PART B

FLORIDA KEYS, USA

WHERE IS THE REEF LOCATED AND WHAT ARE IT’S CHARACTERISTICS?

• The great Florida reef is off the coast of Florida state in the United States of America that stretches from the north Atlantic Ocean to the gulf of Mexico
• This reef is the only living coral barrier reef in the continental United States
• It is the third largest coral barrier reef system in the world

WHAT ARE THE THREATS EFFECTING THIS REEF?

• Pollution/garbage is released from septic tanks, storm water runoff that contains pesticides fertilizers etc that affect the marine community. This waste is leaving sediments that can smother coral reefs, speed the growth of damaging algae and lower the water quality letting less light through
• overfishing can alter food web structure such as reducing the numbers of grazing fish that keep corals clean of algae overgrowth

ARE THERE MARINE PROTECTED AREAS AND MANAGEMENT PLAN TO MANAGE THESE THREATS

• There are many protected areas in Florida including biscayne national park, The Florida Keys national Marine sanctuary, and many others

HOW ARE THESE THREATS BEING MANAGED BY THESE PLANS?

• These sanctuaries/organizations find certain areas of the reef and protect it where no harvesting is allowed and offer the highest level of ecosystems and biodiversity protection
• Since humans have such a huge impact on the altering of coral reefs living when a certain area is sheltered in the ocean it is able to recover from human impacts such as population or overfishing or even prevent that area from being started with any of those problems in the first place .

WHAT STAKEHOLDERS ARE INVOLVED IN MANAGING THE REEF AND IN DEVELOPING MANAGEMENT PLANS?

• The nature conservancy South Florida team works to protect and restore as well as monitor and manage the reefs
• As the water temperature rises, the water becomes more polluted, and as overfishing has a toll on the ecosystem these people come together to find the best ways to manage and protect

WHAT TYPES OF STRATEGIES DO THEY USE TO MANAGE THE REEF?

• A mooring buoy System is used to protect the corals from damage by boat anchors
• Made all the waters of the sanctuary a no discharge zone since corals need clean clear water to thrive
• A water quality protection program was created to have humans understand the impact of the water quality
• Staying on top of near short construction to make sure it is done with little to no impact on coral resources
• All of these are implemented by the rescuers

HAS THERE BEEN ANY EVIDENCE OF SUCCESSES IN MANAGING THE REEF OVER TIME?

• Yes there has been some success with some of the protection centres in the ocean that are keeping the coral from being damaged from humans, The coral has been able to grow and reproduce on its own with no bleaching or dying off
• Protecting coral reefs is becoming more urgent and is being done more now so over the next couple years scientists will be able to have more evidence to reflect and prove what has changed

MY IDEAS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THIS MANAGEMENT

• The first idea I have is to make more strict fines if people are to intentionally damage coral or go against any rules/laws about it
• Hopefully over time this management can create more and more safe zones for coral since it has such a huge impact on our world, a lot more than people realize
• The more protected areas there is the more chance that coral has to reproduce and adapt to climate change without humans interfering it with contact such as touching it or throwing heavy objects like anchors on it where it would just break off
• Another very good idea that could be done over a period of time is to develop ways for coral to live in higher temperature since the ocean temperature is rising overtime. This study/science is already starting to be done thankfully, so I hope one day it will pay off

ADDITIONAL FACTS ON THE FLORIDA REEF

• The Florida reef tract (RFT) stretches approximately 360 miles
• Third largest coral reef system in the world
• Millions of tourist travel to Florida for scuba diving, snorkeling, and fishing on South Florida is coral reefs

-BIB-

• Floridamuseum.ufl.edu
• www.epa.gov
• Ourfloridareefs.org
• Www.reefrelief.org
• Sanctuaries.noaa.gov
• Www.nature.org
• Floridadep.gov
• Floridakeys.noaa.gov
• Southeastfloridareefs.net
• Coris.noaa.gov