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Publication year : 0
Thematic : Coral Reef
Language : English
Note
Effective environmental management requires
monitoring programmes that provide specific links between
changes in environmental conditions and ecosystem health.
This article reviews the suitability of a range of bioindicators
for use in monitoring programmes that link changes
in water quality to changes in the condition of coral-reef
ecosystems. From the literature, 21 candidate bioindicators
were identified, whose responses to changes in water
quality varied spatially and temporally; responses ranged
from rapid (hours) changes within individual corals to
long-term (years) changes in community composition.
From this list, the most suitable bioindicators were identified
by determining whether responses were (i) specific,
(ii) monotonic, (iii) variable, (iv) practical and (v) ecologically
relevant to management goals. For long-term
monitoring programmes that aim to quantify the effects of
chronic changes in water quality, 11 bioindicators were
selected: symbiont photophysiology, colony brightness,
tissue thickness and surface rugosity of massive corals,
skeletal elemental and isotopic composition, abundance of
macro-bioeroders, micro- and meiobenthic organisms such
as foraminifera, coral recruitment, macroalgal cover, taxonomic
richness of corals and the maximal depth of coralreef
development. For short-term monitoring programmes,
or environmental impact assessments that aim to quantify
the effects of acute changes in water quality, a subset of
seven of these bioindicators were selected, including partial
mortality. Their choice will depend on the specific objectives
and the timeframe available for each monitoring
programme. An assessment framework is presented to
assist in the selection of bioindicators to quantify the
effects of changing water quality on coral-reef ecosystems.
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Keywords : Hydrosaurus pustulatus
Encoded by : Pauline Carmel Joy Eje
