Florida Coral Reefs

Coral reefs are the home to more species than any other marine ecosystem, making them some of the most treasured and diverse ecosystems on the planet. They provide revenue for local communities by forming nurseries for fish, provide a destination for diving tours and fishing trips, break the power of waves to create a buffer that prevents erosion, property damage, and inundation, and protect the wetlands that line the coast, as well as ports and harbors. Many medicines are also now being developed from coral reefs that cure cancer, arthritis, human bacterial infections, viruses, and many other diseases (NOAA, 2008). Florida is the only state in the continental U.S. to have widespread coral reef formations close to the coasts, and consists of the Florida Reef Tract which is 150 miles long and approximately 4 miles wide (Figure 4) (NOAA, 2016). Florida’s coral reefs started forming approximately 10,000 years ago following the last Ice Age when sea levels started to rise (FDEP, 2016). The Florida Reef Tract is the third largest
(2007) analyzed which aspects of temperature best explained the severe bleaching events that covered the entirety of the Florida Reef Tract in 1997, 1998, and 2005 at multiple sites within the Florida Reef Tract (Fowey Rocks, Molasses Reef, Sombrero Reef, Sand Key, and Dry Tortugas) by examining three variables of thermal change: 1) short term changes in temperature; 2) cumulative temperature changes; and 3) temperature variability. Results show that maximum monthly sea surface temperatures were the most important factor in each of the three severe bleaching events signifying long periods of exposure to high temperatures resulted in the extreme bleaching events (Figure 3). The temperature data also shows that bi-weekly temperature fluctuations during summer months did not correlate with bleaching years at any of the sites, and the thermal shock of fluctuating temperature is not the cause of any of the major bleaching