Abstract Summary
Near shore coral reef ecosystems provide coastal protection from storm surge and flooding, and in a changing climate with predicted increases in storm frequency and intensity, as well as rising sea levels, this protection of coastal infrastructure becomes more critical. Increased storm frequency and intensity raises the ecosystem value of these natural structures, while simultaneously increasing the threat of disturbance to them. To track changes in ecosystems services, post-disturbance assessment and triage has become a crucial component of long term restoration monitoring efforts and their success. In 2017, two category 5 hurricanes hit the islands of Puerto Rico within 2 weeks. Following that disturbance, in 2018, a large scale impact assessment was launched by FEMA with the support of NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Protected Resources, the NMFS Restoration Center and the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) to facilitate the National Disaster Recovery Framework Natural and Cultural Resources Recovery Support Function. In 39 field days, the field team visited 153 sites and assessed 80,000 corals for damage, covering an area of 414,354 m2 of coral habitat. Overall, 11% of Puerto Rico’s coral reefs sustained damage with the ESA listed species Dendrogyra cylindrus, Acropora palmata, Orbicella annularis, and Acropora cervicornis sustaining the majority of the damage. This information was used to direct triage efforts and identify 12 potential areas covering 465 km2 for large scale restoration and long term monitoring. This effort is one of the first of its kind to formally recognize corals reefs as natural infrastructure in need of federal support in the wake of disturbance. These efforts will not only increase the populations of threatened coral species in Puerto Rico, but will bolster the coastal protection ecosystem services by restoring the natural infrastructure these corals provide.
