Assessing Effects of Sediment Delivery to Coral Reefs: A Caribbean Watershed Perspective

Abstract

Coral reefs in the western Atlantic and Caribbean are deteriorating primarily from disease outbreaks, increasing seawater temperatures, and stress due to land-based sources of pollutants including sediments associated with land use and dredging. Sediments affect corals in numerous ways including smothering, abrasion, shading, and inhibition of coral recruitment. Sediment delivery resulting in deposition and water quality deterioration can cause degradation at the spatial scale of corals or entire reefs. We still lack rigorous long-term studies of coral cover and community composition before, during and after major sediment stress, and evidence of recovery after watershed management actions. Here we present an overview of the effects of terrestrial sediments on corals and coral reefs, with recent advances in approaches to watershed assessment relevant to the delivery of sediments to these ecosystems. We present case studies of northeastern Caribbean watersheds to illustrate challenges and possible solutions and to draw conclusions about the current state of knowledge of sediment effects on coral reefs. With a better understanding of erosion and the pathways of sediment discharge to nearshore reefs, there is the increased potential for management interventions.

Kecenderungan Perkembangan Kota Ambon: Dampaknya Terhadap Kualitas Lingkungan Pesisir Teluk Ambon Dan Kerentanannya Terhadap Bahaya Terkait Dengan Kenaikan Muka Laut

“…Apabila lahan datar tersebut dikelilingi oleh kawasan perbukitan maka kawasan pemukiman tersebut berkembang kekawasan perbukitan dengan membuka lahan di kawasan perbukitan tersebut. Efek dari pembukaan lahan dari kawasan hutan atau bervegetasi lebat menjadi kawasan pemukiman adalah peningkatan aliran air permukaan dengan akibat ikutannya adalah peningkatan erosi di daratan dan peningkatan suplai muatan sedimen ke perairan pesisir melalui aliran sungai (Daramola et al, 2022;Patil & Nataraja, 2020;Rogers & Ramos-Scharron, 2022;Oelsner & Stets, 2019;Otano-Cruz et al, 2017;UNEP, n.d.). Meningkatnya muatan sedimen yang masuk ke perairan teluk tersebut tentu memengaruhi kualitas lingkungan, baik lingkungan fisik maupun lingkungan hayati.…”

“…Meningkatnya muatan sedimen yang masuk ke perairan teluk tersebut tentu memengaruhi kualitas lingkungan, baik lingkungan fisik maupun lingkungan hayati. Peningkatan muatan sedimen di dalam kolom air di perairan pesisir dapat menurunkan kualitas lingkungan bahkan kematian organisme di dalamnya (Rogers & Ramos-Scharron, 2022; Otano-Cruz et al, 2017; Gillespie, 2007; UNEP, n.d.).…”

Transcriptomic signatures across a critical sedimentation threshold in a major reef-building coral

“…Wetland and stream destruction by coastal development have further increased sedimentation impacts on near-shore reefs in Guam (Scheman et al ., 2002; Wolanski et al ., 2003; Minton, Burdick and Brown, 2022). Increasing erosion of soils and resulting near-shore sedimentation is a wide-spread problem globally, leading to a decline in diversity and ecosystem services provided by coral reefs (Rogers and Ramos-Scharrón, 2022).…”

Three Decades of Road and Trail Runoff andErosion Work in the Northeastern Caribbean –a Research Program Perspective

“…However, the shift from agriculture in favor of industrial and tourism-based economies since the mid-20 th century, fomented in territories like the USVI and PR, has resulted in a pattern of reforestation accompanied by urbanization (Brandeis and Oswalt, 2007;MacDonald et al, 1997;Ramos Scharrón et al, 2015), and this has generated its own set of erosion-related problems. Therefore, erosion still receives significant attention due to its relevance to natural hazards, particularly in the form of rain-triggered landslides (e.g., Bessette-Kirton et al, 2019;Lepore et al, 2012), land losses due to streambank erosion (Sturm et al, 2012), and impacts on downstream water resources through increased turbidity and sedimentation of both water reservoirs (Nagle, 2002;Soler-López, 2001) and marine environments (Brooks et al, 2007;Rogers and Ramos Scharrón, 2022;Ryan et al, 2008). Many erosion studies in the northeastern Caribbean still focus on agricultural lands (e.g., Sotomayor-Ramírez et al, 2008;Yuan et al, 2015), construction sites (Gellis et al, 2006), and landslides (Irizarri et al, 2021;Larsen, 2012) as these represent obvious sediment sources.…”

“…1) but also in other islands of the Caribbean (e.g., Saint Lucia; Bégin et al, 2014). Within the region, findings have helped to refocus watershed management strategies attempting to reduce sediment delivery to freshwater reservoirs and marine ecosystems (Carriger et al, 2013;Kitchell et al, 2021;Rogers and Ramos Scharrón, 2022). However, a review of these findings, their impacts on management, and future research needs are lacking.…”