A free public lecture on the effectiveness of marine sanctuaries will be offered from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday by the National Park Service as part of its celebration of the 50th anniversary of Buck Island being designated a national monument.
November’s lecture, "Spatial Analysis and Marine Protected Area Effectiveness: a case study of Buck Island Reef NM," will be held in the Danish Guinea West India Company Warehouse/ Slave Market Building, part of the yearlong series of lectures.
Establishing marine protected areas is an increasingly popular method to address global declines of coral reef ecosystems, according to the park service news release announcing the event. Jamie Kilgo, of the NPS Resource Management Division will discuss the important links between the number of fish on the reef, where they choose to live and their habitat requirements.
Kilgo’s study demonstrates the ways fish interact with their chosen habitats, their complex relationships, and the difficulties in understanding ‘spillover’ effects of fish leaving the MPA and entering unprotected waters around St. Croix.
The Christiansted National Historic Site parking lot will be free and open for this event until 7 p.m.
The final lecture in 2012 will be Dec. 13, which will focus on "Buck Island’s Ancient Peoples – Seen and Unseen."
The series will continue into 2013 with subjects to be announced.
