Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology Commons^™

Marine Biological Monitoring In Broward County, Florida: Year 3 Annual Report, David S. Gilliam, Richard Dodge, Richard E. Spieler, Lance K. B. Jordan, Jamie A. Vernacchio

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

A study has been undertaken to monitor Broward County, Florida (southeast Florida) coral communities, reef fish assemblages and sedimentation rates in relation to possible effects from a proposed extensive beach renourishment (restoration) project. Coral communities and reef fish assemblages will be monitored at a total of 23 stations distributed offshore Broward County. This monitoring effort will characterize and quantify populations of scleractinian (stony) corals, octocorallian (gorgonian) corals, sponges, and reef fishes. In addition, sediment traps located at each station will be sampled and analyzed.

This document reports the data collected during the third year of this project. Coral communities and …

Growth And Survivorship Of Meandrina Meandrites And Montastrea Cavernosa Transplants To An Artificial Reef Environment, And The Effectiveness Of Plugging Core Holes In Transplant Donor Colonies, Elizabeth Glynn Fahy

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The growth and survivorship of two species of scleractinian coral transplants, Meandrina meandrites and Montastrea cavernosa, were investigated. Identically sized replicate transplants were obtained from the second reef, off Dania Beach, using a hydraulic drill fitted with a 4” core barrel. The transplants were fixed to Reef Ball™ substrates using an adhesive marine epoxy. Drill holes in the donor corals (core holes) were filled with concrete plugs to prevent the detrimental effects of bioeroders. Control corals, of comparable size to both the donor colonies and the transplant corals, were selected for comparison. The transplant corals, donor corals, and controls …

Winter 2003, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Fall 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Characteristics Of Shark Bycatch Observed On Pelagic Longlines Off The Southeastern United States, 1992-2000, Lawrence R. Beerkircher, Enric Cortes, Mahmood S. Shivji

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Data collected by fisheries observers aboard U.S. pelagic longline vessels were examined to quantify and describe elasmobranch bycatch off the southeastern U.S. coast (lat. 22°-35°N, long. 71°-82°W). From 1992 to 2000, 961 individual longline hauls were observed, during which 4,612 elasmobranchs (15% of the total catch) were documented. Of the 22 elasmobranch species observed, silky sharks, Carcharhinus falciformis, were numerically dominant (31.4% of the elasmobranch catch). The catch status of the animals (alive or dead) when the gear was retrieved varied widely depending on the species, with high mortalities seen for the commonly caught silky and night, C. signatus …

Summer 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

In Situ Observations On Three Species Of Large-Finned Deep-Sea Squids, M. Vecchione, C. F. E. Roper, Edith A. Widder, Tamara M. Frank

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

The manned submersible Johnson Sea-Link II was used for a series of dives on the continental slope of the eastern Gulf of Mexico in September 1995. The deep-sea squids Mastigoteuthis hjorti Chun, 1913 and Octopoteuthis megaptera (Verrill, 1885) were repeatedly observed at depths of 600–850 m. Both species were videotaped alive, in situ, for the first time during these dives. These species share the characteristic of very large fins, almost as long as the mantle length, but their swimming behavior observed in the vicinity of the submersible differed greatly. Throughout most of the videotaped sequences of O. megaptera, it …

3d Visualization Of Coral Reef Habitat, Brian K. Walker, Richard E. Dodge

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

A bathymetric survey was recently conducted in Southeast Florida (Broward County) during April 2001 using the Laser Airborne Depth Sounder (LADS) system. This four-meter resolution survey encompassed from North Dade County, through the length of Broward County coastline, to south Palm Beach County (approximately 43 km) and from the shore eastward to depths of approximately 40 m (2.5-3.5 km offshore). This georeferenced data was sun shaded at various angles and azimuths and draped with a NOAA NAPP 1:24,000 georeferenced air photograph mosaic. The model was zoomed and tipped to the desired orientations and processed into three-dimensional perspectives. Two views, slightly …

Zooplankton, Tracey Sutton, Scott E. Burghart

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Artificial Keys To The Genera Of Living Stalked Crinoids (Echinodermata), Michel Roux, Charles G. Messing, Nadia Améziane

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Two practical, illustrated, dichotomous keys to the 29 genera of living stalked crinoids are provided: one for entire animals and one for stalk ossicles and fragments. These are accompanied by (1) an overview of taxonomically important morphology, and (2) an alphabetical list by family and genus of the ∼95 nominal living species and their distribution by region. This is the first compilation of such data for all living stalked crinoids since Carpenter (1884) recognized 27 species in six genera in his monograph based on the H.M.S. CHALLENGER Expedition collection.

Sea Stewards: A Volunteer Ecological Monitoring Program, Nicole D. Fogarty, Mary Enstrom

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Fish Assemblages Associated With Artificial Reefs Of Concrete Aggregates Or Quarry Stone Offshore Miami Beach, Florida, Usa, Brian K. Walker, Bruce Henderson, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Few studies have compared the suitability of different artificial reef construction materials in terms of their efficacy in acquiring diverse faunal assemblages. We compared the fishes associated with 12 co-located reefs constructed of limestone quarry boulders, concrete-gravel aggregate, or concrete-tire aggregate (four of each substrate) in 7 m of water, 200 m offshore Miami Beach, Florida, USA. All 12 reefs were deployed 100 m apart the same day in two lines of six. The four quarry stone reefs consist of a pile of 50 boulders each. The remaining eight reefs, of concrete-gravel aggregate and concrete-tire aggregate, were each constructed with …

Spring 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Chiasmodontidae: Swallowers., J. D. Mceachran, Tracey Sutton

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Acoustic Remote-Sensing Of Reef Benthos In Broward County, Florida (Usa), Ryan P. Moyer, Bernhard Riegl, Richard E. Dodge, Brian K. Walker, David S. Gilliam

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Benthic assemblages of variable density cover three progressively deeper ridges that parallel the Broward County, Florida, coast. An acoustic bottom classification survey using QTCView5 with a 50 kHz transducer showed different acoustic classes on the shallow reef-ridge and the two deeper reef-lines, which both showed the same acoustic signature. Ground-truthing showed that the differences in acoustic signature corresponded to different benthic assemblages: nearshore hardgrounds had low live cover and were dominated by algae covering substrate, the two deeper reef-ridges had the same acoustic signature and similar benthic assemblages (dominated by sponges and gorgonians). The QTCView5 was also able to differentiate …

Winter 2002, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Status Of Coral Reefs In The Us Caribbean And Gulf Of Mexico: Florida, Texas, Puerto Rico, Us Virgin Islands And Navassa, Billy Causey, Joanne Delaney, Ernesto Diaz, Richard E. Dodge, Jorge R. Garcia, Jamie Higgins, Walter Jaap, Cruz A. Matos, George P. Schmahl, Caroline Rogers, Margaret W. Miller, Donna D. Turgeon

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

The following report on the status of US Caribbean coral reef ecosystems has been summarised from more extensive reports submitted to the US Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) working group that implemented in 2000 ‘A National Program to Assess, Inventory, and Monitor US Coral Reef Ecosystems’. The more-lengthy reports are also the basis for the biennial-issued document, ‘Status and Trends of US Coral Reef Ecosystems’. Each author is a recognised technical expert with responsibility for monitoring and/or managing aspects of their respective coral reef ecosystems.

Sea Turtle Conservation Program, Broward County, Fl 2002 Report, Curtis M. Burney, Stefanie Ouellette

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

No abstract provided.

Boater Manatee Awareness System, Edward O. Keith

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Reports

A variety of "see-in-the-dark" technologies have been evaluated with the objective of adapting them to detect Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris) aggregations in specific highuse areas, such as warm water refuges in the winter time. Once it is possible to passively detect manatee aggregations in these sites, the construction of boater awareness signs that would indicate how many manatees are in the area, on a real-time basis, is envisioned. The contention is that boaters would be more likely to obey speed restrictions if these restrictions were accompanied by this type of information. The ability to do this also …

Coral Recruitment To Various Artificial Substrata, Miami Beach, Fl, Nicholas C. Straccione

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

The City of Miami has placed 12 artificial reefs approximately 100m offshore in two parallel transects. The reason for this deployment was to tum a barren seabed into a productive environment for aquatic organisms. The reefs were placed close to the shoreline to allow easy access for snorkellers, divers, and fisherman. Three different types of reef materials were used in constructing the artificial reefs: boulders composed of limestone, concrete shaped as tetrahedrons, and concrete mixed with tire aggregate shaped as tetrahedrons. This study consisted of two separate assessments: I) a survey from two of each of the different reef types …

A Comparison Of Aeration Methods And Diets For Larval Culture Of The Edible Sea Urchin, Tripneustes Ventricosus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea), Ray Wolcott

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Tripneustes ventricosus (Lamarck 1816), a major near-shore herbivore in the Atlantic and Caribbean, has been harvested for human consumption in the Caribbean for centuries (Lawrence 2001a, b), occasionally at rates that exceed sustainability (Smith & Berkes 1991), and is among the species having economic importance (Lawrence & Bazhin 1998). Tripneustes ventricosus has recently been observed on the forereef controlling macroalgal growth in the absence of Diadema antillarum (Woodley 1999, Aronson & Precht 2000, Haley & Solandt 2001).

Large-scale culturing has the potential to produce T. ventricosus in sufficient numbers to be used for: bioremediation of coral reef degradation, restocking of …

Beach Crawl Width As A Predictive Indicator Of Carapace Length In Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta Caretta)., Dawn M. Miller

HCNSO Student Theses and Dissertations

Carapace lengths and widths of nesting loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) were measured at Pompano Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida to determine if plastron and/or track crawl widths were predictive of carapace size. Straight and curved carapace measurements were taken.

Plastron and track crawl width were measured at four points on each crawl: 1) emerging at the tide line; 2) mid-way to the nest; 3) mid-way returning to the surf; and 4) at the tide line returning to the surf. All four measurements were significantly different from each other (P < 0.005) along each crawl. Crawl width was the most variable factor in all comparisons.

Maximum straight carapace length correlated with emergent track …

Identification Of Species Composition In The Hong Kong Shark Fin Trade Using Genetic Techniques And Trader Records, Shelley C. Clarke, Mahmood S. Shivji, Murdoch K. Mcallister

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

Trade in shark fins represents one of the most serious threats to shark populations worldwide. Previous studies have indicated that certain types of fins are more valued than others, but due to the largely unregulated and often covert nature of the trade, information on actual species composition has been anecdotal and unverified. In order to examine the potential impacts of the shark fin trade on the abundance of various shark species, a study of the species composition in the world’s largest shark fin trading center, Hong Kong, was initiated. Several approaches for distinguishing the species identity of dried fins were …

Fall 2001, Nsu Oceanographic Center

Currents

No abstract provided.

Ncri 3-D Visualization Of Coral Reef Habitat, Brian K. Walker

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Preface: Proceedings Of The National Coral Reef Institute's International Conference On Scientific Aspects Of Coral Reef Assessment, Monitoring And Restoration, James Darwin Thomas

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

No abstract provided.

Applying Habitat Equivalency Analysis For Coral Reef Damage Assessment And Restoration, J. Walter Milon, Richard E. Dodge (Editor)

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

Quantifying economic damages and restoration measures for injuries to coral reefs has been a difficult task. In the U.S., habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) has emerged as a novel tool that combines biological and economic information to identify replacement habitats of an appropriate scale to substitute for the interim losses resulting from coral reef injuries. This article provides a review of the basic principles underlying HEA and a discussion of important considerations in applying HEA. These considerations include: how to describe coral reef functions and related human uses, recovery rates of coral reef organisms at injured sites with natural and active …

Site-Dependent Differences In Artificial Reef Function: Implications For Coral Reef Restoration, Robin L. Sherman, David S. Gilliam, Richard E. Spieler

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

There is an increasing use of artificial structure in coral reef restoration (for references, see Spieler et al., this volume). Often artificial reef structures are chosen for a restoration project simply because they were used elsewhere. However, it is questionable whether the results obtained at one restoration site can be extrapolated to another. In recent years, several studies have examined the effect of artificial reef site selection on formation of associated fish, algae, and/or invertebrate assemblages (Alevizon et al., 1985; Blinova et al., 1994; Bombace et al., 1994; Caley and St. John, 1996; Chang, 1985; Haughton and Aiken, 1989; Hixon …

Artificial Substrate And Coral Reef Restoration: What Do We Need To Know To Know What We Need, Richard E. Spieler, David S. Gilliam, Robin L. Sherman

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

To use artificial substrate effectively in coral reef restoration certain basic knowledge is required: (1) what is the artificial substrate expected to accomplish relative to the goals of the restoration effort and (2) what are the expected interactions of the selected substrate’s composition, texture, orientation, and design with the damaged environment and the biota of interest. Whereas the first point is usually clear, at least in general terms, the second is not. In this review, we examine: the functions of artificial substrate in restoration and some of the physical (i.e., composition; surface texture; color and chemistry; and design in terms …

Mapping And Monitoring Of Coral Communities And Their Spatial Patterns Using A Surface-Based Video Method From A Vessel, Bernhard Riegl, Jan L. Korrubel, Charles Martin

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

No Abstract Provided.