Derelict Fishing Gear in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Diving Surveys and Debris Removal in 1999 Confirm Threat to Coral Reef Ecosystems

Donohue, Mary J.; Boland, Raymond C.; Sramek, Carolyn M; Antonelis, George A.

doi:10.1016/s0025-326x(01)00139-4

Cited by 200 publications

(96 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Marine debris is a persistent problem in the NWHI, as it accumulates in the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (STCZ) and is transported southward towards the NWHI by the seasonal migration of the STCZ and by prevailing wind and wave regimes (Pichel et al, 2007). Factors such as shallow water depth, high-relief reef structure, and low exposure to significant wave height within the sheltered lagoons enhance the potential of marine debris to settle on reefs in the NWHI, where mechanical damage ensues to benthic communities including corals (Donohue et al, 2001). Based on known accumulation rates calculated from areas where debris was prone to collect at two NWHI reef systems, Dameron et al (2007) developed a "net habitat prediction model" to estimate future annual accumulation at reef systems with similar physical features conducive to debris deposition.…”

Section: Health Status Of Maro Reef Coral Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Maro Reef in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands: A unique open atoll

Kenyon¹,

Wilkinson²,

Aeby³

2008

Atoll Research Bulletin

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Percent cover of shallow-water (< 20m) scleractinian corals at Maro Reef, an open atoll with no perimeter reef in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI), was quantified from analysis of imagery recorded along more than 81 km of benthic habitat by towed divers and at 18 sites surveyed with video transects and photoquadrats. Colony densities and size class distributions were determined from censuses within belt transects at the same sites. All three methods showed statistically significant differences in total coral cover and relative abundance of coral genera among four geographic sectors characterized by different exposure to prevailing wave regimes. Massive and encrusting growth forms of Porites dominated coral cover and density throughout all sectors, with Montipora the next most dominant genus. Patterns of highest coral cover differed from that of most other classic and open atolls in the NWHI. Populations of Pocillopora, though contributing little to percent cover, attained the largest colony sizes of any reef system in the NWHI surveyed with similar methods. Numerous indicators, including coral percent cover, recovery from bleaching, low coral disease prevalence, rarity of crown-of-thorns seastars, and high larval recruitment rates suggest healthy coral communities at Maro Reef, although the predicted accumulation of marine debris from outside sources remains problematic. These data enable the most comprehensive quantitative description of coral communities at Maro Reef produced to date and are a valuable baseline for assessing change.

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Section: Health Status Of Maro Reef Coral Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Maro Reef in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands: A unique open atoll

Kenyon¹,

Wilkinson²,

Aeby³

2008

Atoll Research Bulletin

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“…Derelict fishing gear causes substantial damage to reefs throughout the NWHI (Donohue et al, 2001). Debris originating from North Pacific fisheries may accumulate in the region of the NWHI because of their location in a convergence zone associated with the North Pacific subtropical high (Kubota 1994, Brainard et al, 2000.…”

Section: Unique Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Driven over northeast-facing reefs in the NWHI by prevailing winds, the debris begins a cycle of destruction, snagging on reefs, breaking off coral through wind-driven water motion, snagging and damaging additional coral, and so on. Most reef-hung derelict fishing gear occurs in shallow (< 10 m) water (Donohue et al, 2001). Based on quantified removal efforts at PHA and Lisianski (Fig.…”

Section: Unique Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: unique conservation challenges within the Hawaiian archipelago

Kenyon¹,

Dunlap²,

Wilkinson³

et al. 2007

Atoll Research Bulletin

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The distribution and abundance of scleractinian corals at Pearl and Hermes Atoll (PHA), Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, were determined by georeferenced towed-diver surveys that covered more than 85,000 m of benthic habitat and site-specific surveys at 34 sites during 000 -00. Three complementary methods (towed-diver surveys, videotransects, and photoquadrats) were used to quantify percent cover of corals by genus or species in the fore reef, back reef, lagoon, and channel habitats. Three genera -Porites, Montipora, and Pocillopora-account for 97% of the coral cover throughout the atoll, though their relative abundances vary considerably according to habitat and geographic sector within habitats. Fore-reef communities are dominated by massive and encrusting Porites, while the back reef is dominated by Montipora and the lagoon by Porites compressa. All taxa show habitat-specific differences in colony density and size-class distributions as assessed through colony counts within belt transects at fixed sites. These demographic data, which provide the most thorough quantitative description of the coral communities at PHA to date, are used to focus a discussion on risks of reef degradation from salient contemporary hazards, including bleaching, disease, marine debris, and Acanthaster predation. Coral communities at PHA may be the most vulnerable in the Hawaiian Archipelago to bleaching and accumulation of marine debris, thus warranting special management attention. These data also provide a detailed baseline to which population parameters determined from long-term monitoring surveys can be compared to assess the direction, pace, and drivers of change.

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“…Objects ranging from household and industrial containers, packaging material, medical wastes and discarded fishing line all qualify as marine debris. The main types of marine litter impacts include potential health risks to inhabitants of coastal areas, economic losses to fisheries and tourism (NASH, 1992;WILLIAMS et al, 1993), substantial damage to coral reefs (DONOHUE et al, 2001;CHIAPPONE et al, 2005) and reduced fitness and increased mortality to vertebrate pelagic wildlife through entanglement and intestinal tract blockage when ingested (LAIST, 1997). Special attention is also required to the potential threat posed by the dispersal of alien species encrusted or attached on freely drifting debris in receiving environments (WINSTON et al, 1997;BARNES, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Subtidal littering: Indirect effects on soft substratum macrofauna?

et al. 2008

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Changes in macrofauna community structure, abundance and species richness were examined both before and one year after the deployment of plastic and glass bottles at littered (litter density: 16 items / 100 m2) and non-littered (control) surfaces at three unimpacted coastal areas of the western Saronikos Gulf (Greece). In parallel, LOI% at the adjacent sediments and changes in the composition of feeding types of the megaepifauna that colonized the litter were examined across treatments. Significant changes in macrofauna community structure were demonstrated between before and after littering. At only one of the sites was there detected a significant difference in macrofauna community structure between control and littered plots after littering. This difference was linked with a significant increase in the abundance of opportunistic polychaete species and LOI% levels in the sediment surface due to the entrapment of macrophytal debris within the littered surface. The study did not show a consistent direct response of macroinfauna community to litter and the associated megafauna. Unlike the megafauna attracted by litter items, soft-substratum macrofauna is less responsive to the addition of novel hard substrates in adjacent sediments. Alternatively, it could be that the impact of littering with small items triggers a macrofauna response detectable in the long-run.

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Derelict Fishing Gear in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Diving Surveys and Debris Removal in 1999 Confirm Threat to Coral Reef Ecosystems

Cited by 200 publications

References 12 publications

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Maro Reef in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands: A unique open atoll

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Maro Reef in the northwestern Hawaiian Islands: A unique open atoll

Community structure of hermatypic corals at Pearl and Hermes Atoll, Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: unique conservation challenges within the Hawaiian archipelago

Subtidal littering: Indirect effects on soft substratum macrofauna?

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