro Invertebrate Monitoring Macro Invertebrate Surveys Materials • Transect tape • PVC Pipes (1m) Includes: • Field Guide – Sea Cucumbers • Data sheet& clipboard – Sea stars • Snorkel gear – Sea urchins – Mollusks Monitoring Macro-invertebrates 1. Determine transect area (25x2m) 2. One team to each transect 3. From beginning of transect tape, swim along side holding out 1m PVC pipe 4. Count macro invertebrates in transect - Within 1m on either side of transect tape 5. Record counts on data sheet (BALATE’) (BALATE’) Holothuria edulis Holothuria atra Holothuria leucispulota Actinopyga echinites SEA CUCUMBERS SEA Stichopus chloronotus Bohadschia argus Synapta maculata Diadema savigni Echinometra mathei Echinothrix diadema SEA URCHINS SEA ! Toxopneustes pileolus Tripneustes gratilla Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring ! Linckia laevigata Culcita novaeguineae Acanthaster planci SEA STARS SEA Charonia tritonus Tridacna crocea Trochus niloticus MOLLUSCS ! Octopus cyanea Conus spp. Lambis lambis Guam Community Coral Reef Monitoring Belt Transects 25m 1m Paulay Paulay Paulay NOAA NOAA In-water Training Complete one benthic and one macro- invertebrate survey for each of 2 monitoring sites ©guamreeflife.com Si Yu’os Ma’ase!.