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A diver in the coral reefs.
© Dan Wagner |
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What is The Florida Keys Reef Monitoring Project?
This long-term project is designed to assess the health of the reefs in the 2800-square-mile Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. A three-scientist team--Jim Porter, Phil Dustan of the University of Charleston, and Walter Japp of the Florida Marine Research Institute--designed and implemented the coral reef part of the program. Fortunately, they combine over sixty years of experience, because the question the study asks--"Are the reefs changing?"--is a complicated one. It's grounded not just in reef ecology but in population biology, which involves sophisticated mathematical analysis of the equilibrium between births and deaths in a community of organisms.
One hundred and sixty-eight monitoring stations were established in 1996 and the first assessment was conducted in 1997; there will be at least four more. The project's primary focus is on overall water quality.
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