Reefcheck

Reef Check is an artificial word made up of the English terms reef (German: coral reef) and check (German: verification). The name denotes Reef Check

1. a standard marine biological method for assessing the degree of intactness of tropical coral reefs .
2. the world's largest international program for monitoring coral reefs, which is based on the method mentioned under (1).
3. the collection of data using the Reef Check method on one or more reefs of a stretch of coast (campaign).

Reef Check Method

The Reef Check method can be used to determine the degree of damage to tropical coral reefs caused by marine pollution, overfishing , dynamite fishing , cyanide fishing , aquarium fishing and global changes (including climate change , marine acidification ).

Coral reefs represent a coherent ecosystem , which consists of the corals themselves, as well as the fish and invertebrates (invertebrates) that live on and in the reefs, as well as the environmental medium water . By comparing the frequency of selected reef-dwelling animal species (indicator species) with that of intact coral reefs, the degree of intactness of a reef section is quantified.

Each of these animal species serves as a bio-indicator for one or more causes of damage (see table). In order to take into account the regionally different distribution of the indicator types, there is a separate combination of indicator types for the Indo-Pacific , Atlantic / Caribbean , Arabian Sea , Red Sea and Hawaii .

Indicator species of the Red Sea

	Causes of damage
Indicator type	overfishing	Explosives fishing	Poison fishing	Aquarium fishing	pollution	Souvenir trade
Groupers	X	X	X
Sweet lips		X
Butterfly fish		X		X	X
Broomtail Bream		X		X	X
Napoleon wrasse		X	X
Parrot fish	X	X	X
Snapper	X	X
Moray eels	X	X
Scissor prawns		X		X
Lobster	X	X
Diadem sea urchin		X			X
Stylus sea urchin		X			X	X
Bischofsmützensee urchin		X		X
Crown of thorns starfish		X			X
Sea rollers	X	X
Giant clams	X	X				X
Conch	X	X		X		X

The counts are made in two depth ranges, between 3 and 6 meters and 10 and 12 meters (at low tide). For this purpose, four 20-meter-long and 5-meter-wide transects (sections) are laid out in each depth area by deploying a transect line (marking line). The distance between two neighboring transects is 5 meters.

The density and condition of the coral growth is measured by dividing the substrate in the transects into one of 9 defined groups: hard corals , soft corals , recently dead corals, sponges , algae , rocks , scree , sand , silt . The individual determinations are carried out at a distance of 50 centimeters along the transect line.

Exact information from the collected data can only be obtained after statistical evaluation, which also allows the quality of the data sets to be assessed.

Reef check organization

In 1997, the establishment of the Reef Check organization was started in order to coordinate the worldwide Reef Checks. In 1999 it was registered as a non-profit, non-profit organization in Hong Kong. From mid-2000, the Reef Check Foundation was based at the Environmental Institute of the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles (USA). Since November 2004, Reef Check has been an independent non-profit organization based in Pacific Palisades, California. All data collected for Reef Check is evaluated there and archived for further scientific studies. In addition, 12 permanent coordination offices opened worldwide. From 1997 to 2002, 1,500 reefs, around 300 per year, were checked using the Reef Check method. The data collected from over 5,000 scientists and volunteers were evaluated and published.

Reef Check Germany works closely with the international Reef Check Foundation, but does not receive any funds or benefits in kind. Reef Check Germany currently focuses on the Red Sea, Burma / Thailand and the Maldives. In 2001 the non-profit organization Reef Check e. V. founded in order to be able to better coordinate the activities and to enable support by individuals and companies. In addition to working with recreational divers (offering RC courses in Germany or offering voluntary participation on vacation), expert reports are also carried out and marine protected areas are supported in creating / improving their monitoring concepts. For this purpose, specialists (national park rangers etc.) are trained in the appropriate methods.

The main tasks of Reef Check include in particular:

• educating the public about the acute threat to coral reefs
• the establishment of a global network of volunteers who regularly examine the reefs using the Reef Check method
• the scientific study of the coral reef ecosystem
• promoting cooperation between academic bodies, non-governmental organizations, government administrations and the private sector to protect and preserve coral reefs
• supporting development aid projects for the sustainable management of the seas

Reef Check's work is mainly financed through donations in cash and in kind, with the majority of donations so far coming from private donors and from the diving and surfing industries.

Reef Check development history

The development of the Reef Check method began in 1993. The starting point was the scientific colloquium “Global Aspects of Coral Reefs” held by Prof. Ginsburg from the University of Miami (Florida, USA). The participating marine researchers found that insufficient data was available to assess the state of the world's coral reefs. In the subsequent discussion about the causes of the lack of data, it became clear that the previously known investigation methods were not suitable for investigating reef damage on a global basis and on a regular basis. This was because the methods were either too region-specific and therefore not applicable everywhere, or too complex, so that an entire team of scientists was required to study just a single reef. In order to bundle the existing efforts to involve a larger number of volunteers and to bring them to a breakthrough, a group of marine scientists chaired by Prof. Ginsburg announced the year 1997 as the International Year of the Reef (IYOR). The first reef checks took place in the same year, including in the Red Sea off Safaga , Egypt .

As a result of the IYOR initiative, the Dr. Gregor Hodgson Reef Check Method published in 1998. Their most important features are their universal applicability to all tropical coral reefs worldwide and their ease of implementation. Volunteers can learn how to use the method in a one-day training course, so only one marine scientist is required to examine a reef. In addition to the scuba diving equipment, the only technical aids required are marking lines and underwater writing boards.

Reef Check Campaign

In order to follow the development of tropical coral reefs, representative reef sections from around the world must be examined at least once a year using the Reef Check method. As a purely donation-financed initiative, Reef Check can only do this with the support of volunteers, such as:

• Local recreational diving bases that provide training rooms and diving equipment and organize transport to the reefs to be examined
• Companies whose commercial activity pollutes the reefs and commission Reef Check to investigate the effects
• Neighboring residents, such as fishermen, who are themselves affected by the consequences of the overfishing they have caused, and who control the success of protection zones and catch limits
• Scuba divers and snorkelers who take part in reef checks for a few days during their holiday stay.

Web links

• Reef Check International
• Reef Check Europe / Reef Check eV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ G. Hodgson, J. Hill, W. Kiene, L. Maun, J. Mihaly, J. Liebeler, C. Shuman, R. Torres: Reef Check Instruction Manual: A Guide to Reef Check Coral Reef Monitoring . Reef Check Foundation, Pacific Palisades, California, USA, 2006, ISBN 0-9723051-1-4 , ( reefcheck.net ( memento of the original from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked . Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. PDF) 
2. ↑ G. Hodgson, J. Liebeler: The Global Coral Reef Crisis: Trends and Solutions . Reef Check Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, USA, 2002, ISBN 0-9723051-0-6 , ( summary and downloads (multilingual) ( memento of the original from February 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this note. as PDF). 
3. ↑ reefcheck.de
4. ^ UNESCO: Comparing Coral Reef Survey Methods . In: UNESCO (Ed.): UNESCO Reports in Marine Science . UNESCO, Paris, 1984, volume 21
5. ↑ SM Wells: Reef Assessment and Monitoring Using Volunteers and Non-Professionals , Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA, 1995
6. ↑ G. Hodgson, CM Stepath: Using Reef Check for long-term coral reef monitoring in Hawaii . In: JE Maragos, R. Grober-Dunsmore (Eds.): Proceedings of the Hawaii Coral Reef Monitoring Workshop, June 8-11, 1998 . Department of Land and Natural Resources and East-West Center for Development, Honolulu, HI, USA, 1999, ISBN 0-86638-191-0 , pp. 173-184