Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Habitat Mapping and Characterization of Coral Reefs of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea Final Report Part II 2006-2009 Ras Qisbah, Al Wajh, Yanbu, Farasan Banks and Farasan Islands.
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation implemented four research missions in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea from 2006-2009 using the M/Y Golden Shadow as a research platform. The research was undertaken to improve the understanding of the spatial distribution, size and condition of shallow marine habitats, and to identify options to enhance the conservation and management of Saudi Arabian coral reef ecosystems. The research focused on three priorities:
1) characterization and mapping of shallow marine habitats off the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coastline;
2) assessment of the composition, population structure, cover and health of key reef species, including stony corals and soft corals, algae, and fishes; and 3) characterization of past impacts, patterns of recovery, ongoing stressors, and resilience indicators.
Products generated by this research include the Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation Atlas of Shallow Marine Habitat in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, a hardcover book containing the habitat maps and digital copies of the maps in HTML format; a Geographic Information System (GIS) database containing the satellite imagery, bathymetric maps, habitat maps and additional data layers including coral reef data, photographs, and videos; the Coral Reef Conservation in the Red Sea Symposium, held in January 2012 in Jeddah; a movie on the Farasan Islands; numerous scientific presentations and publications; three Ph.D. theses; and an upcoming hardcover book on coral reefs in the Red Sea entitled “Conservation of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the Saudi Arabian Red Sea”.
QuickBird multispectral satellite imagery (DigitalGlobe Inc.) was acquired for 25,000 km2 of coastal and offshore marine habitats in the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, from the shoreline to depths of 20-30 m, extending up to 100 km offshore. Satellite imagery was supplemented with hyperspectral imagery in the Farasan Islands (3200 km2) and Al Wajh lagoon (approximately 2000 km2). Groundtruthing efforts used to classify habitats covered 19,754 sq km, with 2,711,893 depth soundings, 3530 groundtruth points and 14.7 hours of video footage. The resulting habitat maps subdivide shallow marine areas into 12-15 distinct marine habitat types, to depths of 20-30 m, including specific reef environments, grassbeds, mangroves, algal flats, and sand-bottom communities. Detailed SCUBA assessments, including photo-transects, quantitative belt transects to characterize coral population structure, recruitment, mortality and health and fish diversity, abundance and biomass, and assessments of over 50 biological, ecological, and physical resilience parameters were completed in 128 locations. In each location, the coral reef community structure was characterized. This included quantification of
1) the diversity, abundance, and size structure of corals; numbers of coral recruits; condition of corals; and threats affecting corals;
2) population dynamics of reef fishes, with emphasis on abundance and size structure of ecologically-relevant and commercially important fishes, and fisheries impacts; and
3) the identification of Red Sea indicators of resilience on a landscape scale, including the spatial distribution of factors that promote and degrade resilience; ecological areas…
