MAPPING, HABITAT CHARACTERIZATION, AND FISH SURVEYS OF THE DEEP-WATER OCULINA CORAL REEF MARINE PROTECTED AREA: A REVIEW OF HISTORICAL AND CURRENT RESEARCH.

Authors

John K. Reed, Florida Atlantic University
Andrew N. Shepard, University of North Carolina
Christopher C. Koenig, Florida State University
Kathryn M. Scanlon, U.S. Geological Survey
R. G. Gilmore, Estuarine, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences, Inc.

Author Type

Faculty

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Deep-water Oculina coral reefs, which are similar in structure and development to deep-water Lophelia reefs, stretch 167 km (90 nm) at depths of 60-100 m along the eastern Florida shelf of the United States. These consist of numerous pinnacles and ridges, 3-35 m in height, that are capped with thickets of living and dead coral, Oculina varicosa. Extensive areas of dead Oculina rubble are due in part to human impacts (e.g., fish and shrimp trawling, scallop dredging, anchoring, bottom longlines, and depth charges) but also may be due in part to natural processes such as bioerosion, disease, or global warming.

DOI

doi: 10.1007/3-540-27673-4

Publication Date

2005

Comments

Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution #1549.

Recommended Citation

This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available at http://www.springerlink.com and may be cited as: Reed, J. K., Shepard, A. N., Koenig, C. C., Scanlon, K. M., & Gilmore, R. G., Jr. (2005). Mapping, habitat characterization, and fish surveys of the deep-water Oculina coral reef Marine Protected Area: a review of historical and current research. In A. Freiwald & J. M. Roberts (Eds.), Cold-Water Corals and Ecosystems. (pp. 443-465). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag.