The caribbean coastal marine productivity program (CARICOMP)

CARICOMP is a regional scientific program to study land-sea interaction processes in the Caribbean coastal zone. It has been collecting data since 1992, when a Data Management Centre was established at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica. Initially it focuses on documenting the structure and productivity of major coastal communities (mangrove forests, seagrass meadows and coral reefs) at relatively undisturbed sites in diverse physical settings. Second, by regular recording of physical and biological parameters, it monitors for change, seeking to distinguish natural from anthropogenic disturbance. Third, it constitutes a regional network of observers, able to collaborate on studies of region-wide events. Examples are presented of the diverse data sets collected by the Program.Fil: Alcolado, Pedro M.. Instituto de Oceanología; CubaFil: Alleng, Gerard. No especifíca;Fil: Bonair, Kurt. No especifíca;Fil: Bone, David. Universidad Simón Bolívar; VenezuelaFil: Buchan, Kenneth. No especifíca;Fil: Bush, Phillippe G.. Protection and Conservation Unit; Islas CaimánFil: De Meyer, Kalli. No especifíca;Fil: Garcia, Jorge R.. Universidad de Puerto Rico; Puerto RicoFil: Garzón Ferreira, Jaime. Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras; ColombiaFil: Gayle, Peter M. H.. Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory; JamaicaFil: Gerace, Donald T.. Bahamian Field Station; BahamasFil: Geraldes, Francisco X.. Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo.; República DominicanaFil: Dahlgren, Eric Jordán. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Kjferve, Björn. University of South Carolina; Estados UnidosFil: Klein, Eduardo. Universidad Simón Bolívar; VenezuelaFil: Koltes, Karen. Smithsonian Institution; Estados UnidosFil: Laydoo, Richard S.. No especifíca;Fil: Linton, Dulcie M.. University of the West Indies ; JamaicaFil: Ogden, John C.. Florida Institute of Oceanography; Estados UnidosFil: Oxenford, Hazel A.. McGill University; BarbadosFil: Parker, Christoph. McGill University; BarbadosFil: Penchaszadeh, Pablo Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia"; ArgentinaFil: Pors, Leon P. P. J.. Universidad Simón Bolívar; VenezuelaFil: Ramírez Ramírez, Javier. Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados. Departamento de Física; MéxicoFil: Ruiz Rentería, Francisco. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; MéxicoFil: Ryan, Joseph D.. Centro de Investigación y Documentación de la Costa Atlántica; NicaraguaFil: Smith, Struan R.. Bermuda Biological Station for Research; BermudasFil: Tschirky, John. Latin American and Caribbean Division; Estados UnidosFil: Varela, Ramon. Estación de Investigaciones Marinas de Margarita; VenezuelaFil: Walker, Susan. No especifíca;Fil: Weil, Ernesto. Universidad de Puerto Rico; Puerto RicoFil: Wiebe, William J.. University of Georgia; Estados UnidosFil: Woodley, Jeremy D.. University of the West Indies; JamaicaFil: Zieman, Joseph C.. University of Virginia; Estados Unido

Caribbean-Wide, Long-Term Study of Seagrass Beds Reveals Local Variations, Shifts in Community Structure and Occasional Collapse

The CARICOMP monitoring network gathered standardized data from 52 seagrass sampling stations at 22 sites (mostly Thalassia testudinum-dominated beds in reef systems) across the Wider Caribbean twice a year over the period 1993 to 2007 (and in some cases up to 2012). Wide variations in community total biomass (285 to >2000 g dry m−2) and annual foliar productivity of the dominant seagrass T. testudinum (2000 g dry m−2) were found among sites. Solar-cycle related intra-annual variations in T. testudinum leaf productivity were detected at latitudes > 16°N. Hurricanes had little to no long-term effects on these well-developed seagrass communities, except for 1 station, where the vegetation was lost by burial below ∼1 m sand. At two sites (5 stations), the seagrass beds collapsed due to excessive grazing by turtles or sea-urchins (the latter in combination with human impact and storms). The low-cost methods of this regional-scale monitoring program were sufficient to detect long-term shifts in the communities, and fifteen (43%) out of 35 long-term monitoring stations (at 17 sites) showed trends in seagrass communities consistent with expected changes under environmental deterioration.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR

Deviations from general mean leaf productivity (ΔP) of <i>Thalassia testudinum</i> per station during High growth season (May-September at site 1 and 2, March –August at all other sites) and Low growth season (October-April at sites 1 and 2, September-February at all other sites).

<p>See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600.s006" target="_blank">Table S4</a> for significance differences of ΔP. Only stations with at least 10 sampling events were included. Numbers above the X-axis indicate site number, and the minor ticks indicate the different sampling stations at those sites.</p

Total (above- and below-ground) biomass of the principal components of the community per sampling station grouped per site.

<p>Other grass: species of seagrass other than <i>Thalassia testudinum</i>, mostly <i>Syringodium filiforme</i>. Somatic (decalcified) above-ground weight of the calcareous algae is considered. The boxes and bars represent inter-annual variation, and stations with only one sampling event are excluded. The digits above the bars in the bottom graph indicate N (the number of sampling years). M median of fleshy algae at site 5-station 13. See legend of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone-0090600-g002" target="_blank">Fig. 2</a> for further explanation.</p

Annual leaf productivity of <i>Thalassia testudinum</i> per sampling station.

<p>The stations are grouped per site (underlined, 1–6 stations per site), and stations only sampled during one season are excluded. The boxes and vertical bars represent inter-annual variation. The horizontal lines correspond with the median values, 50% of the cases are within the box limits and the vertical bars indicate the smallest or largest values that are not outliers, • represent values more than 1.5 box lengths from lower/upper box limit, and * represent values more than 3 box-lengths from lower/upper box limit. The digits above the bars indicate N (the number of sampling years). Grey bars represent stations that were not included in the long-term analysis.</p

Significant long-term trends in seagrass attributes and community parameters at CARICOMP monitoring stations across the nine sites that showed changes consistent with deterioration of the environmental conditions.

<p>The broken smoothed lines connect annual average values and serve to illustrate the inter-annual variability in the data. Data from all samples per year (N = 4-9, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600.s005" target="_blank">Table S3</a>) were used to determine the regression lines (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600.s008" target="_blank">Table S6</a>). D. For Site14, the relationship was determined for the more persistent <i>Syringodium filiforme</i>.</p

Map of CARICOMP seagrass sites, ordered according to latitude.

<p>1. Bermuda, 2. USA-Long Key, 3. Bahamas-San Salvador, 4. Cuba-Cayo Coco, 5. Mexico-Puerto Morelos, 6. Mexico-Celestun, 7. Cayman Islands-Grand Cayman, 8. Jamaica-Discovery Bay, 9. Dominican Republic-Parque Nacional Este, 10. Puerto Rico-La Parguera, 11. Belize-Turneffe Island, 12. Belize-Twin Cays/Carrie Bow Cay, 13. Colombia-Isla Providencia, 14. Barbados-St. Lawrence, 15. Colombia-Isla San Andres, 16. Curaçao-Spaanse Water, 17. Colombia-Chengue Bay, 18. Tobago-Bon Accord Lagoon, 19. Venezuela-Isla de Margarita, 20. Venezuela-Morrocoy, 21. Costa Rica-Cahuita, 22. Panama-Isla de Colon.</p

Long-term trends at CARICOMP seagrass stations, including observations on disturbances.

<p>Biomass: total above-ground biomass of the community; Rel abund: relative abundance (biomass) of faster growing seagrass and algal species; Other seagrass: seagrass species other than <i>Thalassia testudinum</i> (mostly <i>Syringodium filiforme</i>); % Above/Total Biomass: percentage of above-ground of total biomass of <i>T. testudinum</i> (<i>S. filiforme</i> for site 14, because <i>T. testudinum</i> was absent in later years at station 33); Productivity: productivity of leaves of <i>T. testudinum</i>. ??? Collapse of seagrass bed, * seagrass beds showed changes that potentially indicate with human-induced environmental deterioration. Trends: <b>I</b> increase, <b>D</b> decrease, n without change, - not determined, <b>^N</b> expected change due to increasing nutrient load, <b>^T</b> expected change due to increasing turbidity, <b>^NT</b> expected change due to either increasing turbidity or nutrient load, changes without symbol were not consistent with expectations of water quality deterioration (See text for further explanation). Conditions at the beginning of monitoring: PRIST (relatively) pristine (undisturbed by humans); INT Moderate disturbance; DIST Disturbed (eutrophication, terrestrial runoff, or overfishing, from <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-CARICOMP1" target="_blank">[26]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-CARICOMP2" target="_blank">[29]</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-JordnDahlgren1" target="_blank">[47]</a>). See <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600.s008" target="_blank">Table S6</a> for information on regression lines. Source: 1. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Murdoch1" target="_blank">[48]</a>, 2. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Fourqurean5" target="_blank">[49]</a>, 3. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Szmant1" target="_blank">[50]</a>, 4. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Fourqurean6" target="_blank">[51]</a>, 5. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-CARICOMP2" target="_blank">[29]</a>, 6. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Carruthers1" target="_blank">[52]</a>, 7. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-RodrguezMartnez1" target="_blank">[33]</a>, 8. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-VanTussenbroek2" target="_blank">[53]</a>, 9. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Davis1" target="_blank">[38]</a>, 10. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Koltes1" target="_blank">[44]</a>, 11. Pers. Obs. K. Koltes, 12.Pers.Obs. H.A Oxenford, 13. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-RodrguezRamrez1" target="_blank">[54]</a>, 14. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-RodriguezRamrez1" target="_blank">[55]</a>, 15. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Fonseca2" target="_blank">[56]</a>, 16. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-Corts1" target="_blank">[57]</a>, 17. <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0090600#pone.0090600-DCroz1" target="_blank">[58]</a>.</p

Widespread local chronic stressors in Caribbean coastal habitats

Coastal ecosystems and the livelihoods they support are threatened by stressors acting at global and local scales. Here we used the data produced by the Caribbean Coastal Marine Productivity program (CARICOMP), the longest, largest monitoring program in the wider Caribbean, to evidence local-scale (decreases in water quality) and global-scale (increases in temperature) stressors across the basin. Trend analyses showed that visibility decreased at 42% of the stations, indicating that local-scale chronic stressors are widespread. On the other hand, only 18% of the stations showed increases in water temperature that would be expected from global warming, partially reflecting the limits in detecting trends due to inherent natural variability of temperature data. Decreases in visibility were associated with increased human density. However, this link can be decoupled by environmental factors, with conditions that increase the flush of water, dampening the effects of human influence. Besides documenting environmental stressors throughout the basin, our results can be used to inform future monitoring programs, if the desire is to identify stations that provide early warning signals of anthropogenic impacts. All CARICOMP environmental data are now available, providing an invaluable baseline that can be used to strengthen research, conservation, and management of coastal ecosystems in the Caribbean basin.UCR::Vicerrectoría de Investigación::Unidades de Investigación::Ciencias Básicas::Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Limnología (CIMAR