The model created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that 70% of Florida's 350-mile long reef tract is eroding faster than it's growing.
The largest wellness check ever performed on Florida’s ailing reef tract has reached a dire conclusion: The tract is in a “net erosional state” and shrinking faster than it’s growing.
The study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies covered the length of the 350-mile long tract from the Dry Tortugas to St. Lucie County.
Using data from NOAA’s reef monitoring network, researchers built a complex model to determine change that factored in coral, water chemistry and parrotfish, the colorful, sometimes blue-lipped fish that scour the reefs for algae.
While pockets showed some growth, overall 70 percent of reefs were getting smaller.
The findings confirmed what other federal scientists looking at Keys reefs earlier this year suspected: That after 3,000 years of near stability, Florida’s reefs are succumbing to disease and impacts from climate change as scientists race to find solutions.
“We all have known that the Florida reef tract is struggling,” said John Morris, a reef ecologist and lead architect of the model. “It's when you see something at this scale, 723 sites, that is of course surprising.”
While the news is grim, Morris said the model can now help scientists target restoration work, an effort that has grown increasingly urgent as stony coral disease continues to spread.
“That was one of the bigger takeaways I was hoping for,” Morris said. “Here's the data. Here's where the risks are now. Now, how do we go from here?”
Florida's 350-mile long reef tract is now shrinking faster than it's growing
The largest wellness check ever performed on Florida’s ailing reef tract has reached a dire conclusion: The tract is in a “net erosional state” and shrinking faster than it’s growing.
The study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Miami’s Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies covered the length of the 350-mile long tract from the Dry Tortugas to St. Lucie County.
Using data from NOAA’s reef monitoring network, researchers built a complex model to determine change that factored in coral, water chemistry and parrotfish, the colorful, sometimes blue-lipped fish that scour the reefs for algae.
While pockets showed some growth, overall 70 percent of reefs were getting smaller.
The findings confirmed what other federal scientists looking at Keys reefs earlier this year suspected: That after 3,000 years of near stability, Florida’s reefs are succumbing to disease and impacts from climate change as scientists race to find solutions.
“We all have known that the Florida reef tract is struggling,” said John Morris, a reef ecologist and lead architect of the model. “It's when you see something at this scale, 723 sites, that is of course surprising.”
While the news is grim, Morris said the model can now help scientists target restoration work, an effort that has grown increasingly urgent as stony coral disease continues to spread.
“That was one of the bigger takeaways I was hoping for,” Morris said. “Here's the data. Here's where the risks are now. Now, how do we go from here?”
Florida's 350-mile long reef tract is now shrinking faster than it's growing