[Coral-List] Toward a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring

[Amy Apprill]

Hello Coral List,

Our team is pleased to share a new open-access perspective paper titled ‘Towards a New Era of Coral Reef Monitoring’ published in Environmental Science & Technology (2023, 57, 5117-5124).

Link: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c05369

Abstract: Coral reefs host some of the highest concentrations of biodiversity and economic value in the oceans, yet these ecosystems are under threat due to climate change and other human impacts. Reef monitoring is routinely used to help
prioritize reefs for conservation and evaluate the success of intervention efforts. Reef status and health are most frequently characterized using diver-based surveys, but the inherent limitations of these methods mean there is a growing need for
advanced, standardized, and automated reef techniques that capture the complex nature of the ecosystem. Here we draw on experiences from our own interdisciplinary research programs to describe advances in in situ diver-based and autonomous reef monitoring. We present our vision for integrating interdisciplinary measurements for select “case-study” reefs worldwide and for
learning patterns within the biological, physical, and chemical reef components and their interactions. Ultimately, these efforts could support the development of a scalable and standardized suite of sensors that capture and relay key data to assist in categorizing reef health. This framework has the potential to provide stakeholders with the information necessary to assess reef health during an unprecedented time of reef change as well as restoration and intervention activities.

Best wishes,
Amy Apprill, Yogesh Girdhar, T. Aran Mooney, Colleen M. Hansel, Matthew H. Long, Yaqin Liu, W. Gordon Zhang, Jason Kapit, Konrad Hughen, Jeff Coogan, and Austin Green
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution