Virtual Presence Post - Tobago

USGS Partners with UWI, THA and Buccoo Reef Trust on Coral Reef Study and Edicational Initiatives

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is partnering with the University of the West Indies (UWI), Buccoo Reef Trust (BRT), and the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) to conduct a 5-year research project that investigates the impact of elevated atmospheric pCO2 (par­tial pressure of carbon dioxide) on Buccoo Reef.

Coral reefs are vital to the long term viability of coastal society, providing economic, recreational, and aesthetic value from which coastal communities thrive (Fig. 1). Some of the benefits that coral reefs offer include protection from storm waves, providing fish nurs­eries and habitats, and production of sand for beaches. Coral reef structure develops over thousands of years as individual corals form skeletons made from calcium carbonate minerals. This process is known as calcification. Calcifying corals are the essential building blocks of coral reef struc­ture and enable the reef to keep up with sea level rise.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an atmo­spheric gas without which the earth could not regulate its temper­ature, plants could not photosyn­thesize and ocean chemistry would be vastly different. For hundreds of thousands of years before the Industrial Revolution, concentra­tions were below 300 parts per million (ppm).  Increased production of CO2 from a variety of sources has raised the current level of atmospheric CO2 to approximately 380 ppm, and it is rising at a record rate. Currently, coastal resource managers and scientists know very little about how elevated atmo­spheric CO2 will impact coastal resources such as reefs.

Figure 2: USGS scientists developed an underwater incubation chamber known as the Submersible Habitat for Analyzing Reef Quality (SHARQ), this chamber allows scientists to determine the general health of a reef by measuring metabolic functions including calcification, photosynthesis and respiration. © USGS

Beginning as early as October 2007, scientists will be mapping coral reef habitat on the Buccoo Reef in Tobago to charac­terize and classify key substrate types. These maps will serve as a foundation for planning and implementing field monitoring and experimentation. Oceano­graphic sensors will be placed in important locations around the reef to determine water flow characteristics. Scientists will also deploy large incubation chambers on the seafloor for a couple of weeks each year to mea­sure coral reef metabolic processes each season (Fig. 2). A small boat will be anchored over the study site and divers will continuously moni­tor the experiments (Fig. 3). These field activities will be underway for approximately 5 years.

This pilot project is one of few large-scale, multidisciplinary field investigations in the world that focuses on pCO2 impacts to coral reefs. Methodologies devel­oped for this project will serve as a model for similar, future investigations on other coral reef ecosystems around the globe. Results from the study will aid in establishing early warning signs for ocean acidification and pCO2 stress to coral reefs, and will be invaluable to coastal resource managers and coral reef scientists worldwide as they work to mini­mize human impacts to coastal resources.

For more information on the study, please visit the USGS website.

In addition to this research study, USGS, BRT, and THA plan to develop educational programming which will highlight the value of coral reef ecosystems and involve local citizens and students of all ages in the use of science to facilitate resource management decisions as well as help foster local steward­ship.  More information about these educational programs will be forthcoming.