Marine Zone Monitoring Publications

Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary uses a strategy called “marine zoning” to protect special habitats, to avoid conflict by user groups such as divers and anglers, and to balance commercial and recreational interests with the need for a healthy ecosystem.

Since the sanctuary’s marine zones were established in 1997, researchers have been studying the coral reefs and marine life inside the highly protected areas and comparing them to reference sites outside the zones. These studies provide sanctuary managers with insight into the health of the ecosystem as well as effectiveness of the sanctuary’s marine zones. 



Sanctuary Science Report 2002 - 2003: An Ecosystem Report Card After Five Years of Marine Zoning
This report examines the health of the entire sanctuary five years after its marine zone system was created. It incorporates the results of the sanctuary’s Marine Zone Monitoring Program with the monitoring projects of the Water Quality Protection Program and other research projects to provide an overview of the health of the whole sanctuary ecosystem.

Sanctuary Science Report 2001: An Ecosystem Report Card (pdf, 6.0 Mb)
This report examines the health of sanctuary resources four years after its marine zones were established.

Sanctuary Monitoring Report 2000 (pdf, 3.4 Mb)
This report examines the health of sanctuary resources three years after its marine zones were established.

Sanctuary Zone Performance Report 1999 (pdf, 533 kb)
This report examines the health of sanctuary resources two years after its marine zones were established.

Sanctuary Zone Performance Report 1998 (pdf, 280 kb)
This report examines the health of sanctuary resources one year after its marine zones were established.