Abstract Summary
The Florida Reef Resilience Program’s Disturbance Response Monitoring program (DRM) was developed to assess stony coral condition on shallow coral reefs from the Dry Tortugas to Martin County during the months of high thermal stress. Results from DRM survey events have shown that bleaching prevalence is variable across time and space. Using in-situ temperature data collected from temperature loggers affixed to the reef, this study will show how bottom water temperature regimes during the thermal stress months from August to October relate to coral bleaching prevalence measured by DRM. This presentation will focus on two subregions of the Florida Keys to pilot a larger study that aims to compare temperature and bleaching prevalence data across the entire Florida reef tract.
