Applications to Management

 

Managers of coral reef resources must frequently find quick answers to questions about the current status of coral communities, the extent and patterns of decline in corals or fishes, where to locate monitoring sites, and the extent of impact due to hurricanes, bleaching, or diseases.

When major disturbance events like hurricanes and bleaching occur, managers and scientists need to be prepared to quantify the loss or damage in order to provide a rapid response or conclusion on the extent and distribution of impact as well as identify those areas that were not affected. Regardless of whether the impacts will be acute or chronic, the first answers required are their extent and severity (i.e., Is bleaching of corals transient or lethal?, How large of an area was affected?, What is the incidence and intensity of coral disease?).

AGRRA surveys help answer these questions by providing information for:

  Establishing baseline data on reef condition,

  Groundtruthing benthic habitat maps,

   Identifying reefs for marine protected areas, and

  Developing zoning and management plans.

 

 

Robert N. Ginsburg Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment MGG-RSMAS, University of Miami 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway Miami, FL 33149 USA	Telephone: (305) 421-4664 Email: info@agrra.org Send data to: data@agrra.org URL: http://www.agrra.org

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