PROGRAM TITLE: Tropical Coastal Ecosystems Program (TROCOES) ACTIVITY STREAM: Process Studies SCIENCE ELEMENT:Ecological Systems and Dynamics SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (NMNH) Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) SCIENTIFIC MERIT: Tropical coastal communities, including coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds, and rocky intertidal communities, are among the most productive natural ecosystems on Earth. Understanding and ensuring the maintenance of this productivity is critical for human welfare, since more than 90% of commercial and subsistence fisheries species depend on these communities at some stage in their life cycle. As the interface between land and ocean, these communities are exceptionally vulnerable to the effects of global change, such as elevated sea-surface temperatures, sea level rise, sedimentation caused by deforestation, and marine oil spills, and other forms of pollution. Inhibiting coastal planning are the lack of knowledge of the vast plant and animal populations that comprise coastal communities, the processes that control the diversity, structure, and productivity of these communities and the links that occur through the exchange of water, solutes, and suspended material and the migration of larval and adult organisms. The TROCOES program is poised to: 1) document the biotic communities that form the tropical coastal ecosystems 2) identify the physical, geological, biological and chemical processes that form the bases for the structure, diversity, and high productivity 3) identify and describe the physical and biotic pathways that link these communities, and 4) identify the physical and biotic factors that result in regional and temporal variation in ecosystem structure and functioning. This program builds on 25 years of research on marine ecosystems in three marine stations in Panama and 20 years in Belize and Florida. These facilities, and a new floating laboratory, make it particularly suited to investigate tropical coastal communities. Long-term monitoring of physical environmental factors, including temperature, rainfall, solar radiation, sea level and key plant and animals species has been conducted at the Galeta station, Panama, for 15 years and the Carrie Bow station, Belize, for 20 years. STAKEHOLDERS: The TROCOES program conforms with the objectives of the proposed Land/Ocean Interactions in the Coastal zone (LOICZ) program of the IGBP. TROCOES is a cooperative program of the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Scientists from around the world participate in this program. Information is shared internationally and particularly with authorities in Panama and Belize as well as U.S. government agencies, such as NOAA. Linkages exist with universities, conservation organizations, and research institutes and commissions around the world, such as the International Tropical Tuna Commission, the Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity study (CARICOMP) based at the Florida Institute of Oceanography. Oil pollution studies in Panama have been funded by U.S.G.S. and mangrove studies in Belize have been funded by Exxon Corporation. POLICY RELEVANCE: The TROCOES program directly addresses the GCRP Ecological Systems and Population Dynamics Milestone "Growth and Decline" by inventorying plant and animal species, identifying ecosystems processes and articulating the contribution of tropical reefs to global carbon dioxide fluxes. The program relates to "Threshold Responses" with regard to the sensitivity of coastal ecosystems to change. With funding provided in part by USGCRP increase the program installed a new weather station in FY 1991 on the Belize Barrier Reef permitting year- round environmental monitoring. The weather station allows real-time transmission of data on climatic and ocean conditions. Future plans include production of a comprehensive report as the result of a long-term study on the effects of an oil spill on coral reef and mangrove ecosystems in Panama. PROGRAM CONTACTS:SI SGCR Representative: Ted A. Maxwell NASM MRC 315 Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C. 20560 202 357 1424 FAX: 202 786 2566 Email: tmaxwell@ceps.nasm.edu Bureau Representative: Marsha Sitnik NMNH MRC 106 Smithsonian Institution Washington, D.C. 20560 202 357 2670 FAX: 202 786 2934 Email: nmhod004@sivm.si.edu