You are here: Home › Stressors › Resource & Land Use › Puerto Rico / Vieques Cruise 2006 Mission Web Page

Puerto Rico / Vieques Cruise 2006 Mission Web Page

The Scientific Party

NOAA, Center for Coastal Fisheries & Habitat Research
NOAA research Ship RV Nancy Foster

NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER
  • Jud Kenworthy
    (Chief Scientist)
  • John Burke
    (Research Fisheries Biologist)
  • Amy V. Uhrin
    (Research Ecologist)
  • Brian Degan
    (Biological Science Technician)
  • John Hackney (Research Technician)
  • Abigail Poray (Research Technician)
  • Guiseppe DiCarlo (Post-Doctoral Researcher)

NOAA, Damage Assessment Center

  • Kevin Kirsch
  • Sean Meehan

NOAA, NMFS

  • Michael Judge

Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission

  • Manuel Merello
  • Jennifer Kunzelman
  • Marc Julian
  • Kevin Madley

University of North Carolina, Wilmington

  • Brooke Landry

This 10-day research cruise aboard NOAA Ship NANCY FOSTER represents a continuation of work initiated in 2004 in the nearshore waters off the coast of southeastern Puerto Rico and Isla Vieques.

April 5-15, 2006

MISSION:

Puerto Rico Cruise Location Map

Recovery and conservation of seagrass meadows, associated fish communities, and the endangered Antillean manatee are important NOAA stewardship missions in southeastern Puerto Rico and Isla Vieques. Our work is critical to the development of forecasting models for predicting seagrass response to natural and anthropogenic stresses and to assess alternative management strategies.

Our objectives for this mission include:

  • Repeat field surveys of existing seagrass injury and disturbance sites resulting from Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Georges (1998).
  • Evaluate the effects of physical disturbance on seagrass communities, including species composition and rates of recovery.
  • Conduct field surveys of fish populations across habitat gradients extending from the mangrove fringe out to seagrass beds and coral reefs;
  • Characterize benthic habitats utilized by Antillean Manatees.
mangrove-seagrass interface
Seagrass among the mangroves
  • Data from these studies will enable us to calibrate our existing tropical seagrass recovery model over a significantly longer time period.
  • We will gain a better understanding of how to distinguish between the effects of natural and human induced disturbances in tropical seagrass communities.
  • These improved models will significantly enhance the capabilities of resource managers and economists to assess damages and develop restoration plans for disturbed seagrass communities.
  • Comparative analysis of our fish data with similar surveys conducted in southwestern Puerto Rico will significantly improve our understanding of the complex connections and interactions between adjacent coastal ecosystems and the ecological services they provide.