CERMES (Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados) describe 3 zones in the Barbados Fringing Reefs (Baldwin et al., 2019; Maclean and Oxenford, 2016):
Reef Flat: Closest to shore: eroded reef framework with macro- and turf algae
Crest and coalesced spur zone: Middle segment: solid reef (no grooves): macroalgae with fire corals (Millepora spp). Porites spp., P. clivosa and some A. palmata regrowth
Coral spur and grove zone: Seaward edge: living coral spurs and sand grooves
The CERMES Reef Flat zone is equivalent to the Reef Flat and the Diploria-Palythoa zones combined in Lewis (1960)
The CERMES Crest and coalesced spur zone is more or less equivalent to the Reef Crest Zone in Lewis (1960); Lewis includes a portion of the grooves; his definition relies of the slope of the bottom – it ends (and the Seaward Slope begins) when, proceeding seaward, the bottom starts to slope downward.
The CERMES Coral spur and grove zone is equivalent to the Seaward Slope Zone in Lewis (1960) but inlcudes some of the Reef Crest zone of Lewis as described above.
In the CERMES classification, Fringing Reefs are less than 5 m depth, and their definition of “Fringing Reef” applies essentially to physically continuous structures out to 5 m depth. Lewis adds a “Reef Front” zone, which lies just outside of the continuous structures and extends to the beginning of his Deep Water Communities, which he described as another zone; Lewis’s invesigtaions extended seaward to approx. 30 m depth.
The three CERMES zones are in general, readily distinguished in aerial photos of the coastal zone.
REFS
Developing a benthic habitat classification scheme and island-wide map for Barbados based on remote sensing and comprehensive ground-truthing
By K. BALDWIN, H.A. OXENFORD, S. PURKIS AND L. KNOWLESCERMES 2019. Technical Report No. 94
Mapping the return of acroporid corals on fringing reefs along the west coast of Barbados
by R. MACLEAN AND H.A. OXENFORD 2016. CERMES Technical Report No 80