National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan and Ocean Acidification Program
Derek Manzello, Ian Enochs, and Renee Carlton
NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) has recently initiated the National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan (NCRMP)
to measure the status and trends of the nation's coral reef ecosystems. At AOML, NCRMP, in partnership with NOAA's
Ocean Acidification Program (OAP), is monitoring the status and trends of climate change and ocean acidification
on U.S. coral reefs. In addition to long-term physical and chemical monitoring, this project is also monitoring the
ecosystem impacts of ocean acidification over time. The primary ecosystem impacts being monitored at select sites include reef metabolic
performance (net ecosystem calcification, net community productivity), species-specific rates of coral growth and calcification,
bioerosion, high-resolution and digitally archived annual benthic characterizations, reef framework cementation and architectural
complexity, and biodiversity of cryptofauna. This work incorporates the Atlantic Ocean Acidification Test-Bed (AOAT), which,
in collaboration with academic and other governmental partners, tests and improves current and newly developed methodologies to
understand and interpret the effects of OA on coral reefs.
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Contact Information for OCED's National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan and Ocean Acidification Program Researchers: