Water: Habitat Protection
Charting a Course Toward Diagnostic Monitoring:
A Continuing Review of Coral Reef Attributes and a Research Strategy for Creating Coral Reef Indexes of Biotic Integrity
This report reviews coral reef attributes for a research strategy to create coral reef indexes of biotic integrity (IBIs). Once developed, these indices can be used in coral reef biocriteria programs for diagnostic monitoring of coral reefs around the world.
The research strategy has 6 components; sessile epibenthos, benthic macroinvertebrates, fish, macrophytes, phytoplankton and zooplankton. It draws on techniques that have been successful in freshwater, estuarine, and temperate marine biocriteria programs and outlines those that will likely be successful in coral reef environments.