Assessing The Health Of Corals In The Florida Keys Using A Cellular Diagnostic System     Cheryl M. Woodley 1, John E. Fauth2, Craig A. Downs3, John C. Halas4, and Richard Curry5   1Marine Biotechnology Program,  NOAA NOS CCEHBR, 219 Ft. Johnson Rd., Charleston, SC; 2University of Charleston, 66 George St., Charleston, SC; 3EnVirtue Biotechnologies, Inc., 1866-C E. Market Street, Harrisonburg, VA ; 4Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA, P.O. Box 1083, Key Largo, FL ; 5Biscayne National Park, 9700 Southwest, 328th St., Homestead, FL      We have developed a novel environmental biotechnology designed to diagnose the health condition of key-indicator species within specific trophic communities of a coral reef. Current methods of assessing ecosystem health focus on responses at population or community levels which reflect indirect effects of environmental insults.  We are using a comprehensive array of biomedical-like technologies to rapidly diagnose the direct effects of such insults by evaluating the cellular physiological condition of an organism and its responses to specific classes of stressors. We are examining Montastraea sp, Coralliophilia caribaea, Halimeda opuntia, Haemulon plumieri, and Stegastes partitus, as representatives of ‘key’ trophic levels within Florida Keys reef ecosystems. Variation in their exposure and responses to environmental stressors at four reef sites in Biscayne National Park and the Upper Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is being used to evaluate ecosystem health condition. Preliminary results suggest that: (1) this technology can be used to distinguish between global-level stressors (e.g., El Nino/La Nina effects) and local-level stressors (e.g., agricultural runoff) and (2) can help predict the condition of corals several month before more obvious symptoms appear (e.g, coral bleaching or coral death).