An Interdisciplinary Approach for Coral Reef Conservation and Managemen

Resilience is the persistence of systems and of their ability to absorb change and disturbance while maintaining its stability and dynamics. So how can we integrate various epistemologies to increase the resilience of coral reef systems in Puerto Rico and how these epistemologies could promote better management and conservation of coral reefs? Chapter 1 presents a demographic analysis of two common Caribbean corals, the "stress-tolerant" Orbicella annularis, and the "weedy" Porites astreoides. Size-based population matrix models were developed to estimate population growth rates (lambda) and determine the life cycle transition(s) that contribute the most to spatiotemporal differences in lambdas within two different localities. The similar variability of lambdas as well as the same survival rates for both species during the two-year census period showed identical variability in demographic patterns in space and time for both populations under normal conditions. In chapter 2, I studied the effects of temperature stress on the photophysiology of O. annularis and P. astreoides. I placed six fragments of each species under ambient light and a water temperature of 28°C (control treatment) and the other six under ambient light and an elevated temperature of 32°C (experimental treatment) for ten days. I estimated daily the maximum pressure over photosystem II (Qm) and measured chlorophyll content and Symbiodinium densities at the end of the experiment. Qm values of P. astreoides at 32°C was similar to that of O. annularis at 28°C. P. astreoides showed higher chlorophyll a content and Symbiodinium densities than O. annularis under elevated temperature stress. Increase in Qm, lower chlorophyll a concentration and reduced Symbiodinium densities observed in O. annularis at 32°C highlights its vulnerability to ocean warming. In chapter 3, I studied the effects of current environmental enforcement policy in two natural reserves in Eastern Puerto Rico. Enforcement strategies issues based on stakeholders' perceptions and interventions data from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources Rangers Corps was analyzed. Also, I discussed how these problems affect resources as well as stakeholders, and proposed viable solutions to improve the enforcement strategies, and management approaches within the natural reserves.