 | The Center for Marine Resource Studies
April 28, 2009
 Academic Update
At SFS Center for Marine Resource Studies we are really striving to have a positive environmental impact on the TCI. We approach this from several angles: education, outreach, research, and implementation. Some of the big issues of the moment include invasive species both on the land and in the sea. We have a project running where we eradicated all of the invasive casuarinas from Long Cay Wildlife Reserve, and continue to monitor the island for these trees. This was necessary as the trees had started to monopolize an area of beach called Sandy Point. They squeeze out native vegetation, increase beach erosion and reduce the available habitat for native fauna such as the Turks and Caicos rock iguana. In other areas, they prevent turtle nesting. In the sea, there’s the invasive red lionfish, and we’re desperately trying to prevent the TCI from becoming overrun like the Bahamas, where on some reefs the non-native lionfish is one of the most commonly seen fish. They have voracious appetites, eating huge numbers of native fishes. Our continuing campaign is gathering speed. We put up flyers throughout the town and now fishermen have presented us with almost half of the specimens we have collected. During swim classes for local school children, we keep lionfish in a tank and explain to them why they should not be here and the damage they can do to the reefs and to people unfortunate enough to get stung. In addition, a short documentary is being developed addressing the lionfish problem. A year ago, few people on South Caicos knew about this fish. Now the whole island does, and it’s not only us trying to eradicate lionfish, but we have fishermen catching them too.
-John Claydon, PhD, Center Director
 Student Reflection
For the past week or so, we’ve spent our days collecting data for our specific Directed Research projects. Six students are involved in my Directed Research group and we work under the guidance of Dr. Catherine Jadot, with the help of an intern, Will, and our dive safety officer, Annie. Our research focuses on the impact Hurricane Ike had on the coral reef population. Hurricane Ike hit South Caicos in early September, ravaging most of the community. The apparent damage is shown throughout the island, but the damage of the ecosystem goes unnoticed. The goal of this study is to assess the types and magnitude of damages done by Hurricane Ike.
We collect data on the coral reefs by SCUBA diving twice a day, with the possibility of an additional snorkel. Two students (Tucker and I) estimate the percent of coral cover at each location, by performing line intercepts. The other four students (Caitlyn, Anna Marie, Chris W., and Mike) perform belt transects to estimate the damage of fourteen common coral species found in the Caribbean. We have two weeks to assess eight different areas. We hope to identify the influence that the location, the coral shape and the depth has on the coral damages. It is important to understand the impact hurricanes have on the coral reef populations so we can possibly determine factors that will increase coral reef resilience to natural or anthropogenic disturbances. Also, this research could possibly aid in establishing suitable locations for reef restoration by determining areas that have the best protection around the South Caicos vicinity.
-Jennifer Payne, Lenoir-Rhyne College
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