STATE OF THE CORAL REEFS IN TOBAGO By Rachael Amoroso Junior Research Fellow INSTITUTE OF MARINE AFFAIRS
STATE OF THE CORAL REEFS IN TOBAGO
By Rachael Amoroso
Junior Research Fellow
INSTITUTE OF MARINE AFFAIRS
WHAT ARE CORAL REEFS
Corals
Corals are
animals
Polyps contain
zooxanthellae
Hard
corals
Soft corals
Slow
growing
IMPORTANCE OF CORAL REEFS
• Essential source of food to coastal
communities
• Source of income through
• Direct tourism –diving tours, hotels,
restaurants, transportation, retail
etc
• Indirect tourism – services
provided to those involved in direct
tourism
• Buffer shorelines from erosion
• Source of potential medicines
THREATS TO CORAL REEFS
Man-made threats
• Climate change
• Sea temperature rise
• Ocean acidification (lowered pH)
• Sea level rise
• Pollution
• Sedimentation
• Runaway tourism
• Overfishing
• Invasive species
• Lionfish
Natural threats
• Weather events
• Coral disease
• Human activities exacerbating
natural occurring disease
Flickr.com
Photolib.NOAA.gov
Flickr.com
STATUS OF THE REEFS
Healthy
reef with
high coral
cover,
Culloden
Tobago
Low coral cover,
Outer reef
Buccoo
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
OR WR CUE CUW
Mea
n %
co
ver
Hard coral cover at 4 reefs in Tobago
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Sponge eroding coral
POTENTIAL CHANGES TO REEFS
CORAL DISEASESBlack-band disease
Aspergillosis in soft corals
Yellow-band disease
Dark spot disease
CORAL DISEASES
Pifs.NOAA.gov
Underwater transects
MSC colony infected with yellow-band
disease
Healthy mountainous star coral
•THANK YOU•
INFORMATION CENTRE Tel: 634-4291 ext. 2406 or 2408
E-Mail: [email protected] or [email protected] ima.gov.tt
@IMACHAG