Ranking coral ecosystem "health and value" for the islands of the Hawaiian Archipelago

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. Jokiel ◽  
Ku'ulei S. Rodgers

An evaluation of the "health" and "value" of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI) in relation to the main eight Hawaiian Islands (MHI) was undertaken as part of the process for evaluating the NWHI for possible designation of this area as a National Marine Sanctuary. Biological information for the NWHI region is very limited due to its extreme Isolation, but sufficient data on five important biological Indicators were developed for both the NWHI and the MHI. These Include: reef fish biomass, reef fish endemics, total living coral cover, population of the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal Monachus schauinsandi, and the number of female Green Sea Turtles Chelonia mydas nesting annually on each island. These diverse data sets were used in a simple Integrated scoring and ranking scheme for all the islands of the archipelago. The resulting composite scoring is essentially an index of biological integrity. The final result graphically demonstrates the value of the NWHI in a manner easily understood by the public, government decision makers and managers. Further, the contrast of the NWHI to the MHI illustrates the diminished condition of reefs close to human population within the Hawaiian Archipelago. This approach proved to be very useful in the Integration of diverse data sets.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Tenggardjaja ◽  
Brian W. Bowen ◽  
Giacomo Bernardi

Endemic marine species at remote oceanic islands provide opportunities to investigate the proposed correlation between range size and dispersal ability. Because these species have restricted geographic ranges, it is assumed that they have limited dispersal ability, which consequently would be reflected in high population genetic structure. To assess this relationship at a small scale and to determine if it may be related to specific reef fish families, here we employ a phylogeographic survey of three endemic Hawaiian damselfishes:Abudefduf abdominalis,Chromis ovalis, andChromis verater. Data from mitochondrial markers cytochromeband control region revealed low but significant genetic structure in all three species. Combining these results with data from a previous study onDascyllus albisellaandStegastes marginatus, all five endemic damselfish species surveyed to date show evidence of genetic structure, in contrast with other widespread reef fish species that lack structure within the Hawaiian Archipelago. Though individual patterns of connectivity varied, these five species showed a trend of limited connectivity between the atolls and low-lying Northwestern Hawaiian Islands versus the montane Main Hawaiian Islands, indicating that, at least for damselfishes, the protected reefs of the uninhabited northwest will not replenish depleted reefs in the populated Main Hawaiian Islands.


Author(s):  
Vincentius P. Siregar ◽  
Sam Wouthuyzen ◽  
Andriani Sunuddin ◽  
Ari Anggoro ◽  
Ade Ayu Mustika

Shallow marine waters comprise diverse benthic types forming habitats for reef fish community, which important for the livelihood of coastal and small island inhabitants. Satellite imagery provide synoptic map of benthic habitat and further utilized to estimate reef fish stock. The objective of this research was to estimate reef fish stock in complex coral reef of Pulau Pari, by utilizing high resolution satellite imagery of the WorldView-2 in combination with field data such as visual census of reef fish. Field survey was conducted between May-August 2013 with 160 sampling points representing four sites (north, south, west, and east). The image was analy-zed and grouped into five classes of benthic habitats i.e., live coral (LC), dead coral (DC), sand (Sa), seagrass (Sg), and mix (Mx) (combination seagrass+coral and seagrass+sand). The overall accuracy of benthic habitat map was 78%. Field survey revealed that the highest live coral cover (58%) was found at the north site with fish density 3.69 and 1.50 ind/m2at 3 and 10 m depth, respectively. Meanwhile, the lowest live coral cover (18%) was found at the south site with fish density 2.79 and 2.18  ind/m2 at 3 and 10 m depth, respectively. Interpolation on fish density data in each habitat class resulted in standing stock reef fish estimation:  LC (5,340,698 ind), DC (56,254,356 ind), Sa (13,370,154 ind), Sg (1,776,195 ind) and Mx (14,557,680 ind). Keywords: mapping, satellite imagery, benthic habitat, reef fish, stock estimation


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 117
Author(s):  
Fakhrizal Setiawan ◽  
Janny D Kusen ◽  
Georis JF Kaligis

In order to look at changes in coral and reef fish communities during the period of 2006 to 2013, this research was carried out at Bunaken National Park (BNP) with 26 observation sites. The existing data and information of reef fish communities in the park generally could not be used as representative for describing the whole region. Percentage of coral cover and fish abundance during the study period shows that Bunaken Island is more similar to other locations. Reef fish community structure as seen from ecological index (H' at all sites being categorized, E category labile and low category C) shows the condition of the reef fish community is still good. Changes in the structure of reef fish communities showed declining conditions compared to 2006, and coral cover continued to decrease compared to 1998 and 2007. Good overall reef fish and coral cover have decreased; it is thought to be related to the pressure in BNP. Some of the pressures in the region were (i) increasing numbers of domestic as well as foreign visitors, (ii) increasing number of residents in the region, as well as the burden of waste and trash from the Bay of Manado. Penelitian dilakukan di Taman Nasional Bunaken (Utara dan Selatan)   pada 26 lokasi  pengamatan untuk menganalisis perubahan struktur komunitas ikan karang melalui kajian dari suatu time series data dari beberapa penelitian sebelumnya. Data primer mengenai ikan-ikan karang diperoleh melalui visual sensus bawah air yang bersamaan dengan observasi terumbu karang menggunakan point intercept transect. Nilai persentase tutupan karang dan kelimpahan ikan menunjukkan bahwa pada lokasi pengamatan Pulau Bunaken paling baik dibandingan lokasi lainnya. Struktur komunitas ikan karang yang dianalisis dengan indeks ekologi menunjukkan indeks keanekaragaman (H’) di semua site masuk kategori sedang, indeks kesamaan (E) kategori labil dan indeks Dominansi (C) kategori rendah. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa kondisi komunitas ikan karang masih baik, sekalipun  perubahan struktur komunitas ikan karang menunjukkan kondisi yang menurun dibandingkan tahun 2006, begitu juga tutupan karang yang terus turun dibandingkan tahun 1998 dan 2007. Secara keseluruhan baik ikan karang maupun tutupan karang mengalami penurunan, hal ini diduga terkait dengan tekanan yang dialami kawasan TN. Bunaken. Salah satu tekanan terhadap kawasan adalah jumlah turis dari dalam maupun luar negeri yang semakin meningkat tiap tahunnya, penambahan jumlah penduduk di dalam kawasan, serta beban limbah dan sampah dari Teluk Manado.


2020 ◽  
Vol 125 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Lindo‐Atichati ◽  
Yanli Jia ◽  
Johanna L. K. Wren ◽  
Andreas Antoniades ◽  
Donald R. Kobayashi

2011 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Holsclaw ◽  
Ujjaini Alam ◽  
Bruno Sansó ◽  
Herbie Lee ◽  
Katrin Heitmann ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 146-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan M. Friedlander ◽  
Mary K. Donovan ◽  
Kostantinos A. Stamoulis ◽  
Ivor D. Williams ◽  
Eric K. Brown ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Abhith Pallegar

The objective of the paper is to elucidate how interconnected biological systems can be better mapped and understood using the rapidly growing area of Big Data. We can harness network efficiencies by analyzing diverse medical data and probe how we can effectively lower the economic cost of finding cures for rare diseases. Most rare diseases are due to genetic abnormalities, many forms of cancers develop due to genetic mutations. Finding cures for rare diseases requires us to understand the biology and biological processes of the human body. In this paper, we explore what the historical shift of focus from pharmacology to biotechnology means for accelerating biomedical solutions. With biotechnology playing a leading role in the field of medical research, we explore how network efficiencies can be harnessed by strengthening the existing knowledge base. Studying rare or orphan diseases provides rich observable statistical data that can be leveraged for finding solutions. Network effects can be squeezed from working with diverse data sets that enables us to generate the highest quality medical knowledge with the fewest resources. This paper examines gene manipulation technologies like Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) that can prevent diseases of genetic variety. We further explore the role of the emerging field of Big Data in analyzing large quantities of medical data with the rapid growth of computing power and some of the network efficiencies gained from this endeavor. 


PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L. Jokiel ◽  
Kuʻulei S. Rodgers ◽  
Eric K. Brown ◽  
Jean C. Kenyon ◽  
Greta Aeby ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Mahmudin Mahmudin ◽  
Chair Rani ◽  
Hamzah Hamzah

Dynamite fishing is one of the causes of damage to the coral reef ecosystem in Indonesia. Fishing activities using explosives (dynamite fishing) occur because of the desire of fishermen to get a lot of catch with low cost in a short time. Kapoposang Water Park (WP) is a region rich in marine biological resources. However, dynamite fishing activities which are still found within the area have caused the coral reef ecosystem to be severely damaged. The results showed a lower difference in the percentage of live coral cover at dynamite fishing locations (DF1, DF2) compared to control locations (K1, K2). In addition, the highest average values of coral fish abundance were found at locations K1, DF1, and DF2. Conversely, the results of the analysis found the lowest fish abundance at the K2 location. Different from the average number of reef fish species that were higher at the control location (K1, K2) compared to dynamite fishing locations (DF1, DF2). For the target fish biomass there is no real difference between the control location and dynamite fishing.


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