Times of the Islands Winter 2018/19

green pages newsletter of the department of environment & coastal resources
Worldwide coral reefs are threatened by climate
change, ocean acidification, and anthropogenic disturbance.
Tropical reefs have lost more than half their
reef-building corals since the 1970s. Experts have established
a historical baseline of 53% live coral cover for
the Caribbean; today there is less than 20%. Although
coral cover in the TCI was recorded to be 20% in 1999,
it could not be determined if this area was following the
Caribbean trend. TCI reefs are fortunate to have low algae
cover compared to the rest of the Caribbean, allowing
stronger coral recruitment and resiliency to disturbance
events.
The resiliency of the Turks & Caicos’ reef ecosystem,
particularly those surrounding South and East Caicos, is
bolstered by a relatively extensive network of marine protected
areas and low anthropogenic impact, respectively.
In total, these 34 protected zones cover an area of 705
km 2 and comprise 11 national parks, 11 nature reserves,
7 areas of historical interest, and 4 sanctuaries. The
Admiral Cockburn Land and Sea National Park is one of
these areas off the southern shore of South Caicos. The
park was designated for its excellent reef habitat and representation
of the greater TCI reef system. This area has
minimal pressure from development or tourism, providing
excellent utility as a study area to establish baselines
for TCI reef health.
The School for Field Studies Center for Marine
Resource Studies (SFS CMRS) is located in South Caicos
and ideally situated to study and monitor local reef systems.
SFS is a US-based academic institution that provides
multidisciplinary, field-based environmental study abroad
opportunities to undergraduate university students.
East Caicos is the TCI’s largest uninhabited island
and lies to the north of South Caicos. The reefs of East
Caicos are important historic fishing grounds yet are
largely without survey or assessment. This past August
the TC Reef Fund, in cooperation with Explorer Ventures
and funded through an EU BEST 2.0 Swift Small Grant
(“Understanding East Caicos KBA’s Corals and Coasts:
A Key to Safeguarding TCI’s Future”), hosted scientists
aboard the Turks & Caicos Explorer II, including SFS CMRS
faculty Dr. Franziska Elmer, to conduct the first mapping
and habitat surveys of the area.
East Caicos’ coral reefs are not within a protected
area, though the island’s remoteness, uninhabited status,
and limited history of commercial and agricultural use
School for Field Studies staff and students conduct underwater
assessments of permanent transects at South Caicos reef sites.
have protected the marine ecosystems from significant
degradation and make it ideal for comparison to other
systems around the TCI.
Benthic surveys of South Caicos reefs have been completed
by SFS staff and students in the fall and spring
for the past six years. Ten permanent transects are surveyed
and photographed. Coral Point Count with Excel
Extensions (CPCe) was used to analyze photos by identifying
species under randomly selected points. Over 44,000
spatially random points on the photographs were analyzed.
This year the survey of local reefs was expanded to
include East Caicos. Similar to South, 49,500 points were
surveyed along transects on the north side of East Caicos.
Data was grouped into live coral (stony corals), soft
corals (gorgonians), sponges, algae (macro and coralline),
and unsettled substrate (sand, pavement and rubble).
We observed a slight decline in live coral cover on South
Caicos from 2015 to 2018, though this difference was
found to not be significant. East Caicos averaged 12%
live coral cover as compared to South Caicos’ 4% live
coral cover. Conversely, East Caicos was found to have
significantly greater macro algae cover as compared to
South Caicos, which featured more bare rock and rubble
substrate. The presence of bare substrate without
HEIDI HERTLER
Times of the Islands Winter 2018/19 35