| Summary |
From July 12‒18, 2022, U.S. Geological Survey researchers conducted diver-based field surveys at Looe Key Sanctuary Preservation Area:
• Mote Marine Laboratory Site W: W1 (24.54646, -81.0191) and W2 (24.54641, -81.40275)
• Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project (CREMP; https://geodata.myfwc.com/search?collection=Document&q=Coral%20Reef%20Evaluation%20Monitoring%20Project) stations 3 (24.54546776, -81.40632350) and 4 (24.54546257, -81.40606312)
and five Mote Marine Laboratory restoration sites outside of Looe Key reef:
• Site C: C2 (24.53055, -81.48781), C3 (24.53054, -81.48806), C4 (24.53035, -81.48829
• Site Q: Q4 (24.52293, -81.51861) and Q5 (24.52295, -81.519)
• Site U: IC-U1 (24.5407, -81.44387), IC-U2 (24.54045, -81.44542), and IC-U3 (24.54047, -81.44465)
• Site CP: CP-M7 (24.61466, -81.37912)
At each site, the following data were collected along 4‒6 transects in both restored and, nearby non-restored areas of the reef:
• Benthic imagery to create structure-from-motion mosaics and to collect data on benthic composition (2 x 10 m belt transects)
• Census of the number of and surface area of bioeroding sponges (1 x 10 m belt transects; Cliona aprica, C. caribbaea, C. tenuis, C. varians, C. deletrix, C. amplicavata, Siphonodictyon coralliphagum)
• Census of the number and test sizes of bioeroding urchins (2 x 10 m belt transects; Diadema antillarum, Echinometra lucunter, Echinometra viridis, and Eucidaris tribuloides)
• Census of the number, life phases, and sizes of bioeroding parrotfishes (4 x 30 m belt transects; Sparisoma viride, Sp. aurofrenatum, Sp. rubripinne, Sp. chrysopterum, Scarus vetula, Sc. taeniopterus, Sc. iseri, Sc. guacamaia, and Sc. coelestinus)
These data will be synthesized using carbonate budgets (https://geography.exeter.ac.uk/reefbudget/) to estimate the reef-accretion potential of restored and non-restored areas at each site. This information will be used to build upon previous work showing that coral restoration has the potential to reverse long-term declines in reef-accretion potential in south Florida (https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16295) by testing how restoration is impacting this key reef function in practice.
At Looe Key, we also collected additional diver-based structure-from-motion surveys for co-registration with SQUID-5 imagery that was collected simultaneously at the same locations. |
