USING GIS TECHNOLOGY TO MAP MARINE BIODIVERSITY ON JAMAICAN CORAL REEFS IN THE DISCOVERY OF NEW...

8/7/2019 USING GIS TECHNOLOGY TO MAP MARINE BIODIVERSITY ON JAMAICAN CORAL REEFS IN THE DISCOVERY OF NEW D

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Nadia Ferguson- Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory.J University of the West IndiesDiscovery Bay, St. AnnJamaica(87 6) 97 3 -224 t, (87 6) 973-309 1 (fax)nadz [email protected] J. QuinnDiscovery Bay Marine LaboratoryUniversity of the West IndiesDiscovery Bay, St. AnnJamaica(57 6) 97 3 -224 I, (87 6) 973-309 I (fax)Norman. quinn@uwimona. edu jmBarbara L. KojisDivision of Fish and WildlifeSt. Thomas, US Virgin Islands 00802(340) 77s-6762, (340) 777-8151 (fax)[email protected]

USING GIS TECHNOLOGY TO MAP MARINE BIODryERSITY ONJAMAICAN CORAL REEFS IN THE DISCOVERY OF NEW DRUGSAbstract: This study documents efforts to establish a baseline ofbiodiversity knowledge of sponges and gorgonians on Jarnaicancoral reefs that can be used to assess their medicinal potential,while conserving the marine environment and promoting economicdevelopment. To effectively manage and protect Jamaican coralreef commurities, researchers need to enhance the knowledge ofthe biodiversity of the reefs and to quantify and map the abundanceand distribution of key species populations. Using GIS technologyprovides a more effective means of organizing, visualizing, andarnlyzing the biodiversity abundance and distribution, assessingthe health of coral reefs and tracking the specimens removed fromthe reef. The distribution of selected organisms and observations ofanthropogenic impacts were recorded by scuba divers along belttransects at several depths. Using GIS, areas with high speciesdiversity and large populations of benthic species can be identifiedas biodiversity "hot spots" worthy of particular concem andperhaps further protection. Additionally, coastal GIS mapsgenerated from this project may enable correlations between reefhealth and corresponding terrestrial outputs. This particular


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application is relevant to coastal management sffategies andresearchbased activities. This program represents one ofthe fewapplications of GIS technology on Jamaican coral reefs. Theresults will be analyzedto address the challenge associated withthe interrelationship between pattem, process and scale.

INTRODUCTIONEfforts to investigate novel pharmacological products from marine organisms,while working to conserve the biodiversity of coral reef habitats, have com-menced in Jamaica with frrnding from the lnternational Cooperative BiodiversityGroups (ICBG) Program. The program addresses the interdependent issues ofdrug discovery, biodiversity conservation and sustainable economic growth.Habitat destruction and declining biodiversity have increased the urgency tosearch for medicinal and agrochemical potentials from the earth's biota. About 40- 50%of drugs presently available have an origin in natural products. Workingwith local communities and stakeholders, ICBG proglam is designed to guidenatural products drug discovery in a way that direct benefits from the biologicalresorrces flow directly to the communiSt. The central tenet ofthe ICBG programis that managed use of natural resources can provide the economic incentive andjustification to conserve important regional biodiversity and support thedevelopment of infrastructure and education crucial for socioeconomicopportunities. This project is working to survey the biodiversiry of Jamaican coralreefs and use GIS to help managers manage and conserve this valuable resource.Several biologically active compoturds have already been extracted from spongescollected near the Discovery Bay Marine Laboratory @BML). New peroxyl-actones were isolated from the sponge Plakinastrella onkodes that was collectedon a reef 5 km from DBML (Perry et a1., 2001). One compound exhibited potentinhibitory activity against the AIDS opportunistic parasitic protozoan Toxoplasmagondii and represent the first marine natural product reported with Z. gondiiinhibitory activity (Perry et a1.,2001). Twenf-seven diterpenes, cyanthiwiginswere isolated from the Jamaican sponge Alyrmekioderma stry collected at RioBueno, near DBML (Peng eta1.,2002). Several of the cyanthiwigins were activeagainst human primary tumor cells (Peng et a1.,2002). New cyclic peroxide froman undescribed species of Plakortis sponge collected near DBML was recentlydiscovered (Hu et al., 2001). The compound exhibits significant antimalarialactivity against Plasmodiumfalciparum. Another new Czg marine sterol wasisolated from the sponge Agelas sceptrum collected near DBML (Hu et al',2002).The comporurd at this stage has no known applications to human diseases. Byconducting a biodiversity survey we are able to increase our understanding of thedistribution and abundance of these species. This knowledge will be analyzed anddisplayed using GIS and will help mangers to better conserve the biodiversity ofJamaican coral reef resources.


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THE JAMAICAN CORAL REEF ENVIRONMENTThe coral reefs on the north coast of Jamaica lie at the center of biodiversiqr in theCaribbean (Wells &Lang,1973) and are some of the most intensively studiedcoral systems in the world with initial ecological studies commencing over 40years ago at Discovery Bay Marine Lab (DBML). These once healthy, diversereef commurities were devastated by htrricanes Allen in 1980 (Woodley et a1.,1981) Gilbert in 1988 (Woodley, 1989) and coral diseases. Recovery of thesereefs is now severely hampered by non point source pollution, coastal modifi-cation, over fishing (Klomp et al., 2003), habitat modification (Quinn, 2003) andother antlropogenic impacts.The Caribbean-wide die-offof the sea urchin Diadema antillarum (Lessios et al.,1984), a "keystone" herbivore, resulted in an increase in reef algae which outcompeted slower growing coral species and thus changed the reef (Hughes et al.,1987). While there are some signs of stabilization in Jamaican reef health with therecent increase in juvenile coral abundance (Edmunds & Carpenter, 2001; Quinn& Kojis, 2004), fleshy algae continue to dominate these systems.The conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversiq' is fundamental tomaximizing long-term social and economic benefits, yet Jamaica's marine bio-diversity remains largely unexplored. As a consequence, Jamaica lacks much ofthe knowledge required to make informed decisions in resource management'Effective use and protection of Jamaica's marine biodiversity requires, first$ thatit be charactenzed and mapped. Only then can management strategies bedeveloped, guided by objective scientific knowledge of the underlying processesthat sustain and threaten marine ecosystems.METHODSSurveys of coral reefs were carried out by scuba divers at 36 sites from Falmouthto Port Antonio from February to August 2004. Sponge and gorgonian specieswere identified and number of individuals cotmted within belt transects 10 m longand2mwide at depths of 10 m, 20 m and 30 m at each site. ETC. Samples ofeach species of sponge recorded were collected and preserved in70o/o alcohol forsubsequent identification. Photographs were taken in the field of sponges sampledor of the specimens in the laboratory.Additionally, the surveys recorded the other biotic, abiotic and anthropogenicvariables, but we will only report on the sponge populations in this paper. Thereefs were ['pically shallow fringing reefs interspersed with reef patches andbordered and sharp drop off. The location of the sites was recorded using a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) and results were analyzed and displayed usingArcView 3.3 software.


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RESULTSA total of 107 sponge species were recorded. Pseudoceratina crassa (Branchingtube sponge) was the most ubiquitous sponge species occurring at9l.7o/o of thesites (Table l). Twelve other species were observed at least one half of the sitesand 15 species were recorded at only one site (Table 1).

TABLE 1PERCENTAGE OCCURRENCE OF SPONGES. SPONGES NOT YETSCIENTIFICALLY IDENTIFIED ARE DESIGNATED BY A 3 LETTER CODE

The most common species was Pseudoceratina crassa representing only l Llo/o ofthe sponges recorded (Table 2). Tlrre sponge community was not dominated byparticular species as the 10 most abundant species only represented 53.2Vo of therecorded sponges.

Most Common Species Least Common SpeciesSpecies Ubiquity (%)

9l.777.877.875.061.16l.l55.655.652.852.852.850.050.047.247.2

P s eudoce ratinct crassaAplysina cauliformisIotrochota birotulataAgelas disparDiplasfiella sp.Ircinia strobilinaAmphimedon compressaCallyspongia sp 1Aplysina fistularisEctyoplasia feroxVerongula cf rigidaIrciniafelixMonanchora barbadensisCinachrya sp.GST

Species

Cibrochnlina sp.Geodia gibberosaGRRIERIrcinia sp.LERLSCMonanchora sp.Mycale laxissimaMyrmekioderma slyxNiphates erectaNPE (lgeals sp.)NSBNSVOPC

Ubiquity (%)

2.82.82.82.82.82.82.82.82.8282.82.82.82.82.8


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TABLE 2CUMULATIVE PERCENT OCCURRENCE OF SPONGE ABUNDANCE.SPONGES NOT YET SCIENTIFICALLY IDENTIFIED ARE DESIGNATEDBYA3LETTERCODE

Species Cumulative %AbundancePseudoceratina crassa Il.I%Aplysina cauliformis 2A3%Iotrochota birotulata 27.8%Agelas dispar 33.7o/oHolopsamma helwigi 37.6%Aplysinafistularis 4I.2%GST 44.4%Amphimedon compressa 47.5o/oEctyoplasiaferox 50.4ohVeronsula cf risida 53.2oA

The number of species observed at each site ranged from 9 at Pear Tree BottomReef (PT2) to 34 at Red Buoy Reef (RB) (Fig. 1) with a mean of 21 sponges.

FIGURE 1NUMBER OF SPONGE SPECIES AND SPONGE DENSITY M2FROM DISCOVERY BAY TO RI.INNAWAY BAY, JAMAICA

4 0 4 Kltom.t.rs I Fbnd.A.trQrmmne.rwyb&ror orosty._. O.O7 - 2.Qc 2.O2. Lm. ai1 . a.B!trllfi5tumboa SpGi6cf s.E 20.26a n.31


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Sponge density ranged from a maximum of 6.80m-2 at The Ship Channel 2 (SC2)to a minimum of 0.07m-2 recorded at Runaway Bay 2 (RBAY2) (Fig. 1). Thedensity of the most common and most ubiquitous sponge Pseudoceratina crassar*g"d from 1. l5m-2 atFairy Hill Reef in Port Antonio to 0.025m-2 at Pear TreeBottom Reef (PT) (Fig. 2).FIGURE 2DENSITY DISTRIBUTION OF P seudoceratina cras saFROM DISCOVERY BAY TO RLINNAWAY BAY, JAMAICA

Two of the 107 sponges recorded in this survey have known biologically activecomponnds, Agelas sceptrum and Mymekioderma sytc. A. sceptrum is neitheramong the most ubiquitous nor the most abundant species. It occurred in only16.7% of the sites and accounted for only 2.8oh of all the individuals recorded, M.styx is a rare species in the depths and locations surveyed on the north coast ofJamaica. Only a single individual was observed. If the active compounds in thisspecies are found to be important in tumor cell research and are difficult tosynthesize, then there will be a need to locate larger populations of this species.Alternatively, if large natural populations cannot be located, then it may becomenecessary to investigate methods to culture this species.

4 0 4 Kllomrt.rs P_clcsa deteltya 0 .0.18a 0.18 .0.5.' 0.5 - 1.12lPond.. " '' RlvetsA7 lrre;rsrhronwavSnrvoy shel


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Hu JF, Kelly M, Hamann MT (2002) 26-nor-25-isopropyl-ergosta-5, 7,22E-tien-3B-o1: A new Czs sterol from the sponge Agelas sceptrum from Jamaica. Steroids67:743-747Hughes TP, Reed DC, Boyle M (1987) Herbivory on coral reef: community struc-ture following mass mortalities of sea urchins. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 113:39-59Klomp KD, Miller KC, Marks K, Miller M (2003) Condition of reef fish onJamaica's north coast signals late stages of overexploitation. Proc Gulf and CaribbFish lnstit 54: I32-I38Lesssios HA, Robertson DR, Cubit JD (1984) Spread of Diadema mass mortalitythrough the Caribbean. Science 226:335Peng J, Walsh K, Weedman V, Bergthold JD, Lynch J, Lieu KL, Braude IA,Kelly M, Hamann MT (2002) The new bioactive diterpenes Cyanthiwigins E-AAfrom the Jamaican sponge Myrmekiodevma styx. Tetrahedron 58: 7809-7819Perry TL, Dickerson A, Khan AA, Kondru RK, Beratan DN, Wipf P, Kelly M,Hamann MT (2001) New perorylactones from the Jamaican spongePlakinastrella onkodes, with inhibitory activiry against the AIDS opportunisticparasitic infection Toxop las ma gondi i. Tetrahedron 57 : 1483 - I 487Quinn NJ (2003) Have good land management practices protected essentialcoastal nurseries? Case Study: Discovery Bay, Jamaica. National ScientificConference on the Environment. April 8-9, Kingston, Jamaica. paper on CDQuinn NJ, Kojis BL (2004) Patterns of sexual recruitment for acroporid coralpopulations on the West Fore Reef at Discovery Bay, Jarnaica. lnternat. Joumal ofTrop. Biology and Conservation / Revista de Biologia Trop. 53: (in press)Treml EA, Halpin PA Q$AD Spatial Ecology of Coral Reefs in: Breman J (ed),Marine Geography: GIS for the Oceans and Seas, ESRI Press pp 204Wells SM, Lang JC (1973) Systematic list of Jamaican shallow-waterScleractinian. Bull Mar Sci 23: 55-58Woodley JD, Chomesky EA, Clifford PA, Jackson JCB, Kaufinan LS, KnowltonN, Land JC, Pearson MP, Wulff JL, Curtis ASG, Dallmeyer MD, Jupp BP, KoehlMAR, Neigel J, Sides EM (1981) Hurricane Allen's impact on Jamaican coralreefs. Science: 214: 749-7 55Woodley JD (1989) The effects of Hurricane Gilbert on coral reefs at DiscoveryBay. in: Assessment of the Economic Lnpacts of Hurricane Gilbert on Coastal

USING GIS TECHNOLOGY TO MAP MARINE BIODIVERSITY ON JAMAICAN CORAL REEFS IN THE DISCOVERY OF NEW...

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