East Flower Garden Bank (EFGB) and West Flower Garden Bank (WFGB), part of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico, support tropical coral reefs that exhibit over 50% living coral cover. These reefs have been monitored annually since 1989, and in 2016 were exposed to higher than normal seawater temperatures leading to a severe bleaching event. Corals at EFGB and WFGB showed no signs of bleaching until September 2016, occurring later in the year compared to other reefs in the Caribbean region. Coral bleaching and subsequent recovery at each bank were documented through a time series of repetitive photographs within previously established long-term monitoring stations. Preceding the event, mean live coral cover within monitoring stations was collectively 64 ± 2%. Prior to signs of bleaching from July to September 2016, seawater temperatures on the reef were above 30°C for a total of 36 d at EFGB and 21 d at WFGB. By October 2016, 67 ± 5% of the coral cover within EFGB monitoring stations and 25 ± 3% within WFGB monitoring stations exhibited signs of bleaching or paling stress, with dissimilarities in the amount of bleaching most likely due to significant differences in thermal profiles between banks. Significantly increasing long-term trends for daily mean seawater temperature indicate that temperatures on the banks have become warmer over time, and calculated bleaching threshold curves suggest that more than 50 d above 29.5°C would initiate a bleaching year at EFGB and WFGB. Even though recovery within monitoring stations at both banks was documented with no significant declines in mean coral cover from 2016 to 2017 (64% and 62%, respectively), it is likely FGBNMS will be subject to additional and more frequent bleaching events in the future as ocean temperatures continue to rise.

No abstract

The cryptic invasion of North American aquatic ecosystems by non-native haplotypes of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud., 1841, has been well documented. Most research has focused on eastern Canada, and the eastern seaboard, St. Lawrence waterway, southwest (Utah), and Gulf coast regions of the United States. Less has been published on the extent of this invasion in the north central United States. In this report, 69 populations of Phragmites australis were identified and sampled within the Minnesota and Mississippi River corridors of Minnesota, as well as from roadway drainage ditches within the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan region (MSP). Restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and DNA sequencing were used to determine the cpDNA lineage of each population. All populations sampled within the river valleys were native North American haplotype E, as were most MSP populations. However, numerous isolated populations of Eurasian haplotype M Phragmites australis were identified along MSP transportation corridors. Nuclear microsatellites indicated that these M haplotype populations are not clonal. These results show that Eurasian haplotype M Phragmites australis has become established in at least one region of Minnesota, but has not yet widely invaded the riparian wetlands of Minnesota's two largest rivers. This provides a baseline for continued monitoring of the spread of this invasive plant.

1. Effective management of marine resources requires an understanding of the spatial distribution of biologically important communities.2. The north-western Gulf of Mexico contains diverse marine ecosystems at a large range of depths and geographic settings. To better understand the distribution of these marine habitats across large geographic areas under consideration for marine sanctuary status, presence-only predictive modelling was used.3. Results confirmed that local geographic characteristics can accurately predict the probability of occurrence for marine habitat types, and include a novel technique for assigning a single, most likely habitat in areas where multiple habitats are

DatumVertical coordinate information is referenced to North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88) or Mean High Water (MHW) level.Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the World Geodetic System of 1984 (WGS 1984). Elevation, as used in this report, refers to distance above the vertical datum.