Conservation actions and ecological context: optimizing coral reef local management in the Dominican Republic

Abstract

Over the past few decades, coral reef ecosystems have been lost at accelerated rates as a result of global climate change and local stressors. Local management schemes can help improve the condition of coral reefs by enhancing their ecosystem recovery capacity. Caribbean conservation efforts include mitigation of local anthropogenic stressors, and integrating social participation. Here, we analyzed the case of the Bayahibe reefs in the Southeastern (SE) Dominican Republic to identify conservation actions and illustrate a conceptual example of local seascape management. We assessed reef health indicators from 2011 to 2016. Overall, our results show increases in total fish biomass, in both commercial and herbivorous fishes. Mean live coral cover was 31% and fleshy macroalgae was 23% after multiple disturbances such as Hurricanes Sandy and Isaac (2012), Mathew (2016) and heat stress presented in the study area in 2015. We also described actions taken by stakeholders and government institutions, including the implementation of a policy declaring an area of 869,000 ha as a marine protected area (MPA), enhanced water quality treatment, local restrictions to vessel traffic, enforcement of fishing regulations, and the removal of invasive lionfish (Pterois spp.). In addition, a restoration program for the threatened staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) was established in 2011, and currently has eight coral nurseries and six outplanting sites. Considering the biology and ecology of these reefs, we observed good results for these indicators (live coral cover, fish biomass, and water quality) in contrast with severely degraded Caribbean reefs, suggesting that optimizing local management may be a useful example for improving reef condition. Our results provide an overview of trends in reef condition in the SE Dominican Republic and could support current strategies to better protect reefs in the region. Given that Caribbean coral reefs face extreme challenges from global climate change, management measures may improve reef conditions across the region but stronger policy processes and increased scientific knowledge are needed for the successful management of coral reefs.

Approach to the Functional Importance of Acropora cervicornis in Outplanting Sites in the Dominican Republic

“…They show that with the rehabilitation of a single species (A. cervicornis), the functions of an outplanted site, such as herbivory, are recovered by increasing the total biomass of fish and in particular of the parrotfish S. iseri. In this case although this is a small-scale study we were able to observe positive changes over time while active restoration actions were constantly carried out in these reef patches that are part of an important MPA for the southeastern zone of the country (Shaver and Silliman, 2017;Calle-Triviño et al, 2018Cortés-Useche et al, 2018, 2021. Increased A. cervicornis coverage may improve the functions of coral reef ecosystems by generating beneficial interactions between species (Shaver and Silliman, 2017), as for example in this case study where it was evident that by performing constant actions of active restoration, such as removal macroalgae when preparing substrate in outplanting sites and by having the surfaces occupied by colonies of A. cervicornis, the abiotic substrate available to be colonized also decreased, which may influence the decrease in the cover of opportunistic species such as sponges, algae mats, macro-algae that can contribute to increased bio-erosion (Yap, 2013).…”

Capture, Culture and Release of Postlarvae Fishes: Proof-of-Concept as a Tool Approach to Support Reef Management

“…This method tested here can be set up for a variety of fish species and seems to be a feasible restoration tool, to increase the benefits of management through the effective implementation that includes long-term ecological and economic synergies (Lirman and Schopmeyer, 2016;Cortés-Useche et al, 2019). Key aspects, such as fisheries policy and water quality treatment in the context of climate change and managing the connectivity of the tropical coastal reefscapes should be considered (Arias-González et al, 2016;Hein et al, 2020;Schmidt-Roach et al, 2020;Cortés-Useche et al, 2021). paper, and approved the final draft.…”

“…This sampling method provides the benefit of increasing the productivity of target species, for example, commercial and herbivorous fishes (Bell et al, 2009). These efforts can contribute to identifying settlement areas for reef fish, biodiversity monitoring (McLeod and Costello, 2017), managing of MPAs (Obolski et al, 2016), and supporting fisheries control through research and social engagement (Hein et al, 2020;Cortés-Useche et al, 2021). They can also support the restoration efforts of reefs that have suffered a loss in the resilience of their fish biodiversity (Lorenzen et al, 2010) or re-establish the provisioning services delivered by reefs in providing habitat and nursery areas for commercially (Hein et al, 2020) and functionally important species.…”

Understanding the pain experience of lionfish envenomation

“…This is not surprising considering that spearfishing requires a hunter to get close to the fish and to manipulate the fish with their hands to either remove them from their spear or empty their containment unit. Alarmingly, the invasion of the lionfish shows no sign of reversing soon, 10 , 17 resulting in an increase in the number of individuals stung by lionfish in the future. Therefore, it is important to gain a better understanding of the consequences of lionfish envenomations, both from a physiological point of view and from a life-interference point of view.…”