Glad to see this happening.
Scientists to study healthiest of reefs
NOAA grants $1M for first of five-year Pulley Ridge study
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]Pulley Ridge is one of the healthiest coral reef ecosystems off Florida and home to one of the largest gatherings of grouper and snapper. The amount of live coral on its reefs far surpasses most reefs off the Florida Keys.
The reef had been virtually unexplored until 2004, when a group of scientists and research divers with the Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Ocean Conservancy spent five days documenting the 250-foot-deep reef. What they found forever changed their impression of the isolated reef.
The iridescent, multicolor coral, called agaricia, serve as the main feature on Pulley Ridge. Scientists collected samples of the red, purple and blue lettucelike coral and its neighboring green, leafy algae, called anadyomene.
"It is truly a special place," said Billy Causey, National Marine Sanctuary regional director. "We have to unlock the secrets of why they (the reefs) are so healthy."
The University of Miami hopes to unlock those secrets with a $1 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. The university will investigate how the deep coral reef west of the Dry Tortugas serves to replenish key fish species and other organisms in the downstream reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Tortugas.
With the well-documented decline of Florida's reefs, areas like Pulley Ridge serve as sources of larvae that can help sustain the Keys' reef ecosystem and the tourism economy that depends on it. With more of this type of information, resource managers will be better positioned to develop more effective strategies to protect these reefs.
"We're trying to understand not only whether these ecosystems have resources in common, but also the mechanisms of connectivity between them," said Dan Basta, director of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. "This will give managers information they need to protect reef ecosystems, as well as critical underwater corridors that help replenish Florida's reefs."
Causey contends that Pulley Reef is connected to Keys reefs.
"It's almost one continuous reef," Causey said. "There is direct connectivity between Pulley Ridge and the Keys reef tract."
The grant will cover the first year of the five-year project, which will be a collaboration of more than 30 scientists at 10 different universities pooling their expertise with state and federal agency scientists through NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami and the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology at Florida Atlantic University.
Teams will use technical divers, remotely operated vehicles and advanced modeling and visualization tools to investigate the role such reefs may play in the replenishment of downstream and adjacent shallow coral ecosystems, said the project's lead researcher, Robert Cowen.
"This project brings together several disciplines to conduct studies on the physical characteristics of the region, the biology and ecology of the resident species, and the valuation of ecosystem services that Pulley Ridge provides," Cowen said. "Our intent is to create a comprehensive understanding that can support a variety of decision-support tools, including scenario-building options, to facilitate comprehensive resource planning in the eastern Gulf of Mexico."
Sections of Pulley Ridge, which encompasses 700 square miles of sea bottom, have been designated a Habitat Area of Particular Concern by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
tohara@keynsews.com
Safe dives
Trtldvr
[/SIZE]
Scientists to study healthiest of reefs
NOAA grants $1M for first of five-year Pulley Ridge study
BY TIMOTHY O'HARA Citizen Staff
tohara@keysnews.com
[SIZE=+0]Pulley Ridge is one of the healthiest coral reef ecosystems off Florida and home to one of the largest gatherings of grouper and snapper. The amount of live coral on its reefs far surpasses most reefs off the Florida Keys.
The reef had been virtually unexplored until 2004, when a group of scientists and research divers with the Mote Marine Laboratory, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Ocean Conservancy spent five days documenting the 250-foot-deep reef. What they found forever changed their impression of the isolated reef.
The iridescent, multicolor coral, called agaricia, serve as the main feature on Pulley Ridge. Scientists collected samples of the red, purple and blue lettucelike coral and its neighboring green, leafy algae, called anadyomene.
"It is truly a special place," said Billy Causey, National Marine Sanctuary regional director. "We have to unlock the secrets of why they (the reefs) are so healthy."
The University of Miami hopes to unlock those secrets with a $1 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Centers for Coastal Ocean Science. The university will investigate how the deep coral reef west of the Dry Tortugas serves to replenish key fish species and other organisms in the downstream reefs of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and the Tortugas.
With the well-documented decline of Florida's reefs, areas like Pulley Ridge serve as sources of larvae that can help sustain the Keys' reef ecosystem and the tourism economy that depends on it. With more of this type of information, resource managers will be better positioned to develop more effective strategies to protect these reefs.
"We're trying to understand not only whether these ecosystems have resources in common, but also the mechanisms of connectivity between them," said Dan Basta, director of NOAA's Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. "This will give managers information they need to protect reef ecosystems, as well as critical underwater corridors that help replenish Florida's reefs."
Causey contends that Pulley Reef is connected to Keys reefs.
"It's almost one continuous reef," Causey said. "There is direct connectivity between Pulley Ridge and the Keys reef tract."
The grant will cover the first year of the five-year project, which will be a collaboration of more than 30 scientists at 10 different universities pooling their expertise with state and federal agency scientists through NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Miami and the Cooperative Institute for Ocean Exploration, Research and Technology at Florida Atlantic University.
Teams will use technical divers, remotely operated vehicles and advanced modeling and visualization tools to investigate the role such reefs may play in the replenishment of downstream and adjacent shallow coral ecosystems, said the project's lead researcher, Robert Cowen.
"This project brings together several disciplines to conduct studies on the physical characteristics of the region, the biology and ecology of the resident species, and the valuation of ecosystem services that Pulley Ridge provides," Cowen said. "Our intent is to create a comprehensive understanding that can support a variety of decision-support tools, including scenario-building options, to facilitate comprehensive resource planning in the eastern Gulf of Mexico."
Sections of Pulley Ridge, which encompasses 700 square miles of sea bottom, have been designated a Habitat Area of Particular Concern by the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council.
tohara@keynsews.com
Safe dives
Trtldvr
[/SIZE]
