Biodiversity and Connectivity

Conservation Issue

To effectively protect the resources within Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS), managers require information on the sanctuary's biodiversity and the factors contributing to its fluctuations, including both natural events and human activities. Marine ecosystems are intricately interconnected through the dispersal of living organisms and nonliving elements, operating across diverse spatial scales. A comprehensive understanding of ecosystem connectivity and biodiversity within and surrounding the sanctuary is critical for designing and implementing effective management strategies.

Description

Understanding the biodiversity and connectivity of FGBNMS is crucial for sanctuary monitoring and management. Despite their significance, certain sanctuary ecosystems, such as mesophotic reefs and brine seeps, remain insufficiently studied, resulting in critical knowledge gaps that hinder the implementation of management strategies, conservation efforts, and restoration initiatives. To address these challenges, there is an urgent need for comprehensive research to deepen our understanding of biodiversity throughout the entirety of the sanctuary. Such efforts can reveal keystone species and highlight shifts within communities, especially in response to the pressures of climate change.

Additionally, current understanding of connectivity within FGBNMS, as well as its linkages with the broader Gulf of Mexico ecosystem, remains limited. Understanding the physical and biotic connections among the sanctuary's 17 banks and similar natural and artificial ecosystems in the region is vital for understanding and responding to changes in water quality, disease outbreaks, climate change, and localized human activities.

Data and Analysis Needs

1. Baseline assessments of biodiversity at expansion banks and mesophotic and deep reefs using a variety of methods (e.g., scuba surveys, remotely operated vehicle surveys, voucher samples, genetic samples, DNA barcoding, eDNA)
2. Impacts to biodiversity from disturbances such as climate change, disease, increased algal cover, etc.
3. The structure of local food webs
4. The physical and biological mechanisms that drive connectivity within the sanctuary
5. Identification of target taxa and banks for quantifying connectivity in the expanded FGBNMS
6. Life histories, behaviors, and population persistence mechanisms for foundation and keystone species in FGBNMS
7. The effects of invasive lionfish on the diversity and abundance of prey species, and identification of the species that compete with lionfish for prey species (e.g., red night shrimp)
8. The processes that affect settlement dynamics and post-settlement survivorship of coral species
9. The migration and spawning aggregation patterns of pelagic species
10. The biodiversity of cryptobenthic coral reef fishes that make up the base of the food chain
11. Baseline characterizations of host traits (e.g., coral immune responses, gene expression) and microbial symbiont diversity associated with dominant members of the reef benthos
12. The diversity, distribution and abundance of key bioeroders that have the potential to impact the structural integrity of coral reef frameworks as climate change stressors intensify

Potential Products

• Taxonomic guides for species found within FGBNMS boundaries and surrounding areas
• Community science activities and low-cost methods for monitoring species to generate data for scientific research purposes and enhance education and outreach
• Biophysical and population genetic models for connectivity, illustrating the links between the sanctuary and other regions within the Gulf of Mexico, as well as predicted changes in connectivity due to climate change

Supplementary Information

• Condition reports
• Climate vulnerability assessment
• Long-term monitoring reports
• Early alert data dashboard
• Sponge guide
• Cnidarian guide
• Stony coral guide
• Mesophotic species guide

For more information about this assessment, contact flowergarden@noaa.gov.