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Coral reef assessment: An index utilizing sediment constituents

Resource managers need inexpensive bioindicators to evaluate the health of coral reef ecosystems and to inform decisions on when and where to utilize more expensive assessment techniques. Following USEPA Guidelines for Evaluating Ecological Indicators, I developed the SEDCON Index (SI), a rapid-assessment protocol whichutilizes reef sediment composition to assess the integrity of coral-reef communities. Keyadvantages of this index are that it entails non-destructive sampling and is applicable to reefs worldwide. The underlying assumption of the index is that community structure is reflected by proportions of recognizable remnants of calcareous shells and skeletal remains of mixotrophic (zooxanthellate corals and larger foraminifers), autotrophic (calcareous and coralline algae), and heterotrophic (e.g., bryozoans, molluscs, smaller foraminifers) benthic organisms, as well as unrecognizable debris as a proxy for bioerosion.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:USF/oai:scholarcommons.usf.edu:etd-3846
Date01 June 2005
CreatorsDaniels, Camille A
PublisherScholar Commons
Source SetsUniversity of South Flordia
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceGraduate Theses and Dissertations
Rightsdefault

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