Graduation Year
2005
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.S.
Degree Granting Department
Marine Science
Major Professor
Dr. Pamela-Hallock Muller.
Keywords
Sedcon, Community structure, Bioerosion, Water quality, Bioindicator
Abstract
Resource managers need inexpensive bioindicators to evaluate the health of coral reef ecosystems and to inform decisions on when and where to utilize more expensive assessment techniques. Following USEPA Guidelines for Evaluating Ecological Indicators, I developed the SEDCON Index (SI), a rapid-assessment protocol whichutilizes reef sediment composition to assess the integrity of coral-reef communities. Keyadvantages of this index are that it entails non-destructive sampling and is applicable to reefs worldwide. The underlying assumption of the index is that community structure is reflected by proportions of recognizable remnants of calcareous shells and skeletal remains of mixotrophic (zooxanthellate corals and larger foraminifers), autotrophic (calcareous and coralline algae), and heterotrophic (e.g., bryozoans, molluscs, smaller foraminifers) benthic organisms, as well as unrecognizable debris as a proxy for bioerosion.
Scholar Commons Citation
Daniels, Camille A., "Coral reef assessment: An index utilizing sediment constituents" (2005). Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/2847