U.S. EPA / FKNMS Coral Reef Evaluation and Monitoring Project

project is to utilize broad spatial coverage, repeated sampling, and statistically valid findings to document status and trends of coral communities within the Sanctuary. As coral reef monitoring is integrated with the seagrass and water quality monitoring projects, the results can be used to focus research on determining causality and to fine tune and evaluate management decisions. Methods Sampling site locations were chosen in 1994 using a stratified random sampling procedure (U.S. EPA EMAP). Forty reef sites were selected within the FKNMS and permanent station markers were installed in 1995. Annual sampling began in 1996 and has continued through 2002. Three additional sites were installed and sampled in the Dry Tortugas beginning in 1999. The project’s 40 sampling sites include four hard-bottom, 11 patch, and 12 offshore shallow and 13 offshore deep reef sites. Each site is composed of two to four stations. Station Species Inventory (SSI) SSI consists of counts of stony coral species (Milleporina and Scleractinia) present in each station to provide data on stony coral species richness (S). Two observers conducted simultaneous timed (15 min.) inventories within the 22 x 2 m stations and entered the data o