Nursery Maintenance and Monitoring continued Survival/mortality Growth Bleaching If you missed the mortality event, you cannot say what caused it, only that they are dead. Total Linear Extension (TLE) measures every branch on staghorn. For elkhorn and other cookies, use AGRRA methods: (maximum diameter, perpendicular to that, and height). Bleaching will rarely affect single corals/replicates and it has an uneven edge. Use AGRRA: codes P (pale), PB (partially bleached), WH (whole bleached). Disease: White Band (WB) Disease: Rapid Tissue Loss (RTL) Disease: Vectors? WB has a sharp line of mortality (compare to bleaching) and can affect single or few reps only.
It has been proven that coral- eating snails can transfer disease (vectors); ongoing studies look at butterfly fish, damselfish and fire worms for their potential to spread disease. RTL also has an uneven edge, but unlike bleaching, you can see the tissue sloughing off. Biodiversity: macro-fauna Biodiversity: invertebrates U/W Temperature (loggers)* Multiple species of fish, rays, sharks and even turtles have been seen on, in and under the tables and domes. Document these! Many critters recruit to the corals, and the structures! Crabs, worms, sponges, gorgonians, even other stony coral species. Try to document this! We use model U22-001. You can purchase a protective sleeve or use ziplocks.
You must also have shuttle to upload data. Set for every hour, upload every year. *http://www.onsetcomp.com/products/data-loggers/u22-001 12