Coral-Reef Health
Coral reefs are undergoing global decline due to natural and manmade causes. Florida's reefs
are no less affected though the causes are unknown. This project addresses a key regional issue,
the preservation of the reef ecosystem that is central to the tourism, recreation and fishing
industries of South Florida. The northernmost end of the ecosystem lies in Biscayne Bay in
Biscayne National Park (BNP).
The bay's reefs provide the same vital habitats and nurseries
for marine species as elsewhere along the shallow shelf and are part of the offshore barrier
that protects against coastal erosion and excessive damage from tropical storms and hurricanes.
The 1990 Sanctuary Act required the U.S. EPA and the State of Florida to implement a Water-Quality
Protection Program, and the 1998 Executive Order on Coral Reef Protection directed the US
Coral Reef Task Force to inventory, monitor and identify major causes and consequences of
reef-ecosystem degradation worldwide.
Tropical coral reefs are characterized by calcifying plant/animal symbioses, the best known of
which are corals and larger foraminifera. The abundance of algal-symbiotic organisms relative
to non-symbiotic plant and animal assemblages reflect community structure and function.
Two characteristics of shelf sediments, constituent grains and foraminiferal assemblages, record data
on benthic community structure and reef vitality. Following proponents of environmental geology
that combines new methods with novel uses of traditional geologic disciplines, we propose to use
a combination of geochemical, sedimentological and micropaleontological techniques to
characterize conditions in Biscayne Bay. The Phase I Pilot Study pilot study validated tools that can be used to document the history of recent change in coral-reef communities.
continue to Phase I: Pilot Study
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U. S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
