Structural Indicator Ranking Results
Healthy Reefs for Healthy People
Indicator	Overall Indicator Ranking				Caveats / Limitations	Data gaps	Comments
	Ecological relevance	Feasibility	Limitations	Responsiveness
Total coral taxon eveness and Total fish evenness	High	High	High	Moderate	evenness might not be sensitive to species replacement		Could use a standard species list - measure evenness of that list
Abundance of focal species (manatees, hawksbill turtles, whale sharks, Goliath grouper, sawfish)	Moderate	Moderate	Moderate	High		Promote shark research in region
% Benthic cover	High	High	Moderate	Moderate	targets ratios should be considered over large spatial scales, varies by habitat type, and avoiding sand areas
Rugosity (see AGRRA database)	High	High	High	Moderate
Aerial extent of coral reefs	High	Moderate	Moderate	Low	low responsiveness – reef extent doesn’t change much if coral dies.  Need uniform classification scheme	Need better resolution of coral vs. algae and of different reef types	Some data available (30m resolution).           Could use LIDAR from USGS (John Brock)     Frequency: once for basis of monitoring scheme, then every 5 yrs or after a big event (hurricane)
Aerial extent of mangroves	High	High	High	High	depends on depth and water clarity		- Corridors should be considered  - Can’t just treat all the same
Aerial extent of seagrass	High	Moderate	Moderate	High		trawling damage data needed	Quick negative response with pollution.         Patch sizes should be considered (edge effects & corridors)
Seagrass density	High	High	Low	Moderate	Gap in understanding
This file is a working draft from the Healthy Reefs workshop, Miami, June 2004.							© Healthy Reefs for Healthy People