A Conceptual Framework to Develop Long-Term Ecological Research and Management Objectives in the Wider Caribbean Region
Authors: Victor H. Rivera-Monroy1; Robert R. Twilley2; David Bone3; Daniel L. Childers4; Carlos Coronado- Molina5; Ilka C. Feller6; Jorge Herrera-Silveira7; Rudolf Jaffe8; Ernesto Mancera9; Eliska Rejmankova10; Joseph E. Salisbury11; Ernesto Weil12
Source: BioScience, Volume 54, Number 9, 1 September 2004 , pp. 843-856(14)
Publisher: American Institute of Biological Sciences
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Abstract:
The Caribbean Sea and its watersheds show signs of environmental degradation. These fragile coastal ecosystems are susceptible to environmental impacts, in part because of their oligotrophic conditions and their critical support of economic development. Tourism is one of the major sources of income in the Caribbean, making the region one of the most ecotourism dependent in the world. Yet there are few explicit, long-term, comprehensive studies describing the structure and function of Caribbean ecosystems. We propose a conceptual framework using the environmental signature hypothesis of tropical coastal settings to develop a series of research questions for the reef–sea-grass–wetland seascape. We applied this approach across 13 sites throughout the region, including ecosystems in a variety of coastal settings with different vulnerabilities to environmental impacts. This approach follows the strategy developed by the Long Term Ecological Research program of the National Science Foundation to establish ecological research questions best studied over decades and large spatial areas.Keywords: CARIBBEAN; EUTROPHICATION; LTER (LONG-TERM ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH); COASTAL SETTINGS; HUMAN INFLUENCE
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: 1: Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504 and Department of Biology at the University of Louisiana 10: Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA 95616. 11: Ocean Processes Analysis Laboratory, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824. 12: Marine Sciences Department, University of Puerto Rico, Lajas, Puerto Rico 00667. 2: Center for Ecology and Environmental Technology, University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA 70504, Wetland Biogeochemistry Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 and Department of Biology at the University of Louisiana 3: Universidad Simón Bolívar, Instituto de Tecnologia y Ciencias Marinas, Caracas 1080-A, Venezuela. 4: Department of Biological Sciences and the Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199. 5: South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL 33416. 6: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD 21037 7: Centro de Investigaciónes y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional (CINVESTAV-IPN), Unidad Mérida, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico 97310. 8: Department of Chemistry and director of the Southeast Environmental Research Center, Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199. 9: Instituto de Investigaciones Tropicales, Universidad del Magdalena, Santa Marta, Colombia.
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