Corals fail to recover at a Caribbean marine reserve despite ten years of reserve designation

Huntington, Brittany; Karnauskas, Mandy; Lirman, Diego

doi:10.1007/s00338-011-0809-4

Cited by 50 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…The degree of protection is critical [44]. At Glover's Reef Marine Reserve, a no-take policy has not resulted in increases in grazing fish abundance, although commercially important fish, such as black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci) and lane snapper (Lutjanus synagris) and invertebrates have increased [45]. This could be for many reasons, not least if they are poorly managed and maintained over long periods, particularly when there are stressful environmental events such as hurricanes of high sea surface temperatures (SSTs).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Reef Populations in the Caribbean: Is There a Case for Better Protection against Climate Change?

Crabbe¹

2013

AJCC

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Knowledge of factors that are important in coral reef growth help us to understand how reef ecosystems react following major environmental disturbances due to climate change and other anthropogenic effects. This study shows that despite a range of anthropogenic stressors, corals on the fringing reefs south of Kingston harbour, as well as corals on fringing reefs on the north coast of Jamaica near Discovery Bay can survive and grow. Skewness values for Sidastrea siderea and Porites astreoides were positive (0.85 -1.64) for all sites, implying more small colonies than large colonies. Coral growth rates are part of a demographic approach to monitoring coral reef health in times of climate change, and linear extension rates (mm·yr The range of small-scale rugosities at the Port Royal cay sites studied was lower than that at the Discovery Bay sites; for example Rio Bueno was 1.05 ± 0.15 and Dairy Bull the most rugose at 2.3 ± 0.16. Diary Bull reef has for several years been the fringing reef with the most coral cover, with a benthic community similar to that of the 1970s. We discuss whether Jamaica can learn from methods used in other Caribbean countries to better protect its coral reefs against climate change. Establishing and maintaining fully-protected marine parks in Jamaica and elsewhere in the Caribbean is one tool to help the future of the fishing industry in developing countries. Developing MPAs as part of an overall climate change policy for a country may be the best way of integrating climate change into MPA planning, management, and evaluation.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Reef Populations in the Caribbean: Is There a Case for Better Protection against Climate Change?

Crabbe¹

2013

AJCC

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“…However, they did not examine trends over time in these parameters from the establishment of the SPAs several years before their study began, and no data are available for initial coral cover. No difference in coral or macroalgal cover was detected aer 10 years of protection (no-take) at Glover's Reef, Belize [147]. It is not surprising that some papers have reported no difference for reefs inside and outside MPAs, given that these studies were not restricted to areas that were marine reserves with effective enforcement (see [148]).…”

Section: Marine Reserves: One Of the Most Promising Toolsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coral Reef Resilience through Biodiversity

Rogers

2013

ISRN Oceanography

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Irrefutable evidence of coral reef degradation worldwide and increasing pressure from rising seawater temperatures and ocean acidification associated with climate change have led to a focus on reef resilience and a call to “manage” coral reefs for resilience. Ideally, global action to reduce emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases will be accompanied by local action. Effective management requires reduction of local stressors, identification of the characteristics of resilient reefs, and design of marine protected area networks that include potentially resilient reefs. Future research is needed on how stressors interact, on how climate change will affect corals, fish, and other reef organisms as well as overall biodiversity, and on basic ecological processes such as connectivity. Not all reef species and reefs will respond similarly to local and global stressors. Because reef-building corals and other organisms have some potential to adapt to environmental changes, coral reefs will likely persist in spite of the unprecedented combination of stressors currently affecting them. The biodiversity of coral reefs is the basis for their remarkable beauty and for the benefits they provide to society. The extraordinary complexity of these ecosystems makes it both more difficult to predict their future and more likely they will have a future.

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“…58 It is predicted that by 2050 ocean acidification could increase by 150 %, a faster rate of change than what has been experienced in the 50 Huntington et al (2011), pp. 1077-1085and International Society for Reef Studies (2008.…”

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confidence: 91%

Climate Change and Its Effects on Atoll Island States

Yamamoto¹,

Esteban

2013

Atoll Island States and International Law

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The Earth's climate is a complex system that depends on the energy received from the Sun and how this energy is distributed throughout the different layers of materials (i.e. the various levels in the atmosphere, oceans, crust) that make up the system. Part of the energy that is received from the Sun is actually reflected back into space, but much of the energy is retained through a multitude of so-called greenhouse gases, which keep the planet much warmer than what it would be without them. The IPCC 4AR stresses the role that these gases have on the temperature of the planet, and increases in their concentrations can lead to anthropogenic changes in the climate. In actual fact, humans have been exerting an influence on the local environment for a long time, as the progressive population increase throughout the ages led to the cutting of trees and cultivation of the areas previously occupied by forests. However, it is generally agreed that the rate of CO 2 emissions greatly increased since the beginning of the industrial era, which has led to an acceleration in the pace of climate change. Indeed, according to the IPCC 4AR 11 of the 12 years between 1995 and 2006 were the warmest on record, and since then new records have been reached. As a consequence of this a number of effects have been predicted, such as an increase in the pace of sea level rise due to melting of glaciers and ice caps, increases in the intensity of tropical cyclones or changes to the frequency of extreme drought and precipitation events. The present chapter will detail the impacts that scientists think these changes will have on atolls, particularly those related to sea-level rise, ocean acidification, coral mortality and increases in tropical cyclone intensity.Particularly, this warming and increased acidification of the sea could bring about great increases in coral mortality, probably the most important long-term problem affecting the survival of Atolls Island States. Although we tend to consider these coral islands as land areas, a more accurate description would be to think of them as living creatures, one gigantic colony of inter-related species, with humans living on their back. Corals are constantly providing the building materials that

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Corals fail to recover at a Caribbean marine reserve despite ten years of reserve designation

Cited by 50 publications

References 45 publications

Coral Reef Populations in the Caribbean: Is There a Case for Better Protection against Climate Change?

Coral Reef Populations in the Caribbean: Is There a Case for Better Protection against Climate Change?

Coral Reef Resilience through Biodiversity

Climate Change and Its Effects on Atoll Island States

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