Graduation Year

2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Ph.D.

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Degree Granting Department

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Major Professor

Mauricio Arias, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Maya Trotz, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Yuichiro Takeshita, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Robert Byrne, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Christine Prouty, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Murphy, Ph.D.

Keywords

Calcification, Florida Reef Tract, Interdisciplinary, Net Ecosystem Metabolism, Production

Abstract

The Florida Reef Tract (FRT) has experienced catastrophic coral cover declines since the 1970s, and active coral restoration is therefore needed to recover ecosystem integrity, preserve intrinsic values, and guarantee the provision of ecosystem services on which humans rely. While the coral restoration field’s ability to grow and outplant coral has improved extensively in the last two decades, this growth has led to the development of research gaps pertaining to restoration monitoring, specifically regarding the technical capacity to perform long term monitoring, spatial and temporal resolution, and metrics with which to quantify changes in ecosystem function resulting from restoration. The following dissertation investigated the research question: how can coral restoration monitoring be evolved technologically, methodologically, and anthropologically to better evaluate progress toward reef restoration goals in the Florida Reef Tract? This dissertation employed a highly interdisciplinary suite of engineering, oceanographic, ecological, biogeochemical, and anthropological research methods to provide insights as to how the restoration monitoring field could be adapted to improve monitoring effectiveness. Chapter Two identified a new reef restoration monitoring metric, net ecosystem metabolism (NEM), and summarizes a literature review of coral reef NEM monitoring methods which could be applied to coral restoration, concluding that the gradient flux method is the most readily applicable to the field. Chapter Three details a proof-of-concept study where an in-situ sensing system utilizing the gradient flux method was used to monitor a simulated reef restoration intervention within a coral nursery. This study concluded that NEM monitoring using in-situ technology could potentially be applied to coral restoration monitoring. In Chapter Four, the studied sensing technology was tested throughout the restoration of two coral reefs in the lower FRT to better understand methodological implications associated with monitoring coral restoration through NEM observations. This study provided first of their kind NEM datasets associated with FRT restoration interventions, and identified several methodological improvements needed to enable broad-scale monitoring method application. Chapter Five describes the results of an ethnographic investigation of coral restoration practitioners, reef scientists, and natural research managers participating in the restoration efforts throughout the FRT. This study identified seven major themes of barriers to coral restoration monitoring which will need to be addressed to advance the field toward more effective and efficient monitoring. While this dissertation’s research question was investigated across three domains, technology, methodology, and culture, the most significant outcomes realized occur at the intersection between them, highlighting how solutions to complex, social-ecological problems require equally multidimensional solutions that comprehensively address all problem facets. The research outcomes of this doctoral work provide an example of how interdisciplinary research can be utilized to address problems arising at the nexus of human and environmental systems and examines how restoration interventions can be improved by centering management actions within the cultural context of involved communities. We hope that outcomes from this research will enable more comprehensive feedback to be collected and incorporated into restoration management decisions, ultimately leading to more effective FRT restoration.

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