National Coral Reef Monitoring Plan and Ocean Acidification Program

Ian Enochs

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.