Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs after Bleaching and Hurricanes in 2005fringing reefs on the northern Yucatan coast and fully developed fringing reefs, with welldeveloped and extensive spur and groove systems from Xcalak to Belize. The presence of theXcalak trench has fostered the development of twin reef crests and fore-reefs in this area. Awide carbonate shelf, influence from coastal upwelling, and scattered patch reefs characterizethe northern section. Offshore are three banks/islands: Arrowsmith Bank, along a submergedplatform (ranging from 25-400 m in depth) with patch reefs on its southern section; CozumelIsland, with reefs on the windward and leeward side; and the Banco Chinchorro atoll withhighly developed reefs on the windward side and well developed spur and groove systems.Status of coral reefs prior to 2005: Puerto Morelos and nearby reefs suffered significant coralmortality from Hurricane Gilbert (1988) and the mass bleaching in 1995. Unlike the Belizereefs, the 1998 mass bleaching and Hurricane Mitch did not cause widespread coral mortalityalong the Yucatan coast. Patch reefs at Isla Mujeres and Cancun suffered some mechanicaldamage and fragmentation from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.These reefs have suffered from intense fishing activities since the 1960s and increasingpressure from tourism since the mid 1970s. Reef patches at Punta Nizuc and El Garrafon atIsla Mujeres have already been affected by tourism-related activities and the damage appearsto be spreading elsewhere to Akumal, Puerto Morelos, Mahahual and Cozumel. Shallow reefsat Cancun, Sian Ka’an and Chinchorro have been affected by boat-related damage. The reefsjust off the northern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula and immediately westward (Punta Mosquito,Boca Nueva, Piedra Corrida) have very little (
Status of the Mesoamerican Reef after the 2005 Coral Bleaching Eventin 2005, with hurricanes Emily (17 July) and Wilma (21 October) hitting Cozumel, causingdamage mainly to shallow coral reefs (< 8 m depth), including sponges and gorgonians.There was a dramatic increase in bare rock substrata along Cozumel’s west coast afterhurricanes Emily and Wilma (July and October, 2005) increasing from 10% to 40% coverage,as a result of the removal of sand and benthic biota. Conversely, hard coral cover decreasedafter each hurricane from 24% to 17% and eventually down to 10%. After Emily, piles ofbroken coral colonies were seen scattered around the reefs, while after Wilma the coral rubblewas removed from the reef areas, probably because of the long duration and high intensity ofthat hurricane.Reefs off the northern Yucatan tip were also affected. Deeper reefs sustained little damage,with some sedimentation increases down to 15-20 m; although the sediments were usuallyremoved by currents within a few weeks. In Cancún and Puerto Morelos, impacts were mainlyon the reef crest and primarily to branching, boulder and mound hard corals. Restoration offragmented pieces was carried out shortly after for reefs within Cancún and Puerto MorelosMarine Parks.Status of reefs in 2006: Minimal bleaching was observed on Mahahual and Sian Ka’an reefsin 2006; about 5-6% of 1858 assessed colonies were affected. The reefs seem to have recoveredfrom the 2005 bleaching event, and the disease and recent mortality values were very low;coral cover recorded at 121 sites (n = 3113 colonies) along the Mexican Caribbean (Amigos deSian Ka’an and The Nature Conservancy /WWF 2006 Rapid Reef Assessment) was unusuallylow. However, this may be related to the representative sampling design, which included manymarginal reef sites and only a few sites with coral cover values around 20-30%.Low levels of recently diseased or dead corals were assessed on the Quintana Roo reefs (from IslaContoy to Xcalak, including Cozumel and Banco Chinchorro) in September 2005 – December 2006during the Amigos de Sian Ka’an and TNC/WWF Rapid Reef Assessment.Reef Habitat (n = number of coloniesassessed)Coral Cover(%)Colonies Affectedby Disease (%)Recent ColonyMortality (%)Fore-reef (n = 1886 colonies) 8 0.9 1Reef flat (inter-tidal (n = 704 colonies) 6 0.2 0.8Patch reef & others (n = 523 colonies) 9 1.0 0.9Sand beaches from Punta Cancun to Punta Nizuc were lost as a result of Hurricane Wilma inlate 2005. In February 2006, the municipality implemented a project to restore the beaches;however, this project resulted in the die-off of 10 species of hard corals in Punta Nizuc owingto erosion of the reclaimed beach areas.Socioeconomic impacts and management responses: Mexico’s Caribbean reefs function ascritical fishing grounds for communities along the Quintana Roo coast. These reefs are alsothe center of tourism activities; 8 MPAs have been established to protect reefs, and there arenew MPAs proposed, including Playa del Carmen, Akumal, Puerto Aventuras and Tulum andCozumel.55
Page 1 and 2:
Stat u s o fCa r i b b e a nCo r a
Page 3 and 4:
Dedication: This book is dedicated
Page 5 and 6:
Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs aft
Page 7 and 8: Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs aft
Page 25 and 26: Status of Coral Reefs in the Caribb
Page 35 and 36: 3. Hu r r i ca n e s a n d t h e i
Page 37 and 38: Hurricanes and their Effect on Cora
Page 39 and 40: Hurricanes and their Effect on Cora
Page 41 and 42: 4. Th e 2005 Bl e a c h i n g Ev e
Page 43 and 44: The 2005 Bleaching Event: Coral-Lis
Page 49 and 50: 5. Stat u s o f t h e Mesoamerican
Page 51 and 52: Status of the Mesoamerican Reef aft
Page 57: Status of the Mesoamerican Reef aft
Page 65 and 66: 6. Co r a l Reefs o f t h e U.S. Ca
Page 67 and 68: Coral Reefs of the U.S. Caribbean19
Page 69 and 70: Coral Reefs of the U.S. CaribbeanMe
Page 71 and 72: Coral Reefs of the U.S. Caribbeanwe
Page 73 and 74: Coral Reefs of the U.S. CaribbeanSe
Page 75 and 76: Coral Reefs of the U.S. CaribbeanBl
Page 77 and 78: 7. Th e Effects o f Co r a l Bl e a
Page 79 and 80: The Effects of Coral Bleaching in t
Page 107 and 108: 9. Th e Effects o f Co r a l Bl e a
Page 109 and 110:
The Effects of Coral Bleaching in S
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
10. Ma n ag i n g f o r Ma s s Co r
Page 119 and 120:
Managing for Mass Coral Bleaching:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
show all

Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?