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Flower Garden Banks- Expanding an MPA for Coral Connectivity in the Gulf of Mexico
Text previously published in: Cannizzo, Z.J., B. Lauche, L. Wenzel. 2021. Advancing marine conservation through ecological connectivity: Building better connections for better protection. Parks Stewardship Forum. doi: https://doi.org/10.5070/P537354731.
Context and challenge
In 1992, NOAA established Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary to protect three shallow banks in the Gulf of Mexico about 80 miles offshore from the Louisiana/Texas border. The banks are small mountains of hard bottom patches created by underlying salt domes—vertical migrations from a thick layer of salt deposited by evaporating seawater over 190 million years ago—and are home to thriving communities of coral reefs and sponges, as well as manta rays and threatened or endangered sea turtles, and are habitat for recreationally and commercially important species. The banks protected by the sanctuary are among dozens scattered throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. These ecological hotspots have been studied for decades to understand their habitat value, connectivity, and vulnerability to oil and gas development, fishing, climate impacts and other activities in the region (Cannizzo, et al. 2021).
Over the past two decades, sanctuary and partner scientists have studied the physical and ecological connectivity of the banks of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. New technology has allowed the creation of high resolution bathymetric maps that show geological features between the more prominent banks. These rocky outcroppings act as stepping stone like connectivity corridors, providing habitat and food for species transiting between banks. Scientists are also studying the role of ecological connectivity among these banks in sustaining coral and fish communities throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including larval dispersal and movement of adults (Cannizzo, et al. 2021).
Approach
Recognizing the importance of ecological connectivity in sustaining marine ecosystems, as well as its influence on impacts and recovery following incidents such as oil spills, the sanctuary’s stakeholder advisory council recommended expanding the sanctuary boundaries in 2007, with ecological connectivity as a criterion for its recommendations. Options for expansion ranged from adding 11 to 57 new banks, to be managed as a network of marine protected areas. In January 2021, the sanctuary was expanded to add 14 additional banks, increasing its area from 56 mi2 to 160 mi2 (figure 1) (Cannizzo, et al. 2021).
Figure 1. Map of Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary before (left) and after (right) expansion in 2021 (NOAA).
Results
Connectivity among Gulf of Mexico MPAs is also being explored at the basin scale. Areas across the Gulf and Caribbean are connected by the Gulf Loop Current, which enters the Gulf of Mexico as a river of warm water through the Yucatan Channel between Cuba and Mexico, and flows northward before turning clockwise along the Florida shelf to the Florida straits. The United States, Mexico, and Cuba have formed a Gulf of Mexico MPA Network (RedGulfo) to work together to protect similar habitats and the species that move among the three countries (Cannizzo, et al. 2021).
Sources
Cannizzo, Z.J., B. Lauche, L. Wenzel. 2021. Advancing marine conservation through ecological connectivity:Building better connections for better protection. Parks Stewardship Forum. doi: https://doi.org/10.5070/P537354731.