The CARRUS Program involves highly interdisciplinary, long-term studies on specific reef systems in support of the development and testing of scenario-testing models, and improved basis of reef management. Focal areas include the coral reefs of the Florida Keys, Belize and the Bahamas. Remote sensing, modeling and field studies are used to determine the relationships among geomorphology, hydrography, and ecology.

The broad base of knowledge from prior research in these areas is being extended backwards across centuries through the analysis of ancient corals. Studies of the human dimension include analyses of the economics and quality of life of reef-dependent people, of anthropogenic impacts on the reefs, and of the consequences to low-income people of the loss of reef resources due to degradation or restrictive management. The research in CARRUS centers on the development of Internet-based applications such as the DNav: Florida Keys and other Internet-based GIS, designed to help policy makers and managers determine the range of potential consequences of disturbances and management interventions on both coral reefs and the people whose lives are sustained by them.

SPECIFIC PROJECTS

2.1  Comparison of Paleoclimate Records Obtained from Coral Cores from Belize, the Florida Reef Tract, and The Bahamas

2.2  Geographic Information System-based Predictive Interdisciplinary Modeling and Expert Systems (GIS-PRIMES)