Coral reef resilience to climate change in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Summary

Coral reefs are affected by diverse environmental factors, but individual reefs vary in their resilience, or capacity to recover from disturbance. We evaluated 78 sites on multiple islands in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to assess their resilience and determined which could benefit from management actions such as fisheries regulation, pollution reduction, or reef restoration and monitoring. Our results will allow more effective resource management targeted to the needs of specific areas as well as assisting with community education and outreach.

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This research feature was produced by the Pacific Islands Climate Science Center.

Related Publications

J. A. Maynard, S. McKagan L. Raymundo, S. Johnson, G.N. Ahmadia, L. Johnston, P. Houk, G.J. Williams, M. Kendall, S.F. Heron, R. van Hooidonk, E. Mcleod, D. Tracey and S. Planes, 2015 | Assessing relative resilience potential of coral reefs to inform management | Biological Conservation | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2015.09.001

Featured photo:  Steven McKagan, one of a team of researchers and managers assessing reef resilience in CNMI, is shown here assessing fish communities in the Coral Gardens near the island of Rota. Photo courtesy of J. Maynard.