| dc.description.abstract | A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching was created as a collaborative effort of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Coral Reef Conservation Program, the Australian Government’s, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the World Conservation Union in order to, “…assist managers in responding effectively to mass coral bleaching events… [It] is designed to provide pragmatic, science-based suggestions for adaptive management in this time of change” (Marshall and Schuttenberg 2006). This study was designed to evaluate the information needs of reef managers in addressing climate change and specifically A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching by examining three research questions: 1) what are the current information use practices of the reef management community, 2) what are the strengths and weaknesses of the current Guide, A Reef Manager’s Guide to Coral Bleaching, from the user’s perspective, and 3) what are the major advances in science (since the 2004 completion date of the Guide) to support management and the successor resource to the Guide. These questions were addressed through a flexible design using a triangulated approach including the collection of background information from “key players”, elite interviews with experts as defined by this study, tailored design online survey, and review of archival data. | |
