Abstract
Surveys of benthic marine habitats encompassing 1814.7 ha and lining 90% of Dominica's shoreline were carried out to build the first composite picture of the distribution and size of the island's near-shore sublittoral habitats, and the epibenthic communities they harbor. Field survey sites covered areas ranging from 1425 to 29.6 ha, lining the shore in bands ranging between 50 and 250 m in width, in waters no deeper than 30 m. Thus a total of 755 ha of benthos were surveyed in October and November of 2007. The benthic habitat composition of an additional 1059.7 ha was inferred with the help of unpublished data and satellite imagery. Seagrass beds were the most widespread organism-built habitat type with 265 ha. Coral reefs covered 72.2 ha. Both of these habitats were predominantly established along the West and North coasts, which included the island's most habitat-diverse regions. Rocky environments (911.5 ha) dominated the East and South coast and together with sandy areas (566 ha) constituted 81% of the island's marine benthos. It is apparent that seagrass beds, which include four native and one invasive seagrass species, had not been surveyed as previous distribution reports could not be confirmed. Similarly, the benthic cover of Dominica's coral reefs is evidently far below the previously reported 7000 ha. Such discrepancies highlight the advantage of environmental assessments based on field surveys and systematic data compilation, particularly in cases like Dominica where a narrow island shelf stages marginal marine resources in spatial proximity to each other and human settlements. This study has demonstrated how low-tech field methods can be applied on an island-wide scale to build an inventory of marine resources in the form of habitat maps and data repositories publicly accessible for future use. In the absence of such efforts, the development of conservation measures and status reports will remain ill founded.
Highlights
Prior to this study, a comprehensive large-scale quantitative survey of the coastal marine habitats had not been carried out in Dominica, leaving over 90% of the island’s near shore waters un-assessed
This study reduces the abovementioned information gaps by: (1) identifying the principal benthic marine habitats found along Dominica’s shoreline; (2) categorizing the habitats using common biotic and abiotic attributes applicable in island-wide field surveys; (3) determining the geographic distribution and size of each habitat type in order to (4) build a composite picture of Dominica’s near shore benthos as context for both previous studies and a reference point for future studies
All but one seagrass bed and most coral reefs were found along the western (Fig. 2a-2c) and northern regions (Fig. 2d), which contained 88% of the island’s sandy environments
Summary
A comprehensive large-scale quantitative survey of the coastal marine habitats had not been carried out in Dominica, leaving over 90% of the island’s near shore waters un-assessed. In the absence of quantitative distinctions between common and rare habitats, decisions as to whether or not priority shall be given to conservation measures aimed at the larger or the smaller epibenthic communities were not an option Despite these information gaps, status reports including the distribution and condition of Dominica’s benthic sublittoral resources continue to be written (Bruke & Maidens 2004, Gov. of Dominica 2005) without supporting field investigations, and become the basis for the development of local environmental policy. The population has gradually declined since the early 1900’s and is currently at approximately 71 000 (2002 Census Report, Gov. of Dominica), urban development along coastal zones is growing as Dominicans are moving away from the mountainous interior of the island, abandoning agricultural and self-sustaining lifestyles This is resulting in an increased infrastructural and consumer footprint in the form of larger concrete houses with comparatively fewer inhabitants and a greater dependency on industrially manufactured imported goods. Low-tech field methods, local knowledge, and the systematic compilation of published and unpublished field data form the foundations of this study, to demonstrate its applicability in regions where financial and technical support for large scale habitat assessments are limited
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