Dear coral-listers,
I’m about to start a position in Mozambique as scientific coordinator for a
marine conservation volunteer program, and could use some guidance. One of
my key roles upon arriving out there will be to design a fish ID training
program that will standardize the way volunteers collect data on species
abundances and locations, all with the aim of assessing the changing health
of the reefs without introducing volunteer bias.
What species (or even taxa) are sensitive to changes in reef health and so
can be a good measure of the health of the reef? My immediate thought was to
look near the top end of the food chain, but I also want volunteers to have
a good chance of seeing them so we can build a large dataset and they can
have a good time!
Advice on successful training techniques would also be helpful.
Any and all help is much appreciated,
Cheers,
Gus Fordyce
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 12:41:52 -0400
From: John McManus <jmcmanus@rsmas.miami.edu>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Assessing reef health through fish ID
To: <coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <07ad01d060d1$46044260$d20cc720$@rsmas.miami.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”iso-8859-1″
Most people use bottom organisms as the primary indicators of reef health,
often with extra information on certain large fish, or on numbers of small
vs large individuals among species, as indicators of overfishing. However,
if you are focused primarily on fish, one good choice is butterflyfish.
These are fairly easy to identify to species level. Some are highly
dependent on corals. In the 80’s and 90’s, Ernie Reese and students at the
University of Hawaii, including Tom Hourigan, did great work on relating
butterflyfish to coral reef health. The abundances by species and their
behaviors are informative, including levels of aggressiveness, feeding
rates, and home ranges. This work, including observer training information,
were nicely summarized in the following manual:
A Manual for Monitoring Coral Reefs with Indicator Species: Butterflyfishes
as Indicators of Change on Indo-Pacific Reefs, by Michael P. Crosby, Ph.D.
and Ernst S. Reese, Ph.D. (1996).
I just found it online at:
http://www.denix.osd.mil/nr/crid/Coral_Reef_Iniative_Database/Wake_Atoll_fil
es/Crosby%20%26%20Reese,%201996.pdf
I would still be concerned about ratios of juvenile to adult fish among all
species associated with fishing, as these are very useful in identifying
overfishing — particularly in comparing sites. The Atlantic-oriented AGRRA
methodology includes this (http://www.agrra.org/), though the species in
your area will be much different.
Good luck!
John
John W. McManus, PhD
Director, National Center for Coral Reef Research (NCORE)
Professor, Marine Biology and Ecology
Coral Reef Ecology and Management Lab (CREM Lab)
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS)
University of Miami, 4600 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, 33149
jmcmanus@rsmas.miami.edu????? http://ncore.rsmas.miami.edu/
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Mcmanus4
“If you lose a diamond ring in the bedroom, don’t look for it in the living
room just because the light there is better”.
—–Original Message—–
From: coral-list-bounces@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
[mailto:coral-list-bounces@coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Gus Fordyce
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2015 5:18 AM
To: coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [Coral-List] Assessing reef health through fish ID
Dear coral-listers,
I’m about to start a position in Mozambique as scientific coordinator for a
marine conservation volunteer program, and could use some guidance. One of
my key roles upon arriving out there will be to design a fish ID training
program that will standardize the way volunteers collect data on species
abundances and locations, all with the aim of assessing the changing health
of the reefs without introducing volunteer bias.
What species (or even taxa) are sensitive to changes in reef health and so
can be a good measure of the health of the reef? My immediate thought was to
look near the top end of the food chain, but I also want volunteers to have
a good chance of seeing them so we can build a large dataset and they can
have a good time!
Advice on successful training techniques would also be helpful.
Any and all help is much appreciated,
Cheers,
Gus Fordyce
MSci Biology student
University of Bristol
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Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
——————————
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 15:55:53 -0400
From: Peter Sale <sale@uwindsor.ca>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Assessing reef health through fish ID
To: coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Cc: Gus Fordyce <GusFordyce.2011@my.bristol.ac.uk>
Message-ID:
<OF6AB6969B.BDA3B47D-ON85257E0B.006B47E1-85257E0B.006D7D45@uwindsor.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=”US-ASCII”
Hi Gus, and list,
A good question which rattled my pure ecology nerves, so here goes.
If you want to monitor fish to assess reef condition, using volunteers,
you need to limit the task to something tractable. Best way to do this is
to have a defined list of species to count, and to use a standard method
of sampling so that your results are comparable with those of others. The
two main classes of sampling method are use of belt transects and use of
point sampling — I much prefer the former except for cases when a small
number of highly trained people will be able to manage the challenges of
sampling in an unbiased way, while counting fish within an imaginary 7.5m
radius cylinder surrounding them. I also much prefer narrow transects (1m
or 2m) because wider ones, with width estimated, fluctuate in width as the
interesting fishes come into view or swim away again. (Other fish
ecologists will probably dispute this; I just do not think we are that
capable.) Multiple 30 m long transects are more useful than fewer 100 m
long ones. (All of these comments are aspects of design that help to
produce results with some reasonable precision.)
The list of species should include ones that are closely associated with
coral, rather than being broadly distributed, and ones that can be
reliably identified in the field by volunteers with limited training. The
butterfly fishes are an excellent family from these perspectives. So are
the wrasses, surgeonfishes, and damselfishes (although some of the latter
can be difficult to discriminate in the field, and some others persist in
occurring in large schools). Parrotfishes are more problematic except for
the mature males. Larger species may often be preferred because they are
more ‘useful’ fish, but if relatively rare, you will sample lots of
transects without counting any. There are a number of papers on how to
sample reef fish which would be worth reading, and several widely used
monitoring methodologies. You’d be wise to check out what methods are
being used in East Africa, and favor those over others. Tim McClanahan,
Wildlife Conservation Society, Kenya would be worth contacting in this
regard.
You initially asked how to sample fish to monitor reef health. Realize
that ‘reef health’ is a shorthand for ‘reefs that look like what we think
they should look like’. Monitoring fish of particular species will tell
you whether the sites sampled are ones that support large numbers, small
numbers or none, and large individuals or small individuals, of those
species of fish. Fish are not instruments for measuring the health of a
coral reef, any more than frogs measure the health of a puddle. If you
want to know about corals, and how well coral species are coping on your
reefs, measure the corals rather than the fish. Same for crabs, starfish,
or anything else. There are some totally overfished reefs in the world,
with coral almost absent because of storm damage, bleaching or other
events, and with little of the complex architecture of a reef with
abundant living corals. For the abundant macroalgae, and the fish species
that associate with macroalgae, they are luxuriantly alive, and, so far as
I know, quite healthy places. The fish that live there may even be happy.
But now I am digressing.
Peter Sale
sale@uwindsor.ca @PeterSale3
www.uwindsor.ca/sale www.petersalebooks.com
——————————
Message: 3
Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2015 08:47:53 +0300
From: David Obura <dobura@cordioea.net>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Assessing reef health through fish ID
To: coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Cc: Melita Samoilys <melita.samoilys@gmail.com>,
GusFordyce.2011@my.bristol.ac.uk, Nick Hill <nickaohill@gmail.com>
Message-ID: <67E329FE-36D4-4242-ABFC-6EBC762A9F91@cordioea.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Hi Gus,
For community-based fish/fisheries work in Mozambique there are a number of programs already in place that would be good for you to connect with. Most directly, I’d put you in touch with Dr. Melita Samoilys (CORDIO) and Dr. Nick Hill (Zoological Society of London) who are working on such issues in Cabo Delgado in the north. They can give you information on national/local partners as well in Mozambique, as the the government has had a small scale fisheries programme running for over 20 years that any new initiatives should ensure to build on/collaborate with.
Mozambique has a strong focus on development of CCPs (local fishery organizations) as the node for interactions with community fishers. If by volunteers you mean divers and tourists, then things might be quite different. But Melita and Nick can assist with the questions you ask …
regards,
David Obura
CORDIO East Africa
#9 Kibaki Flats, Kenyatta Beach, Bamburi Beach
P.O.BOX 10135 Mombasa 80101, Kenya
www.cordioea.net ; Email: dobura@cordioea.net; davidobura@gmail.com
Mobile: +254-715 067417; skype dobura; Twitter @dobura
>
>
> ——————————
>
> Message: 3
> Date: Tue, 17 Mar 2015 09:17:45 +0000
> From: Gus Fordyce <GusFordyce.2011@my.bristol.ac.uk>
> Subject: [Coral-List] Assessing reef health through fish ID
> To: coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Message-ID:
> <CAN_vqstRhpzOeYeeOPnMr+asaEVU3Uc9VA5_ratVOesP85LbbA@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Dear coral-listers,
>
> I’m about to start a position in Mozambique as scientific coordinator for a
> marine conservation volunteer program, and could use some guidance. One of
> my key roles upon arriving out there will be to design a fish ID training
> program that will standardize the way volunteers collect data on species
> abundances and locations, all with the aim of assessing the changing health
> of the reefs without introducing volunteer bias.
>
> What species (or even taxa) are sensitive to changes in reef health and so
> can be a good measure of the health of the reef? My immediate thought was
> to look near the top end of the food chain, but I also want volunteers to
> have a good chance of seeing them so we can build a large dataset and they
> can have a good time!
>
> Advice on successful training techniques would also be helpful.
> Any and all help is much appreciated,
>
> Cheers,
> Gus Fordyce
>
> MSci Biology student
> University of Bristol