A metagenomic-based study of two sites from the Barbadian reef system
S. Simpson et al., 2023. In Coral Reefs “We study the microbiome of sea water collected from two locations of the Barbadian coral reefs. The two sites differ in several environmental and ecological variables including their endogenous benthic community and their proximity to urban development and runoffs from inland watersheds…Although both sites exhibit a similar degree of richness, the less urbanized site (Maycocks reef at Hangman’s Bay) has a strong concentration of phototrophs whereas the more urbanized location (Bellairs reef at Folkstone) is enriched for copiotrophs, macroalgal symbionts and marine-related disease-bearing organisms from taxa scattered across the tree of life. Our results are concordant with previous profiles of warm ocean surface waters, suggesting our approach captures the state of each coral reef site, setting the stage for longitudinal studies of marine microbiome dynamics in Barbados.”
2020 Coral Reef Report Card for Barbados
PDF, posted at http://coastal.gov.bb/node/426 From the introduction to the 20-page summary document:
A coral report card for Barbados: Development, design and metadata
JA irvine et al., 2021 CERMES Technical Report No 98 “The 2020 coral reef report card for Barbados serves to collate decades of existing data into an appealing and easily understood document, to inform policy makers and the general public about the status and trends of the island’s valuable coral reefs.” 52 page PDF
Developing a benthic habitat classification scheme and island-wide map for Barbados based on remote sensing and comprehensive ground-truthing
K Baldwin et al., 2019. CERMES Technical Report No. 94, 48 pp
The demise of the coral fringing reefs of Barbados and of regions in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
Peter R. F. Bell and Tomas (Tom) Tomascikin June 1993 Conference: Proceedings of the Colloquium On Global Aspects of Coral Reefs: Health, Hazards and HistoryAt: University of Miami, Miami, USA. Abstract:The fringing reefs of Barbados are in a very poor state of development when compared with earlier descriptions. The historical data demonstrate a close correspondence between the demise of the coral reefs with increased tourism and industrial development and the resulting degradation in water quality and associated eutrophication. The studies indicate that chronic low level of eutrophication can restrict coral growth and reproduction and in doing so inhibit the recovery of damaged reefs. The virtual extinction of A. palmata in recent times indicates that it could be particularly sensitive to eutrophication. The data suggest a eutrophication threshold of 0.3 mg chlorophyll a m-3 if the demise of A. palmata is relevant which is low in comparison with the 0.5 mg chlorophyll a m-3 previously suggested for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon. The data for the GBR lagoon off Townville show that the status of eutrophication or fertility of water (as determined by chlorophyll a) is equivalent to or greater than which was associated with the demise of reefs in Barbados and Hawaii. Recent data show that the fertility (as measured by total diatom counts) of the lagoon water near Low Isles is far higher than that measured in 1928-29. The increased fertility in both GBR regions is attributed mainly to agricultural runoff. It is hypothesized that this large sale eutrophication is a significant factor in the demise of corals in the GBR lagoon and in the promotion of outbreaks of A. planci.
CORALL BARBADOS
“The MISSION of CORALL is to – “Foster the Conservation and Restoration of Coral Reef Ecosystems in Barbados for the Well Being of All.” The “All” in the mission includes all people, animals, plants, and elements in our environment, and is intrinsic to the acronym, “CORALL”. The Alliance is founded on the principles of community engagement and building capacity for the conservation and restoration of coral reefs in Barbados. This means that we can all make a very important contribution to the planet – for now and in the future.” Also on Facebook
Caribbean Marine Maps View Satellite Imagery for Barbados
The Nature Conservancy “The Nature Conservancy and partners, using innovative technologies, developed these maps to advance ocean conservation and climate adaptation for the 44 million people who call the Caribbean home.
Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit
“The Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), which was established in 1996, was developed from the original Coastal Conservation Project Unit created in 1983. Since 1983 we have sought to create one of the preeminent coastal zone management institutions in the Caribbean…The Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), which was established in 1996, was developed from the original Coastal Conservation Project Unit created in 1983. Since 1983 we have sought to create one of the preeminent coastal zone management institutions in the Caribbean.”
CORAL REEFS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT (PDF)
Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit, N.D. 4 page overview. Good description of spur and groove system of fringing reefs
An early Holocene reef in the western Atlantic: submersible investigations of a deep relict reef off the west coast of Barbados, W.I.
I. G. Macintyre et al., 1990. Coral Reefs volume 10, pages167–174 “Submersible observations and collections reveal that a probable relict reef off the west coast of Barbados has a rich cover of sponges, along with algae and scattered corals, on a substrate of algal nodules in a muddy-sand matrix. The collections provide new data on the distributions of these fauna. This relict reef is about 20 km long, has a relief of up to 10 m, and is established at a depth of 80 m. Relict shallow-water features in other areas at similar depths along with data from core holes drilled off the south coast of Barbados suggest that this reef was probably established about 12,000 years ago and existed for no more than 2,000 years, during the Holocene sea-level transgression.”
The coral reefs and coral communities of Barbados, W.I.
John B. Lewis. Can. J. Zwl. Vol. 38 (1960). A Classic. The full paper is available here
Google Scholar: Articles by Hazel Oxenford
H.O. is Professor of fisheries and marine ecology at UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados. I think most would regard her as the leading researcher on coral reefs in Barbados today, inheriting that mantle from John. B. Lewis. Many research papers and other articles related to coral reefs in Barbados authored or co-authored by H.O. are cited with links to them on Google Scholar.
Mapping the return of acroporid corals on fringing reefs along the west coast of Barbados
R. MACLEAN AND H.A. OXENFORD, 2016. Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), The University of the West Indies,
Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
Baseline survey of coral reefs within the Folkestone Marine Reserve, St. James, Barbados
Blackman, K. and R. Goodridge. 2009. Report No. 5 of the Community-based Coral Reef Monitoring and Management Project. 27pp.
Switching between standard coral reef benthic monitoring protocols is complicated: proof of concept
Henri Vallès, Hazel A. Oxenford and Alex Henderson. 2019. Article in PeerJ · December 2019 PDF available here
Barbados Country Profile
A. Peterson et al., 2014.Future of Reefs in a Changing Environment: an ecosystem approach to managing Caribbean coral reefs in the face of climate change: CERMES Technical Report No 69
Barbados Pocket Guide – Corals
Lists popular reefs and wrecks
Maintaining Million-Dollar Reefs and Beaches in Barbados and Beyond
Richard Waite and Lauretta Burke for World Resources Institute, December 19, 2017. “People pay a lot to visit coral reefs and beaches. But will they pay a bit more to protect these ecosystems?”. YES, according to the article
The Ins and Outs of Barbados 2014
Tourist Guide, lots of info. about the island, the culture, the reefs…
Impacts of landuse and runoff water quality on coral reef environments in Barbados
Marko Tosic 2007 Thesis for: Master of Science The effects of terrestrial runoff on the Bellairs fringing reef environment were assessed by a study of water quality.
Hunte W, Allard P. Temporal changes in coral reef communities on the west and south coasts of
Barbados: 1982–1992. Bellairs Research Institute for the Coastal Conservation Project Unit of the Government of Barbados and the Inter-American Development Bank, Washington, DC, 1994. 61pp. ” Hunte and Allard [61] found that the abundance of P. porites on Barbados fringing reefs was higher at increased eutrophication levels. Branching corals such as P. porites rely on fragmentation as their principal mode of propagation. It is thought that fragmentation occurs more easily under eutrophic conditions. They suggested that increased bioerosion may be partly responsible for community shifts towards branching corals in polluted waters. Rose and Risk [62] found similar results with Cliona infestations of live Montastrea cavernosa heads in Grand Cayman. Risk et al. [63] suggested that distinctive cross-continental shelf patterns of bioerosion (by sponges and bivalves) in Porites and Acropora on the Great Barrier Reef were explained primarily by increasing organic input with proximity to the mainland. Cited in Dulcie M. Linton*, George F. Warner, 2003. Biological indicators in the Caribbean coastal zone and their role in integrated coastal management.
Tomascik T, Sander F. Effects of eutrophication on reef-building corals. III. Reproduction of the reef-building coral Porites porites. Marine Biology 1987;94:77–94.
Positive interactions between corals and damselfish increase coral resistance to temperature stress
AA Shantz et al., 2023. In Global Change Biology. ” When exposed to thermal stress, corals with fish performed as well as control corals maintained at ambient temperatures without fish. In contrast, corals exposed to thermal stress without fish experienced photophysiological impairment, a more than 50% decline in endosymbiont density, and a 36% decrease in tissue protein content…”
A metagenomic-based study of two sites from the Barbadian reef system
S Simpson et al. Preprint 2021 “Abstract
We study the microbiome of sea water collected from two locations of the Barbadian coral reefs. The two sites differ in several environmental and ecological variables including their endogenous benthic community in addition to their proximity to urban development and runoffs from inland watersheds. The composition of the microbial community was estimated using whole genome DNA shotgun sequencing. Although both sites exhibit a similar degree of richness, the less urbanized site (Maycocks reef at Hangman’s Bay) is strongly concentrated with phototrophs. In comparison, the more urbanized location (Bellairs Research Institute) is enriched for copiotrophs, macroalgal symbionts and marine-related disease-bearing organisms from taxa scattered across the tree of life. Overall, our samples and associated measurements of chemical and environmental qualities of the water are in line with previous marine microbiome profiles of warm ocean surface waters. This suggests our approach captures salient information regarding the state of each coral reef site and sets the stage for larger longitudinal studies of coral reef dynamics in Barbados.”
McGill Theses
Many theses, fully available listed under tis seacrh of the McGill University Livrary
CERMES technical Reports
Many relevant items fully available (CERMES is the Center for Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados.)
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