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TuckersPointResortReef
DanielJacob
Introduction
Thehealthofcoralreefsaroundtheworldisatopicthatisgainingtractionasthe
effectsofclimatechangeandglobalwarming,aswellastheeffectsofglobalisationand
tourismcontinuetodamagethereefseitherphysicallyorthroughbleachingand
disease.Astudywasdonestartingin2008andendingin2012thatsurveyedthehealth
ofcoralreefsinthreeMesoAmericancountriesusingvariousindicatorstheybelieved
wereadequatetodeterminethehealthofthereefs(ReportfortheMesoamericanReef,
2012).Theindicatorstheyusedwerecoralcover(%cover),macroalgalindex(%coverx
canopyheight),keyherbivorousfishbiomass(g/100m2)andkeycommercialfish
biomass(g/100m2),andthecountriestheylookedatwereHonduras,Belize,Mexico
andGuatemala(thoughttherewasnodataforGuatemalain2010)(Reportforthe
MesoamericanReef,2012).Wewantedtousethesesameindicatorstoassessthe
healthofareefatTuckersPointResorttogetabaselineresultbeforetheadditionof
coralgardenstotheareaasanattempttorejuvenatethelocalcoralcommunityin
CastleHarbour.Inthe1940sCastleHarbourwasdredgedtohelpbuildtheAirForce
BaseonSt.Davidsisland,thisdredgingdevastatedthecoralcommunitieswithinCastle
Harbourandthereefshavestillnotrecovered70yearslater(CastleHarbour,
Bermuda).
MaterialsandMethods
SCUBADivingGear
1x30mTransectTape
2x0.25m2Quadrants
Caliper
GoProHero4
UnderwaterPaperandPencil
WritingSlate
One30mTransectlinewaslaidoutalongthereefperbuddypair.Nextthebuddypair
swamslowlyalongthetransectlineastheycompletedaparrotfishsurveyofall
parrotfishwithin1mofthetransectlineoneitherside.Eachparrotfishthatwas
encounteredwascountedandasizeestimatewasmadeforeachparrotfishusing
rangesof5cmtomaketheestimates(ex:510cm,1015cm,etc..).Oncethefishsurvey
wascompletedonepartnerbegantotakeacoralandalgaevideosurveyofthebenthos
whiletheotherpartnerlaidoutonequadrantat10mandanotherat20m.Oncethe
partnertakingthevideohadpassedoverthefirstquadrant,thesecondpartner
measuredthemacroalgaecanopyheightat5predeterminedlocationswithinthe
quadrant(onemeasurementateachcornerandoneinthecentre.)Thiswasthen
repeatedforthe20mquadrant.Afterthefishsurvey,thevideosurveyandthecanopy
heightmeasurementswerecompletedalloftheequipmentwascleanedupandthe
datawasbroughtbacktothelab.Onceinthelabthevideosurveywasanalyzedto
determinelivecoralcoverandthe%coverofmacroalgae.Oncewehadthe%coverof
macroalgaewecalculatedthemacroalgaeindexasperSIRHI,wealsousedthedata
collectedduringthefishsurveytocalculatethebiomassofparrotfishing/100m2.The
valueswecalculatedforcoralcoverage,macroalgaeindexandparrotfishbiomasswere
thenusedtoestimatereefhealthasperSIRHIguidelines,andeachindicatorwas
assignedavalueof5(verygood),4(good),3(fair),2(poor)and1(critical).
Results
Table1.0DataObtainedfromTuckersPointResortReef
Live Coral
Cover
Transect #7
Coral Recruits
Macroalgae Index
3% N/A
Parrotfish
Biomass
(g/60m2)
2.75
Parrotfish Biomass
(g/100m^2)
973.23
1,620.50
Table2.0SIRHIIndicatorsforCoralHealth
Macroalgae Index Health
Indicator
Table 2
Coral Condition
Transect #7
Critical
Good
Poor
Literature (Honduras)
Fair
Poor
Very Good
Table3.0ParrotfishBiomass
Calculating Parrotfish
Biomass
a
L (length)
Biomass
Spotlight Parrotfish
(female)
0.031
32.5
2.913
786.100231850928
Queen Parrotfish
(female)
0.031
17.5
2.913
129.518417570724
Redband Parrotfish
(female)
0.0206
7.5
8.690625
Redband Parrotfish
(female)
0.0206
7.5
8.690625
Redband Parrotfish
(female)
0.0206
12.5
40.234375
Total Parrotfish
Biomass (g/60m2
973.234274421652
Table4.0MacroalgaeCoverage
% Macroalgae
Calculating Macroalgae Index recorded
Quadrat 1
0.38
4.444
Quadrat 2
0.0625
20.7
0.22
12.572
Total
2.75
Discussion
WhenwecomparethereefwesurveyedinCastleHarbourtoareefinHonduras,itis
plaintoseethatthereefinHondurasisthehealthierreef.Whilethemacroalgaeindex
forthereefinCastleHarbourmaybebetter(GoodforCastleHarbour,Poorfor
Honduras),itismostlikelyduetotheamountofturfalgaepresentonthesubstrateand
theamountofsedimentationandturbidityinthebay(Pollocketal.,2014).Alarge
portionofthesubstratewasalsoentirelycomposedofsand,whichmayhavemadethe
macroalgaeindexforCastleHarbourappearmorefavourablethanitactuallyis.The
reefinHondurashasabetterscoreforCoralConditionthatthereefinCastleHarbour
(CriticalforCastleHarbour,FairforHonduras)(ReportfortheMesoamericanReef,
2012),anditalsobeatsCastleHarbourintermsofHerbivorousFishHealthIndicator
(PoorforCastleHarbour,VeryGoodforHonduras)(ReportfortheMesoamericanReef,
2012).ThefactthatweonlysurveyedParrotfishalongourtransectinCastleHarbour
mayhavehadanimpactonwhyourbiomasswassolow,thoughwhiledoingthe
surveywecameacrossveryfewotherherbivorousfishsoIdontbelieveitwouldhave
donemuchtohelpeventhescoresifwehadsurveyedallherbivorousfish.When
comparedtothetwoothersitessurveyedintheMesoAmericanregiontheCastle
Harbourreefstillscoreslowerthaneitherofthem,thoughitisonlyinslightlymore
unhealthythanthereefsurveyedBelize(ReportfortheMesoamericanReef,2012).
IfwehadmeasuredalloftheindicatorsusedforSIRHIIdobelievethatitwould
havebeensufficientenoughtorepresentthereefhealthatTuckersPointResort,
thoughaswedidnotmeasurecoralrecruitmentor%coraldiseasedIdonotbelieve
thatwehaveenoughdatatodeterminewhetherornotthereefishealthyornot.WhileI
dobelievethatthethreeindicatorswedidlookatareallveryimportant,coral
recruitmentand%coraldiseasedarebothveryimportantforpredictingthegrowthand
successofareef.Usingonlycoralcoverasanindicatorcanbemisleadingasacoral
thathasalotofrecruitmentsmaynothaveaveryhigher%coverbutitmaystillbea
healthyreefduetothenumberofrecruits.Ontheotherhandareefmayhaveavery
highamountofcoralcoverbutifalotofthatcoralisdiseasedorbleached(Green&
Bruckner,2000)thecoralcovermaybedecliningrapidly,thiswouldindicatean
unhealthyreefdespitethehighamountofcoralcover.
Idontthinkthattheindicatorswesurveyedwouldchangeimmediatelywiththe
additionofcoralgardens,thoughIdobelievethattheywillbegintoimproveasthecoral
gardenshaveachancetogrowandtheybegintosettlethemselves.InitiallyIalso
thoughtthatcoralgrowthratewouldbeagoodindicatortousetodeterminethehealth
ofthereefsandcoralgardensinCastleHarbour,thoughafterreadingsomeofthe
literaturethatisavailableoncoralhealthindicatorsitseemsthatgrowthratewouldnot
beagoodindicatortouse.InapaperpublishedbyEdingeretal.,theyfoundthatcoral
inanunhealthyreefmayhavethesameverticalgrowthrateascoralinahealthyreef,
buttheunhealthycoralwillbelessdensemakingitmoresusceptibletodamageand
corrosion(Edingeretal.,2000).
Conclusion
IfweweretotryandassessthehealthofthereefontheBermudaplatformwithin
a2yeartimeperiodtheindicatorsusedbySIRHIwouldcreateanaccurate
representationofcoralhealth,especiallywhenusedoversuchalargearea.Ifwewere
tosurveymultiplereefsofthesametypeallacrosstheplatformwewouldbeableto
createcomparisonstodeterminewhichreefsarethehealthiest,whichoneswouldbein
needofpreservationefforts(suchastheadditionofcoralgardens),andwewouldalso
beabletocreateanimageoftheoverallreefhealthintheregion.Aslongasallofthe
indicatorsaretakenintoaccountandnoneofthemarelookedatindependentlytheywill
beasufficientsystemtouse.Theseindicatorswouldalsobefairlyeasytoobtainfor
eachindividualreefwhichwouldmakeiteasiertosurveyasmanyreefsaspossible
overthetwoyeartimeperiod.
References
CastleHarbour,Bermuda.(n.d.).RetrievedJuly27,2016,from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Harbour,_Bermuda
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J.(2000).NormalCoralGrowthRatesonDyingReefs:AreCoralGrowthRatesGood
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doi:10.1016/s0025326x(99)002374
Green,E.P.,&Bruckner,A.W.(2000).Thesignificanceofcoraldiseaseepizootiology
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96
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doi:10.1016/s00063207(00)000732
Pollock,F.J.,Lamb,J.B.,Field,S.N.,Heron,S.F.,Schaffelke,B.,Shedrawi,G.,...
Willis,B.L.(2014).SedimentandTurbidityAssociatedwithOffshoreDredgingIncrease
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PLoSONE,
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doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0102498
ReportCardfortheMesoamericanReef.(2012).Retrievedfrom
http://www.healthyreefs.org/cms/wpcontent/uploads/2012/12/2012ReportCard.pdf