Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment

Index | Overview | Methodology | Coral standards | Fish standards | Calibration | Data processing | Data sheets

Overview of the AGRRA method

The vitality of a reef depends on complex relationships among corals, fishes and algae. When changes occur in the community dynamics of one of these components (e.g., algal abundance), the other two components are affected as well and the whole relationship can be disrupted. Therefore, to evaluate the condition of a reef from a one-time assessment, it is critical that multiple indicators of the corals-algae-fishes relationships are examined. In developing an assessment protocol, AGRRA relied on this principal and the need to have a standardized protocol that could be applied rapidly to a large number of reefs.

Adapted from Jackson,1994.

The indicators of the AGRRA Protocol are:

1.      Partial or total mortality of major reef-building corals by species and size;

2.     Relative abundance of principal algal types – macroalgae and crustose corallines; and

3.      Diversity of fishes and the abundance and sizes of key fish species.

The results of an AGRRA survey are a quantitative indication of reef condition. From the examination of a large number of reefs, it will be possible to develop a scale of reef condition and allow regional comparisons. Although the approach does not attempt to distinguish between cause and effect of reef condition, the data gathered can be used to develop hypotheses on trends of reef decline, particularly across large spatial scales.

More overview:

Coral condition
Bleaching
Disease
Algae and Diadema
Coral reef fishes

Index | Overview | Methodology | Coral standards | Fish standards | Calibration | Data processing | Data sheets 

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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