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: January 20, 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: January 20, 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: January 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: January 4, 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: December 31, 2020Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Tutuila
As part of the USGS Coral Reef Project, the USGS is working on Tutuila with its partners: 1.) in Faga’alu Bay to better understand the impacts of land-based pollutants on the coral reefs, and 2.) on the north coast to help determine the effects of circulation on nearshore waters.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: October 22, 2020Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Kwajalein Island
The USGS is working to provide a better understanding of how spatially-varying atoll morphology and coral cover interact with changes in water level to affect the propagation of waves of different heights and wavelengths across atoll reefs.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: October 22, 2020Status: ActiveCoral Reef Project: Roi-Namur Island
The USGS is working to provide a better understanding of how spatially-varying atoll morphology and coral cover interact with changes in water level to affect the propagation of waves of different heights and wavelengths across atoll reefs.
Contacts: Curt Storlazzi, PhDAttribution: Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center -
Date published: September 9, 2020Status: ActiveHydrogeology and Reef Health
We are conducting geophysical and geochemical research to address questions about coastal groundwater-to-reef flow and coral reef health, with the goal of informing management decisions related to planning and implementing activities in priority watershed-coral reef systems.
Contacts: Ferdinand Oberle -
Date published: September 9, 2020Status: 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: September 18, 2019Status: 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
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, 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.