The Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument is a

U.S. National Monument In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the federal government by proclamation of the President of the United States or an act of Congress. National monuments prot ...

located off Saint John,

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

. The clear waters surrounding Saint John support a diverse and complex system of

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. ...

. The health of these reefs is closely tied to its component plants and animals as well as adjacent non-coral marine environments such as sandy bottoms, seagrass beds, and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

forests. Seeking to provide greater protection to the sensitive coral reef resources,

President Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

established the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument on January 17, 2001. The monument includes 12,708 acres (51 km²) of federal submerged lands within the 3 mile (5 km) belt off Saint John, including Hurricane Hole and areas north and south of Saint John.

Ecosystem

The coral reefs of the U.S. Virgin Islands suffered severely from

coral bleaching Coral bleaching is the process when corals become white due to various stressors, such as changes in temperature, light, or nutrients. Bleaching occurs when coral polyps expel the zooxanthellae ( dinoflagellates that are commonly referred to as ...

in 2005, which led to a 60% decline in coral activity. The

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

began extensive research in the area and scientists discovered previously unknown coral ecosystems at the submerged stems of

trees in the ''Hurricane Hole'' area of the National Monument. They found about 30 of the 45 coral species in the Virgin Islands, which is an astonishing diversity for the small area, and were surprised by the number of

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

species as well. This is the first known occurrence of corals in a mangrove ecosystem.Ann B. Tihansky, Caroline S. Rogers:
Discovering the Secret Gardens in the Mangroves of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands
'. In: ''Sound Waves'', April 2010, USGS

References

External links

* Official NPS website
Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument
National Park Service National Monuments in the United States Virgin Islands Protected areas established in 2001 2001 establishments in the United States Virgin Islands Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands Coral reefs of the United States {{US-NationalParkService-stub

Ecosystem

See also

References

External links