Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

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8. Stat u s o f Co r a l Reefs o f t h e Lesser Antillesafter t h e 2005 Co r a l Bl e a c h i n g Ev e n tCl au d e Bo u c h o n, Pe d ro Po rt i l l o, Yo l a n d e Bo u c h o n-Nava r o ,Lo u i s Ma x, Pau l Hoetjes, An g e l i q u e Br at h wa i t e, Ra m o n Roac h ,Ha z e l Ox e n f o r d, Sh ay O’Fa r r e l l a n d Ow e n DaySu m m a r yzx During summer 2005, a persistent ‘HotSpot’ surrounded these islands;zx Coral bleaching and mortality was probably the most severe ever recorded in theLesser Antilles and was the most extreme for the wider Caribbean during 2005;zx The most severe bleaching event ever recorded at Barbados occurred duringSeptember and October 2005, and affected all coral species at all depths, and all reeftypes and habitats;zx There was between 25% and 52% mortality of corals in the French West Indies,especially at Guadeloupe and Martinique. Bleaching affected most coral species andresulted in reduced larval recruitment in the following 2 seasons. However, thereappears to be no effects on fish populations;zx There was extensive bleaching (80%) on the northern Netherlands Antilles islands ofSt. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius in August 2005; but only minor bleaching andminimal mortality on the southern islands of Bonaire and Curaçao;zx On the island of Tobago, most species bleached, with 66% average cover of bleachedcoral. Bleaching in Montastraea annularis was highly variable; there was 73%bleaching in one stand, but only 6% in another, on Buccoo Reef;zx No hurricanes passed through this region in 2005; this partially explains the severityof bleaching as there were no strong winds to lower seawater temperatures;zx These islands are highly dependent on their coral reefs, thus there is an urgent needfor appropriate management responses as sea temperatures are predicted to risefurther in future.85
Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs after Bleaching and Hurricanes in 200570° WDOMINICANREPUBLICPUERTO RICOBritish VirginIslandsUS VirginIslandsSabaST KIT TS -NEVI SANGUILLASt MaartenSt BarthelemySt EustatiusAN TI GU Aan dBA RBUD AMONT SERRATBasse-Terre60° WGUADEL OUPEGrande-TerreLEGENDCoral Reefs0 65 130 260KilometersC a r i b b e a n S e aDO MINICAMARTINIQUEST. LUCI ABA RBADOS13° N 13° NNETHERANDS ANTILLESLESSER ANTILLESST. VINCENTan d th eArubaGRENAD INESGo lfo deHo nd ur asV E N E Z U E L A70° WCuracaoBonaireLos RoquesIsla MargaritaGRENAD ATRINIDADan dTOBAGOTo ba goTr inidad60° WMap of the Lesser Antilles region.The French West IndiesIn t r o d u c t i o nThe French West Indies (FWI) in the Lesser Antilles lie between 14°20’ and 18°00’ N and consistof the islands of Martinique, the Guadeloupe Archipelago (with Guadeloupe, La Désirade,Marie-Galante and Les Saintes islands), St. Barthélémy, and the French part of St. Martin/St.Marteen. The population in these islands was 834,000 people in 2004, including about 2500registered fishers.Guadeloupe and Martinique are volcanic and mountainous islands, situated roughly in thecentre of the West Indies and surrounded by a narrow island shelf that receives high levels ofvolcanic sediments. Corals grow on the rocky surfaces and form fringing reefs on the easternsides. These reefs are especially important for tourism; 665,000 tourists visited Guadeloupe in2005 and 381,000 visited Martinique in 2004. Thus tourism is a major economic contributorin the FWI with hotel capacity of Guadeloupe and Martinique exceeding 13,000 rooms andadditional accommodation available in small-scale rural cottages. The most common marinetourist activities are glass-bottom boat tours, kayaking, water skiing, surfing, sailboat rentals,sport fishing and particularly scuba diving. There are 40 scuba diving clubs in Guadeloupe anda similar number in Martinique, with diving focused on the Caribbean (leeward) coasts. Forexample, about 100,000 divers visit the Îlets Pigeon in Guadeloupe each year.86
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Stat u s o fCa r i b b e a nCo r a
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Dedication: This book is dedicated
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Status of Caribbean Coral Reefs aft
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Status of Coral Reefs in the Caribb
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3. Hu r r i ca n e s a n d t h e i
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Status of Caribbean coral reefs after bleaching and hurricanes in 2005

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