Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-20-2022
Publication Title
Ecological Indicators
Keywords
Coral reef condition, Biocriteria, Biological integrity, Biological Condition Gradient (BOG), Coral reef protection, numeric model
ISSN
1470-160X
Volume
135
Abstract
The Biological Condition Gradient (BCG) is a conceptual model used to describe incremental changes in bio- logical condition along a gradient of increasing anthropogenic stress. As coral reefs collapse globally, scientists and managers are focused on how to sustain the crucial structure and functions, and the benefits that healthy coral reef ecosystems provide for many economies and societies. We developed a numeric (quantitative) BGC model for the coral reefs of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands to transparently facilitate ecologically meaningful management decisions regarding these fragile resources. Here, reef conditions range from natural, undisturbed conditions to severely altered or degraded conditions. Numeric decision rules were developed by an expert panel for scleractinian corals and other benthic assemblages using multiple attributes to apply in shallow- water tropical fore reefs with depths(e.g., % live coral cover, coral species richness, pollution-sensitive coral species, unproductive and sediment substrates, % cover by Orbicella spp.) used to assess coral reef condition. Model confirmation showed the numeric BCG model predicted the panel’s median site ratings for 84% of the sites used to calibrate the model and 89% of independent validation sites. The numeric BCG model is suitable for adaptive management applications and supports bioassessment and criteria development. It is a robust assessment tool that could be used to establish ecosystem condition that would aid resource managers in evaluating and communicating current or changing conditions, protect water and habitat quality in areas of high biological integrity, or develop restoration goals with stakeholders and other public beneficiaries.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
NSUWorks Citation
Deborah L. Santavy, Susan K. Jackson, Benjamin Jessup, Christina Horstmann, Caroline Rogers, Ernesto Weil, Alina Szmant, David Cuevas Miranda, Brian K. Walker, Christopher Jeffrey, David Ballantine, William S. Fisher, Randy Clark, Hector Ruiz Torres, Brandi Todd, and Sandy Raimondo. 2022. A biological condition gradient for Caribbean coral reefs: Part II. Numeric rules using sessile benthic organisms .Ecological Indicators . https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1239.
ORCID ID
0000-0001-8385-7066
DOI
10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.108576
