Coral Reef Project: Lānaʻi
Science Center Objects
Little is actually known about the overall extent, biodiversity, morphology, or health of Lānaʻi’s reef tracks. As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS collected high-resolution swath bathymetry data and underwater video and photography in early 2013 in order to develop high-resolution seafloor habitat and reef morphology maps of the coral reef systems off of eastern Lānaʻi.
US Geological Survey and NASA satellite image of the Hawaiian island of Lānaʻi, from LANDSAT 8 and ASTER satellite imagery.
Overview
Lānaʻi is located 15 km (9 mi) south of Molokaʻi and 15 km southwest of Maui. Also known as the Pineapple Isle, it encompasses 363 sq km (140 sq mi), making it the sixth largest in the Hawaiian Islands chain. While a fringing reef surrounds the island, much of the live coral growth can only be found on the north and east coasts where the reef is protected from waves by the surrounding islands. Reef growth is limited on the south and west coasts due to wave impacts from summer south swell.
Numerous, high coral-cover reef tracts are known to exist off the island of Lānaʻi and are a popular destination for scuba divers. NOAA mapped one of the most extensive reef tracts off the eastern side of the island, but little is actually known about its overall extent, biodiversity, morphology, or health. The USGS collected high-resolution swath bathymetry data and underwater video and photography in early 2013 in order to develop high-resolution seafloor habitat and reef morphology maps of the coral reef systems off of eastern Lānaʻi.
Coral Reef Project
Explore the fascinating undersea world of coral reefs. Learn how we map, monitor, and model coral reefs so we can better understand, protect, and preserve our Nation's reefs.
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Date published: June 25, 2021Status: ActiveReef Hydrodynamics and Sediment Processes
The overall objective of this research effort is to better understand how circulation and sediment processes impact coral reefs and their adjacent coastlines.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhD -
Date published: June 10, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Maui
As part of USGS Coral Reef Project studies, the USGS has been heavily involved in efforts to improve the health and resilience of Maui's coral reef system, bringing expertise in mapping, circulation and sediment studies, and seismic surveys.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: June 9, 2021Status: ActiveClimate Change and Land-use Histories
We are developing new and unique oceanographic and environmental archives from coral skeleton records to better understand the compounding effects of land-use and environmental change on coral reef health.
Contacts: Nancy Prouty -
Date published: May 28, 2021Status: ActiveReef Resource Assessments - Planning for the Future
We are mapping and assessing all of the important geologic and oceanographic factors to identify those coral reefs most at risk and those reefs that are potentially the most resilient and the most likely to recover from natural and human-driven impacts.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhD -
Date published: May 24, 2021Status: ActiveRole of Reefs in Coastal Protection
We are combining ocean, engineering, ecologic, social, and economic modeling to provide a high-resolution, rigorous, spatially-explicit valuation of the coastal flood protection benefits provided by coral reefs and the cost effectiveness of reef restoration for enhancing those benefits.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhD -
Date published: April 15, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Oʻahu
As part of the Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working closely with other local groups to investigate poor water quality issues in Maunalua Bay on the southeast coast of Oʻahu.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 15, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Hawaiʻi
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working on the Kona (west) coast of Hawaiʻi to evaluate geologic resources at two historical parks.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 15, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Kauaʻi
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working on the island of Kauaʻi to identify circulation patterns and a sediment budget for Hanalei Bay to help determine any effects to the coastal marine ecosystem.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 15, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Guam
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working on the west coast of Guam to help determine the effects of sedimentation in nearshore waters.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: April 15, 2021Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Kahoʻolawe
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS is trying to better understand how nearshore processes impact the deeper, scattered coral reef communities of Kahoʻolawe.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
The value of US coral reefs for flood risk reduction
Habitats, such as coral reefs, can mitigate increasing flood damages through coastal protection services. We provide a fine-scale, national valuation of the flood risk reduction benefits of coral habitats to people, property, economies and infrastructure. Across 3,100 km of US coastline, the top-most 1 m of coral reefs prevents the 100-yr flood...
Reguero, Borja G.; Storlazzi, Curt; Gibbs, Ann E.; Shope, James B.; Cole, Aaron D.; Cumming, Kristen A.; Beck, Mike
The major coral reefs of Maui Nui, Hawai‘i—distribution, physical characteristics, oceanographic controls, and environmental threats
Coral reefs are widely recognized as critical to Hawaiʻi’s economy, food resources, and protection from damaging storm waves. Yet overfishing, land-based pollution, and climate change are threatening the health and sustainability of those reefs, and accordingly, both the Federal and State governments have called for protection and effective...
Field, Michael E.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Gibbs, Ann E.; D'Antonio, Nicole L.; Cochran, Susan A.
Rigorously valuing the role of U.S. coral reefs in coastal hazard risk reduction
The degradation of coastal habitats, particularly coral reefs, raises risks by increasing the exposure of coastal communities to flooding hazards. The protective services of these natural defenses are not assessed in the same rigorous economic terms as artificial defenses, such as seawalls, and therefore often are not considered in decision making...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; Reguero, Borja G.; Cole, Aaron D.; Lowe, Erik; Shope, James B.; Gibbs, Ann E.; Nickel, Barry A.; McCall, Robert T.; van Dongeren, Ap R.; Beck, Michael W. Modeling fine-scale coral larval dispersal and interisland connectivity to help designate mutually-supporting coral reef marine protected areas: Insights from Maui Nui, Hawaii
Connectivity among individual marine protected areas (MPAs) is one of the most important considerations in the design of integrated MPA networks. To provide such information for managers in Hawaii, USA, a numerical circulation model was developed to determine the role of ocean currents in transporting coral larvae from natal reefs throughout the...
Storlazzi, Curt D.; van Ormondt, Maarten; Chen, Yi-Leng; Elias, Edwin P. L. The effectiveness of coral reefs for coastal hazard risk reduction and adaptation
The world’s coastal zones are experiencing rapid development and an increase in storms and flooding. These hazards put coastal communities at heightened risk, which may increase with habitat loss. Here we analyse globally the role and cost effectiveness of coral reefs in risk reduction. Meta-analyses reveal that coral reefs provide substantial...
Ferrario, Filippo; Beck, Michael W.; Storlazzi, Curt D.; Micheli, Fiorenza; Shepard, Christine C.; Airoldi, Laura
From ridge to reef—linking erosion and changing watersheds to impacts on the coral reef ecosystems of Hawai‘i and the Pacific Ocean
Coral reef ecosystems are threatened by unprecedented watershed changes in the United States and worldwide. These ecosystems sustain fishing and tourism industries essential to the economic survival of many communities. Sediment, nutrients, and pollutants from watersheds are increasingly transported to coastal waters, where these contaminants...
Stock, Jonathan D.; Cochran, Susan A.; Field, Michael E.; Jacobi, James D.; Tribble, Gordon The use (and misuse) of sediment traps in coral reef environments: Theory, observations, and suggested protocols
Sediment traps are commonly used as standard tools for monitoring “sedimentation” in coral reef environments. In much of the literature where sediment traps were used to measure the effects of “sedimentation” on corals, it is clear from deployment descriptions and interpretations of the resulting data that information derived from sediment traps...
Storlazzi, C. D.; Field, M.E.; Bothner, Michael H.
Science-Based Strategies for Sustaining Coral Ecosystems
Coral ecosystems and their natural capital are at risk. Greenhouse gas emissions, overfishing, and harmful land-use practices are damaging our coral reefs. Overwhelming scientific evidence indicates that the threats are serious, and if they are left unchecked, the ecological and social consequences will be significant and widespread. Although the...
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Date published: January 1, 2019Dynamically downscaled future wave projections from SWAN model results for the main Hawaiian Islands
Projected wave climate trends from WAVEWATCH3 model output were used as input for nearshore wave models (for example, SWAN) for the main Hawaiian Islands to derive data and statistical measures (mean and top 5 percent values) of wave height, wave period, and wave direction for the recent past (1996-2005) and future projections (2026-2045 and 2085-2100).
Three-hourly global -
Date published: January 1, 2019Projected flooding extents and depths based on 10-, 50-, 100-, and 500-year wave-energy return periods, with and without coral reefs, for the States of Hawaii and Florida, the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands,
This data release provides flooding extent polygons (flood masks) and depth values (flood points) based on wave-driven total water levels for 22 locations within the States of Hawaii and Florida, the Territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. For each of the 22 locations there are eight ass
Attribution: Natural Hazards, Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program, Region 2: South Atlantic-Gulf (Includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Region 12: Pacific Islands (American Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: January 1, 2016Physics-based numerical circulation model outputs of ocean surface circulation during the 2010-2013 summer coral-spawning seasons in Maui Nui, Hawaii, USA
Ocean surface current results from a physics-based, 3-dimensional coupled ocean-atmosphere numerical model were generated to understand coral larval dispersal patterns in Maui Nui, Hawaii, USA. The model was used to simulate coral larval dispersal patterns from a number of existing State-managed reefs and large tracks of reefs with high coral coverage that might be good candidates for marin...
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Date published: July 1, 2019Maui-area coral reefs described in detail, including threats
A new USGS Open-File Report describes the coral reefs of Maui, Moloka‘i, Lānaʻi, and Kahoʻolawe in detail, including location, extent, coral cover, and connectivity.