National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary U.S. Environmental Protection Agency State of Florida 2002-03 Sanctuary Science Report: An Ecosystem Report Card After Five Years of Marine Zoning Miami Gulf of Mexico Southwest Florida Shelf Florida Bay Marquesas Keys Florida Straits http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/research_monitoring/welcome.html Final: 2 October 2006 Preface In this 2002-03 Sanctuary Science Report we include updates on the three long-term, status-and- trends monitoring projects of the Water Quality Protection Program (WQPP) and on the projects that comprise the Marine Zone Monitoring Program. These two monitoring programs are inextricably related; population and community changes that result from the Sanctuary’s network of fully protected marine zones occur in the context of large-scale environmental characteristics measured by the water quality, seagrass, and coral reef evaluation and monitoring projects of the WQPP. This year we have added a set of summary reports on socioeconomic research projects, and continue to present findings of partnership projects with NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. After presenting reports on two long-spined urchin (Diadema antillarum) restoration projects, we conclude with lists of permitted research projects for the years 2002 and 2003. We thank the large group of investigators working in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary for designing projects and collecting the ecological and socioeconomic data we need to evaluate the condition of the Sanctuary’s resources and how the ecosystem as well as human uses and perceptions respond to management actions. Brian D. Keller Science Coordinator Scott Donahue Associate Science Coordinator Suggested citation: Keller, B.D. and S. Donahue. ed. 2006. 2002-03 sanctuary science report: an ecosystem report card after five years of marine zoning. U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Ocean Service, Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, Marathon, FL. Contents Executive Summary....................................................................................................................5 Introduction...............................................................................................................................17 Circulation and Exchange of Florida Bay and South Florida Coastal Waters Interdisciplinary Coastal Ocean Observations in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary with Real-time Data Links ......................................................................21 Water Quality, Seagrass, Coral Reef, and Episodic Event Monitoring Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Water Quality Monitoring Project.........................37 Florida Bay Watch ...................................................................................................................41 Florida Keys Watch .................................................................................................................49 Seagrass Monitoring in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ....................................57 U.S. EPA / FKNMS Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project .....................................65 Marine Ecosystem Event Response and Assessment (MEERA) Project ................................81 Marine Zone Monitoring Program Ecological Processes and Coral Reef Recovery in the Florida Keys ......................................85 Rapid Assessment and Monitoring of Coral Reef Habitats on the Florida Reef Tract, Summer 2002 .............................................................................95 Preliminary Analysis of FKNMS Reef Fish Monitoring Through 2002...............................119 Volunteer Reef Fish Monitoring in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: 2002 Update Report..........................................................................................125 Monitoring Caribbean Spiny Lobsters in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, 1997-2002.............................................................................................131 Queen Conch Monitoring ......................................................................................................139 Socioeconomic Research and Monitoring Program Importance and Satisfaction Ratings, A Five-Year Comparison (1995-96 to 2000-01) .......151 Linking Ecological and Socioeconomic Monitoring Results, 1995-96 to 2000-01...............165 Sanctuary Preservation Areas and Ecological Reserves: Monroe County Reef-using Residents’ Opinions on “No-take” Zones ........................................................169 SPAs and ERs: Baseline Estimates of Use, Importance-Satisfaction Ratings, Economic User Value, and Comparative Socioeconomic Profiles of Users And Non-users, 2000-01.....................................................................................................173 Economic Valuation of Marine Reserves in the Florida Keys as Measured by Diver Attitudes and Preferences: Implications for Valuation of Non-consumptive Uses of Marine Reserves ....................................................................................................185 Socioeconomic Monitoring Program of Commercial Fishing Panels ...................................187 Partnership Projects with NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science Assessing Coral Health in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Using a Molecular Biomarker System................................................................................193 Scientific Evaluation of a Sediment Fill Technique for the Restoration of Motor Vessel Injuries in Seagrass Beds of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ............227 2 The Effect of Excavation Depth and Filling on Seagrass Recovery in Experimental Injuries in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary ....................................................245 Biogeographic Analysis of Tortugas Ecological Reserve: Examining the Refuge Effect Following Reserve Designation ...............................................................................267 Diadema Restoration Projects Diadema Restoration Project .................................................................................................277 Techniques Development for the Reestablishment of the long-spined sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, on Two Small Patch Reefs in the Upper Florida Keys.....................283 One-year Response of Florida Keys Patch Reef Communities to Translocation of Long-spined Sea Urchins (Diadema antillarum)................................................................317 Permitted Research Projects 2002 Research Permits...........................................................................................................345 2003 Research Permits...........................................................................................................363 3 4 Final - 2 October 2006 Executive Summary Circulation and Exchange of Florida Bay and South Florida Coastal Waters The coastal ecosystem of South Florida is comprised of distinct marine environments. Circulation of surface waters and exchange processes, which respond to both local and regional forcings, interconnect different coastal environments. In addition, re-circulating current systems within the South Florida coastal ecosystem such as the Tortugas Gyre contribute to retention of locally spawned larvae. Variability in salinity, chlorophyll, and light transmittance occurs on a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, in response to both natural forcing, such as seasonal precipitation and evaporation and interannual “El Niño” climate signals, and anthropogenic forcing, such as water management practices in south Florida. The full time series of surface property maps are posted at www.aoml.noaa.gov/sfp. Regional surface circulation patterns, shown by satellite-tracked surface drifters, respond to large-scale forcing such as wind variability and sea level slopes. Recent patterns include slow flow from near the mouth of the Shark River to the Lower Keys, rapid flow from the Tortugas to the shelf of the Carolinas, and flow from the Tortugas around the Tortugas Gyre and out of the Florida Straits. The Southwest Florida Shelf and the Atlantic side of the Florida Keys coastal zone are directly connected by passages between the islands of the Middle and Lower Keys. Movement of water between these regions depends on a combination of local wind-forced currents and gravity- driven transports through the passages, produced by cross-Key sea level differences on time scales of several days to weeks, which arise because of differences in physical characteristics (shape, orientation, and depth) of the shelf on either side of the Keys. A southeastward mean flow transports water from western Florida Bay, which undergoes large variations in water quality, to the reef tract. Adequate sampling of oceanographic events requires both the capability of near real-time recognition of these events, and the flexibility to rapidly stage targeted field sampling. Capacity to respond to events is increasing, as demonstrated by investigations of the 2002 “blackwater” event and a 2003 entrainment of Mississippi River water to the Tortugas. Water Quality, Seagrass, Coral Reef, and Episodic Event Monitoring Results from the Water Quality Monitoring Project, an element of the Water Quality Protection Program (WQPP; http://ocean.floridamarine.org/fknms_wqpp/), indicate