The Great Florida Reef

The Great Florida Reef

By Brandon Seale and Brian McKeon

Image Source: http://www.floridagofishing.com/_images/charts-maps/chart-keys-benthic-ecosystemsLG.gif

Image Source: http://www.boneafidecharters.com/669_500_csupload_64736623.jpg?u=1812501455

The Great Florida Reef, or the Florida Keys Reef tract, is the third largest coral barrier reef in the world and is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental US. The reef is composed of many smaller reefs and is located just a few miles off the Southern tip of Florida. This tract of coral reef is stretches nearly 200 miles and is roughly four miles wide, forming an arc around the Florida Key, which as serves as a natural buffer, absorbing a significant amount of hurricane and storm surges. This protection is very much depended on, especially in the Florida Keys, where the US Route 1 connects many of these small islands, as the National Hurricane Center estimates that 41 hurricanes have struck South East Florida since 1851.

(http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-03-16/news/fl-florida-hurricane-facts-20140314_1_southwest-florida-hurricanes-central-florida)


Image Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Florida_reef_tract.png/640px-Florida_reef_tract.png

The Great Florida coral reef resembles a barrier reef, however, formation isn't typical of a barrier reef. Its proximity to the shore and lack of inshore lagoons distinguishes this reef as a bank reef. This reef formed roughly five to seven thousand years ago when the sea level rose drastically due to the Wisconsin Glacial Episode The Florida Reef also has numerous  small patch reefs growing inshore of the tract reef.

(http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/coral/)


Image Source: http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/group/oceans/research/img/shallowreef01.jpg

Coral reefs are able to withstand certain levels of natural disturbance, however, when humans are introduced they have a devastating effect on the survival of the reefs. Between the years 1996 and 2005 the Florida Reefs had a 44 percent decline in its overall coral coverage primarily due to humans overfishing the areas and installing various pipelines and cables that interfered with the species in the area, causing a depletion of the coral. Fishing increased 444 percent from 1964 to 1998 due to a 329 percent increase in boats, which emit chemicals in to the water.
(http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/programs/coral/threats.htm)
(http://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/hazards/)

Image Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news4/before_after_coral_florida_keys.jpg

Runoffs from residential, agricultural, and industrial areas carry fertilizers, chemicals, and other contaminants into the water surrounding the reefs. This is refer to as sedimentation, and it increases the water's turbidity making it hard for light to reach the coral, which leads to the death the algae and polyps that are in a symbiotic relationship with the coral reef.



Not only does the kill preexisting lifeforms, but it makes it harder for polyps to latch on and form new coral

Image Source: https://seahorserun.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/hardpolyps.jpg



Image Source: http://cache1.asset-cache.net/xt/a0032-000180.jpg?v=1&g=fs1|0|TIB|20|180&s=1

Direct human contact also have a major impact on the reefs this means touching the coral directly with hands, sunken ships coming in contact, and items like nets and fishing line also interfere with the coral. A report by the World Resources Institute suggests that if action is not taken to restore the reefs they could all be gone by the year 2050, and that by 2030, over 90 percent of coral reefs will be in danger.
http://pdf.wri.org/reefs_at_risk_revisited.pdf


Image Source: http://www.islandbreath.org/2010Year/06/100605spillforecast.jpg

The BP Oil Spill that occurred in May of 2010 and released more than 200 million gallons of oil into the waters the gulf of Mexico, covered the Florida Reefs over the course of 87 days as ocean currents took brought the oil into direct contact with the Florida Reefs en route to the Atlantic Ocean.

(http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/mar/26/bp-oil-spill-deepwater-horizon).



Image Source: http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/2011/coral_bleach.jpg

The reefs showed major stress because of bleaching (water temperature dropped 12.06 degrees), and tissue loss. Over 8,000 animals were killed due to the oil, which emitted hydrocarbons, metals, and petroleum. Research shows that there was a 30 percent decrease in a the nine square mile perimeter around the site. Oil also sank to the sea floor which has a major impact on the organism cycle in the area.

(http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/12/deep-sea-impacts-bp-gulf-oil-spill/).


Image source: http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n5/full/nclimate1829.html

This graph, made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, estimates the deterioration of Reef Cells based on data from the four Representative Concentration Pathways, or four future greenhouse gas projections. The IPCC graph supports the supports the aforementioned conclusion made by the World Resources Institute: that nearly 100% of reef cells will be depleted around the year 2050.
http://www.nature.com/nclimate/journal/v3/n5/full/nclimate1829.html


Image Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/us/cnnheroes-nedimyer-coral-reefs/
What we can do to restore the area: Habitat creation and restoration projects, create artificial habitats offshore, implementing coral nurseries (growing coral offsite and planting them into the reef. The Coral Restoration Program plans to plant over 50,000 coral in the Florida reefs from 2012-2017. By doing this fish and other marine life come back to populate and restore the area. So far their program covers over an acre of sea floor, making it the largest coral nursery in the world.

Currently, many of the reefs are protected Marine Zones, as established by the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/history.html

The American Government has also deployed workers from the department of interior, environmental protection agency, national oceanic and atmospheric administration and homeland security to assess damage and clean up the oil from the spill.

The National Coral Reef Initiative was also created, the first of its kind (1996). This organization was designed to support domestic and international coral by filling limiting human impact and encouraging coral growth.

(http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/us/cnnheroes-nedimyer-coral-reefs/)

(http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/initiative.cfm).

Sources:

Academic Journal Articles:

 "Effects of Marine Reserves on Adjacent Fisheries"
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/294/5548/1920.full
By Callum M. Roberts, James A. Bohnsack, Fiona Gell, Julie P. Hawkins, and Renata Goodridge

Other Sources:

(http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/habitat/initiative.cfm)http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/coral/http://pdf.wri.org/reefs_at_risk_revisited.pd(http://ecowatch.com/2014/02/12/deep-sea-impacts-bp-gulf-oil-spill/).

(http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/programs/coral/threats.htm)
(http://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/hazards/)
http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/history.htmlwww.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1118029109

Popular Sources:(http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/us/cnnheroes-nedimyer-coral-reefs/)
Popular Source Cites: http://www.coralrestoration.org/

(http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/mar/26/bp-oil-spill-deepwater-horizon).
Cites: www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1118029109

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/25/coral-reefs-may-be-gone-b_n_827709.html
Cites:http://www.wri.org/publication/reefs-risk-revisited

(http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-03-16/news/fl-florida-hurricane-facts-20140314_1_southwest-florida-hurricanes-central-florida)
Cites: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/outreach/history/