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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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CSI papers 1
Land Based Pollution, Reef Health and Nearshore Sediment Production on Oceanic Islands: a Barbados Case Study
Robert I. Bateson and Malcolm D. Hendry,
Marine Resource and Environmental Management Program, University
of the West Indies, Barbados
Abstract
Between the 1970s and the 1990s, deterioration in the ambient nearshore water quality resulted in changes in the benthic ecology of west coast fringing reefs of Barbados. Reduction in the abundance of reef forming organisms, namely corals and coralline algae, as well as mass mortality of the grazing urchin (Daidema antillarum), and increases in macroalgal cover has resulted in dramatic changes to the sediment budget. Calculations suggest that on the north Bellairs fringing reef, calcification has declined to 17% of its 1970's level, whilst bioerosion has remained at a constant level. This has resulted in bioerosion now exceeding calcification, a reversal of the 1970's situation. Data from other west coast fringing reefs suggest that this is indicative of the condition along that coast. A sustained imbalance between reef bioerosion and construction will lead to a decline in sediment generation, the potential loss of reef structure and increased hydrodynamic activity at the shoreline. Medium to long-term changes in associated beach cells are expected, with accelerated modification if impacted by severe storm events.
This paper was published in a peer reviewed journal
