Brazilian National Coral Reef Monitoring Program: Status And

Perspectives.
Beatrice FERREIRA*1, Mauro MAIDA1, Ana Lidia GASPAR2,
Caroline FEITOSA1, Sergio REZENDE1, Eduardo MACEDO1, Fabio
NEGRAO3, Ana Paula PRATES4, Clóvis CASTRO5, Débora PIRES5,
Andreza PACHECO1, Iara SOMMER6, Liana MENDES7, Joao Marcello
CAMARGO2
1
Oceanography Department, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife,
Brazil, 2Instituto Recifes Costeiros, Tamandare, Brazil, 3Instituto Recifes
Costeiros, Caravelas, Brazil, 4NZCM, Ministry of Environment,
Brazilia, Brazil, 5UFRJ, Tamandare, Brazil, 6APA Guadalupe,
Tamandare, Brazil, 7UFRN, Natal, Brazil

The coral reefs of Brazil represent the only coral reefs in the south
Atlantic and include a large proportion of endemic species. Since 2002
the Ministry of Environment is funding an initiative to monitor Brazilian
coral reefs using a methodology compatible with the global protocol
Reef Check. Between 2002 and 2007, surveys were conducted in eight
representative regions of Brazilian reefs, between latitudes 3° and 18°S,
including reefs inside protected areas of both full protection (4) and
sustainable use (5) categories as well as areas of general use (2) or
protected areas with no enforcement (1). Those included coastal reefs,
shelf reefs and reefs in oceanic waters. Analysis of data indicated that
fishery indicators at all trophic levels are significantly more abundant on
fully protected areas (no fishing). Sustainable use areas were no
different of general use or protected areas without enforcement, except
those that include special no take zones. Fishing has moved down the
food chain and impacts are no longer restricted to large predatory groups
(serranids, lutjanids and sharks) with larger scale fisheries now also
directed to herbivorous fishes (scarids and acanthurids) as well as
Haemulids. Within each region, abundance of indicators was related to
fishing pressure directed over the specific resource. Higher hard coral
cover was inversely related to land based pressures, mostly
sedimentation, regardless of coral diversity or species composition. Low
proportion large scale bleaching, across 2000 kms, was detected twice,
in 2003 and 2005, with low effect on the apparently resilient Brazilian
coral reef fauna. Conservation and recovery of Brazilian coral reefs
depend on effective fishing regulation as well as protected areas
establishment/ enforcement, but, in the case of the extensive coastal reef
formations, also on coastal and riparian recovery and protection.