Buccoo Reef Case Study
Buccoo Reef Case Study
Buccoo Reef Case Study
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Buccoo reef
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In this case study:
Section 1
In 1998, Richard Laydoo, Kurt Bonair and Gerard Alleng authored a paper on the ecology and coral
reef ecosystem of the Buccoo Reef and Bon Accord Lagoon in Tobago. 1 This paper, together with work
undertaken by the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) to formulate a management plan for the Buccoo
Reef Marine Park, 2 provide the majority of information for the sections dealing with location, and
biodiversity.
Location
The Buccoo Reef is located on the leeward southwest coast of Tobago between 11o08’N and 11o12’N latitude
and 60o40’W and 60o51’W longitude. Buccoo Reef comprises five emergent fringing reefs, a shallow sandy
lagoon with a patchy distribution of coral communities, and an adjacent sheltered lagoon (Bon Accord Lagoon).
Together these cover an area of 7km2.
The reef flats are generally characterized by narrow seaward reef crests and a more extensive back reef toward
the reef lagoon. Between the reef flats are sandy bottom channels, the widest and deepest is the Deep Channel
located between the Western and Northern Reefs. The fore reef is most extensive in the northern part of the reef
system, and here it slopes to depths of 10 to 15m in depth. West of the reef flats the fore reef slopes to a depth
of 20m; to the east the fore reef slopes to a depth of 15m. The Bon Accord Lagoon is located to the south of the
Nylon Pool and to the west of the Eastern Reef Flat. The lagoon is poorly flushed, and the water in the lagoon
circulates every 2 to 5 days.
!Figure 1: Map of Buccoo Reef Ecosystem Adapted from Laydoo et al. (1998)
1 Richard Laydoo, Kurt Bonair and Gerard Alleng, “ Buccoo Reef and Bon Accord Lagoon, Tobago, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago”,
The Buccoo Reef is a fringing reef. Fringing reefs are relatively young coral reefs that grow close to the shore;
they grow upwards to sea level or just below and outwards toward the open oceans. Buccoo Reef is of Holocene
origin, and lies on a Pleistocene carbonate platform which is similar to the terrestrial geology of the low lying
south-western region of Tobago. 8
3 G.J. Edgar and Steve Parish, “Coral Reef Fact, Great Barrier Reef interesting facts about the reef”, Autstralian Marine Life,
http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/coralfacts.htm
4 Teresa Zubi, “Coral Reefs: Reef Formation”, http://www.starfish.ch/reef/reef.html
5 Ibid
6 Science Clarified, “Biology of corals, Formation of coral reefs”, http://www.scienceclarified.com/Ci-Co/Coral.html
7 TDE, “Tobago Diving Temperatures and Visibility Table”, Tobago Dive Experience, http://www.tobagodiveexperience.com/tde/temperature.aspx
8 Laydoo et al. 1998
!
Figure 2: The zones profile of a typical coral reef Source: Carothers (2007)
Oceanography
This section draws heavily on J.S. Kenny’s studies of the Buccoo Reef/ bon Accord Complex.
Buccoo Reef is exposed to the prevailing North East trade winds for most of the year, except for periods in the
dry season (January to May) when the prevailing wind direction is westerly. As a result, the Outer and Eastern
Reef flats are subject to high wind and wave energy particularly in the dry season when the winds are stronger.
During November and December strong oceanic swells are common, and the north-eastern fringe of the reef
experiences high wave action.
Water movement in the Buccoo Reef is wind-driven and generally westerly, with some reversal in the Bon
Accord Lagoon and the south west channel near Pigeon Point during flood tide. Surface circulation to the west
of Buccoo Reef is apparently more influenced by north-westerly water movement between Trinidad and
Tobago. 9 Discharges from the Orinoco River reduce the salinity and increase the turbidity of this water during
the wet season, which reduce light availability needed for coral growth. 10 However, this chronic seasonal stress
has not prevented the development of massive and biologically diverse reef formations in the Buccoo Reef. 11
9 Ibid
10 Brain E. Lapointe, “Impacts of land-based nutrient pollution on coral reefs of Tobago”, (Prepared for Buccoo Reef Trust, 2003).
11 Ibid
Biodiversity
Coral Reefs
Various coral communities exist in the Buccoo Reef area, and the diversity of the area is dependent on spatial
characteristics of the reef such as water depth, slope of the substrate and wave action.
Along the fore reef, the coral community is stratified according to depth. On the shallow forereef areas (2 to
6m depth) the elkhorn coral is common, although much of this coral is dead standing elkhorn coral skeletons or
rubble. Star coral (which is more wave resistant than other coral types) is also present here.12 In deeper areas of
the fore reef, large colonies of brain coral, starlet coral and star coral dominate the reef. In the deepest areas of
the fore reef, colonies of leaf coral, gorgonians and sponges are common.
A number of small coral formations characterised by one or few species, occur throughout the shallow backreef
lagoon and the Bon Accord Lagoon. The coral formation in the northern areas of the backreef lagoon comprises
large boulder-like reefs of star coral and brain coral, in association with sea fans.
The formations in the western areas of the backreef lagoon consist of thickets of staghorn coral. In the eastern
areas the coral formations also comprise staghorn coral as well as fire coral. To the south and in Bon Accord
Lagoon, patches of finger coral occur in association with a calcareous green alga.
Figure 3: Coral Reefs Figure 4: Seagrass Beds Figure 5: Fish & Marine Animals
Note: Some taxa may contain more species than indicated in the table.
16 IMA (1994)
Section 2
In 2008, a report 17 was produced by Lauretta Burke, Suzie Greenhalgh, Daniel Prager and Emily Cooper
based on an economic valuation of coral reefs in Tobago and St. Lucia. The valuation project was led by
the World Resources Institute, in close collaboration with IMA, Buccoo Reef Trust, CANARI and UWI.
The report provides much of the information that was used in Section 2. Some important economic find-
ings of the report are presented as “Revenue Sheets”.
The next section will apply the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment18(MA) Conceptual Framework to the
Buccoo Reef ecosystem to help examine some of the benefits and services that the Buccoo Reef ecosystem
provides; to look at some of the problems affecting the reef; and to look at how some of these problems are
being solved. The MA conceptual framework will also help us to examine the links between human wellbeing,
the benefits and services that the reef provides, and the problems affecting the reef.
Box 1:
Parts of Millennium
Ecosystem Assessment
Conceptual Framework
Box 2
Local residents also utilize the reefs for recreational purposes. Many Trinidadians visit Tobago for vacation
several times in any one year. A survey undertaken by the University of the West Indies of local residents’
use of reefs and coralline beaches estimated a contribution between TT $78 and 264 million to annual GDP.
Box 3
19 Richard Laydoo, “The Forereef Slopes of the Buccoo Reef Complex, Tobago”, Technical Report IMA Trinidad, 1985.
20 Chris Bentley, “Effects of Reef Isolation on the rapid colonisation of Artificial Reefs by fishes on Buccoo Reef, Tobago, West Indies”,
Information from consultations with stakeholders including staff of the Fisheries Division, the Buccoo Reef
Trust, the head of the Tobago Fisherfolk Association, several fishermen, and Tobago Live (a fish exporter),
suggests that many coral reefs in Tobago are overfished, and that fish size and overall productivity of the coral
fishery is declining.
The economic valuation of Tobago’s reef fisheries undertaken by Burke et al. (2008) revealed some very impor-
tant findings about the contributions of fisheries to Tobago’s economy and to livelihoods. Although in this study
Tobago’s reefs were considered collectively, the information is quite valuable when considering the contribution
that Buccoo Reef’s fisheries make to livelihoods.
Box 4
The services provided by the Buccoo Reef ecosystem enhance human well-being in a number of ways through
livelihoods, food provisioning, recreation and coastal protection. These services, however, are under threat by
some drivers acting on the reef ecosystem. Losing these services will mean that we need to find some other
activity to provide livelihoods, to generate income to purchase food, and to offset costs due to coastal damage.
We will explore these drivers in the next sections, and in the section that follows we will explore the links
between ecosystem services, human well-being and drivers.
Discussion:
If we lose the services that the Buccoo Reef
ecosystem provides:
What happens to the many persons dependant on these
services for livelihoods?
What economic activities can offset the contribution
made to annual GDP by Reef’s services?
What other services and benefits could we lose
if we lose the Buccoo Reef?
Box 5
22 Rosie E. Carr, “The Status of Elkhorn Coral, Acropora palmate in Southwest Tobago”, (Master’s Thesis Univ. of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2004).
23 S. O’Farrell and O. Day, “Report on the 2005 mass coral bleaching event in Tobago, Part 1: Results from Phase 1 Survey”, Coral Cay Conservation and Buccoo
Note that this example is oversimplified, and in reality issues tend to have multiple causes. This activity should
be repeated to include a variety of answers for ‘Whys’- this can help students to appreciate the multitude of
complex factors surrounding any one issue.
Leopold Matrix
An example of how the Leopold Matrix can be used is provided below.
For more information on the Leopold Matrix refer to Guidelines for Learning Activities.
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Anemone A cnidarian of the class Anthozoa that possesses a flexible cylindrical body and a
central mouth surrounded by tentacles.
Annelid Belonging to the phylum Annelida, and comprises the segmented worms, and
includes earthworms, leeches, and a number of marine and freshwater species.
Ascidians A solitary or colonial sea squirt of the phylum Chordata, class Ascidiacea.
Biodiversity The variability among living organisms from all sources: terrestrial, marine, and
other aquatic ecosystems, as well as the ecological complexes of which they are a
part.
Black corals Colonial cnidarians in the Order Antipatharia. They are found throughout the
world’s oceans, but are most common in tropical deep water habitats from
30-80 m depth. These species of black coral have rigid, erect skeletons that form
branched, bush-like colonies.
Cnidaria A phylum containing over 9,000 species of animals found exclusively in aquatic
mostly marine environments. Includes sea anemones, corals and jelly fish.
Coralline beach A beach where instead of sand bits of coral of various sizes covers the shore.
Coral polyp Soft-bodied, tubular-shaped, invertebrate animals that grow to a length and height
between 3mm and 56mm.
Crustacean A subphylum of Arthropoda that includes shrimp, mantis shrimp, lobsters, crabs,
water fleas, copepods, crayfish and wood lice. There are almost 40,000 described
species of crustaceans.
Dead zone A part of a water body so low in oxygen that normal life cannot survive.
The low oxygen conditions usually result from eutrophication caused by fertilizer
runoff from land.
Driver Any natural or human induced factor that directly or indirectly causes a change in
an ecosystem.
Ecosystem Dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their
non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.
Ecosystem services The benefits people obtain from ecosystems. These include provisioning services
such as food and water; cultural services such as spiritual, recreational, and
cultural benefits; and regulating and supporting services such as flood and disease
control; nutrient cycling that maintain the conditions for life on Earth.
The concept of “ecosystem goods and services” is synonymous with ecosystem
services.
Gorgonians An anthozoan of the subclass Octocorallia, commonly called sea fans and sea
whips.
Horny corals Coral species in the order Gorgonacea that embeds calcium carbonate in a
semi-soft, flexible material called keratin. This allows for the flexibility sea fans
and sea whips require to survive in strong currents.
Hydrozoan Belonging to the class Hydrozoa within the phylum Cnidaria. The Hydrozoa
contains five orders that include: small medusae with no polyp generation;
colonial forms with alternating polyp and medusa stages and a chitinous
exoskeleton; solitary polyps that lack a medusoid stage; colonial forms with
massive aragonite skeletons (e.g., fire coral); and complex colonial forms,
with individual polyps specialized for feeding, swimming, prey capture,
and reproduction.
Macroalgae Algae that project more than one centimetre above the substratum.
Mangrove Evergreen trees and shrubs that grow in dense thickets or forests along tidal
estuaries, in salt marshes, and on muddy coasts in the tropics and subtropics.
The name also refers to the vegetal communities formed by these plants.
Reef catchment The reef catchment is the entire area that is considered to be part of the reef.
The catchment also includes areas surrounding the reef that have a direct impact
on the reef. In the case of Buccoo Reef, the catchment would include the reef
itself, the mangrove wetlands, the Bon Accord Lagoon, and areas of the coast
adjacent to the reef.
Seagrass A flowering plant, complete with leaves, a rhizome (an underground, usually
horizontally-oriented stem) and a root system. They are found in marine or
estuarine waters. Most seagrass species are located in soft sediments. However,
some species are attached directly to rocks with root hair adhesion. Seagrasses
tend to develop extensive underwater meadows.
Sponges Belonging to the phylum Porifera. There are approximately 5,000 living species
classified in three distinct groups, the Hexactinellida (glass sponges),
the Demospongia, and the Calcarea (calcareous sponges).
Stony corals A coral in the anthozoan order Scleractinia, also known as the hard corals.
These organisms possess a hard external calcareous skeleton.
Symbiotic relationship A relationship between two species that appears necessary and inseparable.
Wave resistant Can buffer the impact of waves. However, most materials are not completely
wave resistant and will eventually degrade with time.
Well-being The extent to which the basic material for a good life, freedom of choice, health,
good social relations, security, peace of mind, and spiritual experience are
satisfied.
Zoanthids An anemone of the family Zoanthidae, usually found in intertidal areas and coral
reefs. In some species the polyps separate from each other almost completely after
budding, while in other species, the polyps are all interconnected by a common