Kayelyn R. Simmons, DelWayne R. Bohnenstiehl and David B. Eggleston

With the unprecedented degradation and loss of coral reefs at multiple scales, the underlying changes in abiotic and biotic features relevant to the three-dimensional architecture of coral reefs are critical to conservation and restoration. This study characterized the spatiotemporal variation of habitat metrics at eight fore-reef sites representing three management zones in the Florida Keys, USA using visual habitat surveys (2017–2018) acquired before and after Hurricane Irma. Post-hurricane, five of those sites were surveyed using structure-from-motion photogrammetry to further investigate coral morphology on structural complexity. Multivariate results for visual surveys identified moderate separation among sites, with fished sites characterized by complex physical features such as depth and vertical hard relief while protected sites generally harbored high abundances of live coral cover.

Download the Full Paper: https://doi.org/10.3390/d14030153

The post Spatiotemporal Variation in Coral Assemblages and Reef Habitat Complexity among Shallow Fore-Reef Sites in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary appeared first on NOAA's Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory.