The goal of the study is to examine the process of herbivory in Virgin Islands National Park, and to conduct experiments (to be conducted in Brewer's Bay, St. Thomas) on the impacts of nuisance macroalgae on coral recruitment. We will be surveying sites on St. John, both inside and outside of the newly established "no-take" Coral Reef Monument so that changes in trophic structure and herbivory rates resulting from protection from all fishing can be evaluated over time.
Location
U.S. Virgin Islands
Info derived
Percent cover of macrophytes, abundance and size of herbivorous fishes, density of herbivorous sea urchins, estimates of grazing intensity, rugosity of the substratum, percent live coral cover, and percent cover by other invertebrates.
