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The USGS conducts science in National Parks to help guide the stewardship of our Nation’s important natural resources. Coral reefs are critical natural infrastructure that protect shorelines, support endangered species, and provide habitat for economically important fisheries and tourism. Reefs are under threat from climate change and diseases, and several coral species are now listed as threatened, including the arguably most important habitat-forming species, the elkhorn coral.

Ilsa Kuffner, Anesti Stathakopoulos, BJ Reynolds, and Erin Lyons will be traveling to work in Dry Tortugas National Park for two weeks in May. Since 2009, the USGS has been conducting experimental coral growth studies throughout Florida and the U.S. Caribbean. For the elkhorn coral experiment beginning this month, the team will gather data to test hypotheses about why corals grow so well in the Dry Tortugas compared to elsewhere on the Florida’s coral reef. With funding from the USGS-NPS Water Quality Partnership program, they will deploy instruments that measure water temperature, oxygen levels, and salinity in order to better understand the oceanography at one of America’s most unique and isolated National Parks.