Report of the AGRRA 2000 Workshop 

Miami, Florida
May 20-21, 2000

Since its inception in June 1998 the AGRRA program has carried out coral reef health assessments in over 22 reef areas of the Wider Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, more than any other organization to date. With support from the Bacardi Family Foundation, a two-day workshop was organized bringing together some 25 leaders of AGRRA teams to present results of their assessments, plan a volume of reports, and discuss modifications in the methodology.  Below is a list of highlights from the workshop.

Highlights of the Workshop:     

Presentations: Team leaders presented the results of their surveys with emphasis on their preliminary findings and comments on problems of assessments and recommendations. Each presentation was limited to 15 minutes. Reports came from: Bermuda, Bahamas (Abaco, Andros, San Salvador), Turks and Caicos, Texas (Flower Garden Bank), Mexico (Vercruz, Yucatan peninsula), Belize (Barrier reef, Lighthouse Atoll), Costa Rica, Cuba (SW coast), Cayman Islands, Lesser Antilles (Saba, St. Martin, St. Eustatius) St. Vincent, Venezuela (Los Roques), Brazil.

Working Group Discussions: On the second day of the workshop working groups examined AGRRA data results within three broad categories: coral invertebrates, reef fishes, interactions (algae-fish-corals). Each group first discussed the principal indicators that should be looked at to make comparisons and examine spatial patterns. All groups agreed that the first priority should be to conduct an anomaly analyses of 15 indicators including: coral cover, coral mortality, coral recruitment, macro algal index, urchin density, abundance and biomass of key fish families (parrotfish, surgeonfish, grouper, snapper, and grunts), fish diversity (AGRRA fish diversity and REEF methods). Questions raised by each of the groups that should be addressed based on the results of an analysis include: 

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Corals:

·        Are the predominant corals (reef builders) exhibiting above average levels of recent mortality compared to non-reef building species?

·        Is there a regional relationship between incidence of coral disease and recent mortality?

·        For areas surveyed after 98 bleaching, is there a relationship between bleaching related mortality and presence of disease? i.e. does the stress of bleaching make corals more susceptible to disease?

 Fish:

·        Is there a regional trend in increasing herbivore biomass from the southern to the northern Caribbean?

·        What are the abundances and biomass of fish within two main trophic guilds: herbivores and carnivores?

·        What are the regional patterns in fish abundance and biomass?

Other:

·        Is the Acropora palmata zone important for reefs and where do these zones presently exist?

·        What is the relationship between coral coral/mortality cover and macroalgal cover/biomass?

·        What is the relationship between herbivore biomass and algal biomass?

·        How is reef architecture (rugosity) and fish abundance/diversity related regionally?

Modifications of the AGRRA Protocol: Plenary discussions led to some significant revisions and additions to the AGRRA Protocol. The most significant changes include:

·        A reduction in the number of benthic transects from 10 to 6 with the goal of assessing at least 50 corals and 30-algal quadrats/site.

·        Adding a measure of maximum relief along the transect as an indication of reef rugosity.

·        Adding a count of damselfish gardens to the benthic transects.

·        Fish assessors are to provide a general description of reef morphology.

·        Eliminate the turf category from algal quadrants. Distinguishing calcifying macro algae from fleshy macroalgae.

AGRRA Database: Databases are essential for managing large quantities of data and allowing statistical comparisons to be made. The AGRRA Database is the most comprehensive data on reef condition in the Atlantic.  It is comparable to databases on health of cities or villages prepared by public health organizations and can serve the same purposes for managers of reef parks and governmental officials concerned with fisheries and tourism. Plans are currently underway to make the database available through the web.

Ken Marks, a database consultant, explained the newly established AGRRA Database and how it works. Data from each survey are uploaded into Microsoft ACCESS and parsed into a relational structure format for easy querying. The Database allows rapid summaries of coral condition, algae and fish for each site and to compare reef sites from within the same area and between areas on several scales.  For example, one can compare the partial mortality of all corals or all fishes at various spatial scales: between transects at the same site, between sites of the same area, or between different areas.  In addition, it is possible to do the same kind of comparison for individual species of corals or fish or even by the sizes of colonies of coral or fish.  One of the exciting uses of the Database is to provide a scale of reef condition.  If for example, the average recent mortality of corals from all our sites is 10% or less, than any areas with higher mortality are cause for serious concern and the need for more detailed examination to search for the cause.

Planning a Volume of AGRRA Reports: A major focus of the Workshop was to lay the groundwork for a volume of AGRRA reports. Each participant was asked to draft a manuscript of his or her results following a standardized format. There was extended discussion of various options for publication of the reports, which led to a decision to approach the Editor of the Atoll Research Bulletin.  It was selected because it is published by the Smithsonian, widely distributed to reef scientists free and additional copies can be purchased.  The Editor, Dr. Ian Macintyre is familiar with AGRRA and has indicated his interest in having a special volume of AGRRA reports.  Senior reef scientist Dr. Judith Lang, a member of the AGRRA Organizing Committee has agreed to be the Editor of the Compilation of Reports.  

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Workshop Participants

© 2000 - AGRRA