Methodology

The Vitareef methodology comprises a set of codes which represent almost all states of health and conditions found on hard or 'stony' corals (the corals which build the reefs of our planet) from an unblemished colony to bleaching to fish bites. The crew on board the SV Infinity employs the method in two depth zones along the reef ­ the ‘shallow zone’ (3-5 meters) and the ‘deep zone’ (7-9 meters). Within each zone, Vitareef data is collected from approximately one thousand coral colonies. For each colony, the genus (type) is noted along with the Vitareef codes which apply to it. In a Vitareef study, groups of divers systematically work their way along the reef, gathering data underwater by writing on a slate. Back on board the research vessel, the data is transferred to the PCRF database from which it can be analyzed in a number of computer programs. From this analysis, the state of the reef can be ‘seen’ in numerical codes and percentages.

In total, since 1995, over 100,000 coral colonies have been analyzed using Vitareef.

The advantages of Vitareef are many. It is an excellent education tool in training the diver’s eye to examine the reef on both a close-up scale and on the scale of the entire reef ecosystem. Sequential Vitareef studies (eg. spaced by a year or two) can successfully document any changes in the state of the health of a reef, as carried out in the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia and Indonesia.

The following images give a visual representation of each of the Vitareef codes which start with the number '2' and run up to '19'.

							2: perfect colony has no decrease in health or vitality
3: damaged but healed indicates that the colony has dealt with a past affliction and bears a scar from it.
							4: edge damage a condition resulting from filamentous algae trapping sediment and slowly choking the live tissue
5: damaged to tissue and skeleton can be caused by many things - in this picture, the bite marks of fish teeth are seen
							5: contd. an anchor has been dropped, smashing these Turbinaria plates
5: contd. here the ends of the Stylophora branches have been broken off
							6: sedimentation in which sedimentation sits on the coral colony without smothering the live tissue beneath it
7: biological predation for example, as seen here, the tracks of snails across a Porites colony
							8: bleaching the condition in which the coral tissue expels the symbiotic zooxanthellae that live within its cell walls, resulting in a 'bleached' white appearance
9: mucous a coral exudes mucous in order to protect itself from sedimentation etc.
10: black band disease this disease originates from a blue-green algae.  It is found mostly in the Caribbean, rather than the Indo-Pacific where PCRF has been studying reefs for the last five years; hence there is no photo at this time.
							11: filamentous algae the colony is overgrown by filamentous algae
12: sedimentation in which the sediment has caused necrosis of the underlying tissue
13: white plague disease / white band disease this disease originates from bacteria.  It is found mostly in the Caribbean, rather than the Indo-Pacific region.  As of our study at Sagharughombe Island, Solomon Islands in January 2006, we are employing code 13 to represent White Band Disease, a condition encountered in the IndoPacific region. The photos to the right represent White Band Disease on table Acropora colonies.
							14: healed with secondary algal colonisation a past scar is covered and contained by algae
15: colony dead the entire coral colony is dead.  We use this code, as of our study in the Phoenix Islands in December 2004, to indicate any colony that is completely dead but is still identifiable to genus level.
							16: macroalgae in which the colony is overgrown by macroalgae
			17: colony decreasing in size this code is used in conjunction with codes 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 16.  It is also used with 19 if the invertebrate growth is actively encroaching over the surface of the colony eg. sponges, tunicates.
							18: almost perfect here the colony has a small piece of sediment in one of its valleys
19: invertebrate overgrowth here a Christmas tree worm has taken residence upon a Porites colony
							19: contd. the holes in this Astreopora skeleton arise from a bioeroding mussel
19: contd. a tunicate has overgrown this colony
							19: contd. a sponge (on the left of the image) rapidly overgrows a hard coral