U.S. Reef Status

Stephen C. Jameson sjameson at coralseas.com
Thu Mar 14 10:15:48 EST 1996


Dear Ken, 

In response to your 3/11/ question regarding the status of United States  
reefs. 

There are no - comprehensive - figures available on the percentage of  
degradation to coral reef ecosystems (or on just coral species in coral  
reef ecosystems) under United States jurisdiction.  I define under U.S.  
jurisdiction as any coral reef ecosystem where United States  
environmental laws or regulations apply.   

Historically, most coral reef surveys have been limited to discrete reefs  
or species or have been time limited (Rogers 1985, Dustin and Halas 1987,  
Bythell et al. 1992, Porter and Meier 1992, Ginsburg 1994).  The status  
and trends of complete coral reef ecosystems around entire islands or  
reef tracts have never been comprehensively evaluated because of the  
complexity, length of time, and cost of such endeavors. 

I did a paper for the National Biological Service on this topic.  

Jameson, S.C.  1995.  Coral Reef Ecosystems.  In:  Our Living Resources:   
A Report to the Nation on the Distribution, Abundance, and Health of U.S.  
Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems.  U.S. Department of the Interior,  
National Biological Sevice, Washington, D.C. pp 280-281. 

Copies of Our Living Resources are for sale through the Superintendent of  
Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, Stock  
#024-010-00708-7.  

Since you are with EPA you can probaly get a free copy by calling or  
writing: 

Michael Mac 
National Biological Service 
Status and Trends Report Manager 
Mailstop 3660-MIB 
1849 C. St. NW 
Washington, DC  20240  
phone: 202/482-2348 

At the time of writing this paper the reefs under United States  
jurisdiction included: 

Western Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean: 
Florida Reef Tract 
Flower Garden Banks 
Puerto Rico 
U.S. Virgin Islands 

Pacific Ocean: 
Northwest and Main Hawaiian Islands 
Wake Island 
Johnston Atoll 
Northern Mariana Islands 
Guam 
Palmyra Island 
Kingman Reef 
Howland Island 
Baker Island 
Jarvis Island 
American Samoa 

Let me know if you need more details. 



Best regards, 

Dr. Stephen C. Jameson, President 
Coral Seas, Inc. - Integrated Coastal Zone Management 
4254 Hungry Run Road  
The Plains, VA  20198-1715  USA 
703/754-8690, 703/754-9139 (FAX) 
Internet:  sjameson at coralseas.com 







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