measuring coral reef health

This topic submitted by matt mcwilliams at 6:04 PM on 5/1/08.

This stingray seems to be flying at Molasses Reef, Key Largo, Florida.

Tropical Field Courses -Interdisciplinary Studies-Miami University

My paper is going to go through the different methodologies that can be used to study coral health. I will discuss how such things as biodiversity, percent coral cover, species composition, frequency of disease, and live/dead coral ratios of reefs among others can be used to generate an idea of the overall health of coral reefs. Additionally i will talk about transects and sampling and the pros and cons of different sampling techniques.

Literature Cited
Fisher, W. S., Davis, W. P., Quarles , R. L., Patrick, J., Campbell, J. G., & Harris, P. S. (2007). Characterizing coral condition using estimates of three-dimensional colony surface area. Environ Monet Asses. 125, 347-360.

Hoffmann, T. C. (2002).Coral reef health and effects of socio-economic factors in figi and cook islands. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 44, 1281-1293.

McCabe, J. M. (2005).TEMPESTITES FROM HURRICANE FRANCES IN THE BEACH AND LACUSTRINE ENVIRONMENTS ON SAN SALVADOR, BAHAMAS. Geologic Society of America. 37, 66.

Smith, L. D., Devlin, M., Haynes, D., & Gilmour, J. P. (2005). A demographic approach to monitoring the health of coral reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 51, 399-407.

Souter, AuthorD. W., & Linden, O. (2000). The health and future of coral reef systems. Ocean and Coastal Management. 43, 657-688.

Wolanski, E., Richmond, R. H., & McCook, L. (2004). A model of the effects of land-based, human activities on the health of coral reefs in the great barrier reef and in fouha bay, guam, micronesia. journal of marine systems. 46, 133-144.

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