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![Maps of (a) Yucatan Peninsula showing major tourist cities, and (b) Akumal Bay showing areas sampled in the present study. In (a), the extent of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) is shown as a shaded area along the coastlines of 4 countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The study site at Akumal is underlined and marked with a rectangle to indicate the area shown in detail in (b). The detail map in (b) presents the 10 bay sections in which visitor abundances were quantified, each identified by letter in the upper left corner of the section (delineated by dashed lines): 4 sections on land along the beach, sampled for beach visitors (A-D), and 6 in the water, sampled for snorkeling visitors (E-J). G to J are inner bay sections that parallel the on-land sections A to D, and E and F are reef crest sections along the mouth of the outer bay. Shown also are patch reefs #1-10 sampled for coral reef benthic community composition: 2 reefs in each of the 4 inner bay sections, and 1 reef each in the 2 outer bay sections. The landward edge of the sandy beach is delineated by a solid grey line, the water's edge (coastline) by a solid black line, and the coral reef crest by a dotted line. For details and site comparisons see text here and maps in [17,43,46].](publication/319502230/figure/fig1/AS:614257683083282@1523461852800/Maps-of-a-Yucatan-Peninsula-showing-major-tourist-cities-and-b-Akumal-Bay-showing.png)
Maps of (a) Yucatan Peninsula showing major tourist cities, and (b) Akumal Bay showing areas sampled in the present study. In (a), the extent of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System (MBRS) is shown as a shaded area along the coastlines of 4 countries: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. The study site at Akumal is underlined and marked with a rectangle to indicate the area shown in detail in (b). The detail map in (b) presents the 10 bay sections in which visitor abundances were quantified, each identified by letter in the upper left corner of the section (delineated by dashed lines): 4 sections on land along the beach, sampled for beach visitors (A-D), and 6 in the water, sampled for snorkeling visitors (E-J). G to J are inner bay sections that parallel the on-land sections A to D, and E and F are reef crest sections along the mouth of the outer bay. Shown also are patch reefs #1-10 sampled for coral reef benthic community composition: 2 reefs in each of the 4 inner bay sections, and 1 reef each in the 2 outer bay sections. The landward edge of the sandy beach is delineated by a solid grey line, the water's edge (coastline) by a solid black line, and the coral reef crest by a dotted line. For details and site comparisons see text here and maps in [17,43,46].
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Chronic anthropogenic disturbances on coral reefs in the form of overfishing and pollution can shift benthic community composition away from stony corals and toward macroalgae. The use of reefs for recreational snorkeling and diving potentially can lead to similar ecological impacts if not well-managed, but impacts of snorkeling on benthic organism...
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Local anthropogenic stressors such as overfishing, nutrient enrichment and increased sediment loading have been shown to push coral reefs toward greater dominance by algae. In a few cases this shift has been temporary, with the ability to recover to a healthy coral-dominated community after disturbance, suggesting some systems have considerable res...
Citations
... Genera Acropora, Pocillopora and Porites were the most impacted by AO, as they were overgrown by red filamentous and turf algae, covering the lower part of branching and upper part of tabular and massive colonies. Turf algae often exhibit competitive dominance over coral species, resulting in coral tissue loss and adverse impacts on coral assemblages (Renfro and Chadwick, 2017). ...
... within the coral polyps for photosynthesis (Erftemeijer et al., 2012). Consequently, this condition leads to necrotic coral tissue (Lamb et al., 2014) and allows the colonisation of the exposed coral skeleton by macroalgal (Renfro and Chadwick, 2017). ...
... This observation aligns with existing research that identifies terrestrial human activities, such as fishing, tourism-related boat transportation, indiscriminate waste disposal, and snorkeling, as causes of coral reef degradation [14][15][16] . Human activities, including snorkeling, were observed to cause damage to coral reefs, with visitors trampling on corals in prohibited areas 15,17 . Based on observation, coral fractures were also found due to snorkeling activities. ...
This study aims to determine the condition of the coral reef ecosystem on Tidung Kecil Island, Seribu Islands. Observational data collection was carried out in June 2022. The method used in this study was descriptive with the Line Interval Transect (LIT) technique with two repetitions, with the distance between the transect points being 10 meters. 2 repetitions aim to represent the coral cover data on the island's northern part. The data taken are the length and type of coral reef growth, which is then processed to be included in the coral cover area formula. Observational data were then analyzed using the coral cover percentage formula to calculate live coral growth and continued calculating the percentage cover for all categories of live coral lifeforms. Based on the observations, the condition of the coral cover area in the study area is classified as bad, with a percentage of coral cover area of 18.63% and a percentage of non-coral substrate of 48.7%. This is due to the high human activity (such as fishing) and tourism (such as snorkeling).
... Divers (mainly tourists) frequently collide with the corals, causing mechanical damage (Giglio et al., 2020). The inadequate management of tourism activities can lead to damage to the reefs (Tratalos and Austin, 2001;Renfro and Chadwick, 2017;Cerutti-Pereyra et al., 2021); such as high proportion of dead corals and that have been coral rubble recorded at popular dive sites (Swany Rock and El Corralito). ...
The marine protected area (MPA) of the Espiritu Santo Archipelago (ESA; Gulf of California), is exposed to a high
level of anthropogenic disturbances, consequently, the local authorities have deployed artificial reefs (shipwrecks)
in the ESA area to increase fishing refuges, breeding sites, and tourist attractions. To explore the potential
contribution of these artificial reefs as a conservation tool, we compared their benthic community
structures (i.e. diversity and live cover categories) to those of the natural reefs. Our results indicate a higher
abundance of mollusks on the artificial reefs compared to the natural reefs; a higher echinoderm abundance on
the natural reefs; and a very similar species richness of hexacorals between the natural and artificial reefs, with
10 and 9 species recorded respectively. The natural reefs hosted a four-fold higher live cover of hexacorals than
the artificial reefs, while the artificial reefs had a higher number of octocoral species, 8 versus 5 on the natural
reefs. In addition, the artificial reefs had a 4.6 fold higher octocoral cover than the natural reefs. Overall findings
indicate that the benthic community assemblages significantly differ between the natural and artificial reefs,
which may be related to their location, structural composition, material, and morphology. These results suggest
that shipwrecks have the potential to enhance local reef diversity by increasing the cover and abundance of
certain benthic-associated species. Although the shipwrecks do not function as surrogate habitats for the adjacent
natural rocky reefs, as no-take areas they provide suitable refuges for several target species (e.g. black coral and
mollusks).
... Increased dune's erosion, impossible plant growth, vegetation destruction (Priskin, 2003) Snorkelling / scuba diving Coral damage, benthic organisms change, fish displacement and change in abundance or composition, food supply change, disturbance of marine habitats, loss of biodiversity (Hawkins and Roberts, 1993;Priskin, 2003;Dearden et al., 2009;Plathong et al., 2000;Juhasz et al., 2010;Teresa et al., 2011;Terrón-Sigler et al., 2016;Renfro and Chadwick, 2017;Shokri et al., 2021) Speleology / speleo-tourism Thermal, chemical and biological pollution, inner atmosphere alteration, wildlife disturbance, plant/fungi emergence, destruction of rare formations (Cigna and Burri, 2000;Lobo, 2008;Lobo et al., 2015) Surf / windsurf Reduction of surf zone fishes, wildlife disturbance, accesses to the beach (Priskin, 2003;Lopes et al., 2017) Swimming Water pollution, wildlife disturbance, damage to riparian vegetation, fish reduction (Priskin, 2003;Mrak, 2011;Lopes et al., 2017) Accepted Article Project: execution of construction works, installations or schemes; interventions in the natural surroundings and landscape; mobile or temporary installations with characteristics of project categories (EU, 2011(EU, , 2015 Japan Projects (GJ, 1997) South-Africa Activities, which means policies, programmed plans and projects 8 . Temporary structures within the beach zone (RSA, 1998, 2010 Project: any action that consists in the execution, exploitation, dismantling or demolition of a work, construction or installation, or any intervention in the natural environment or in the landscape (GE, 2013) United Kingdom Developments (GUK, 2017) United States ...
Temporary activities and events may have significant environmental impacts. However, they are often outside the scope of environmental assessment (EA) processes. Environmental requirements in authorisation processes of activities are rare, except for some major events in sensitive areas. This paper analyses firstly the environmental impacts of outdoor temporary activities and events through a literature review; all the analysed activities may have significant negative impacts. Then the authorisation of temporary activities, and their inclusion in EA systems, in a sample of jurisdictions worldwide was analysed. Applying EA processes is more an exception than a rule for temporary activities. The paper discusses the factors that influence activities' impacts, the conflict between precaution and operation, and the benefits and drawbacks of the application of different EA schemes to temporary activities, concluding with some proposals to improve the consideration of environmental aspects in activities' authorisation. Before the authorisation of activities and events, their environmental impacts should be analysed, and taken into account. This can be achieved through regulations in management plans submitted to strategic environmental assessment, through screening processes or through environmental impact assessment when significant impacts are expected. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:0-0. © 2023 SETAC.
... This correlation is further corroborated by a study in Akumal Bay in Mexico, which showed that higher dead coral was found on the reef with intense tourism activities, suggesting that snorkeling activities contributed to reefs degradation (Gil et al. 2015). Degradation of coral cover significantly correlate with the snorkelers' presence at the reefs (Renfro & Chadwick 2017) due to the physical damage caused by improper diving and snorkeling activities, either by trampling or standing on the reefs (Hawkins & Roberts 1993). Despite its contribution to the state's economy, this activity must be suitably managed and controlled to reduce long-term environmental degradation. ...
Terengganu Marine Parks (TMP) is a 591.37 km2 marine protected area. TMP are popular tourist destinations that significantly generate revenue to the government and local businesses through tourism sector. However, the anthropogenic activities have contributed to TMP’s declining ecosystem health, particularly the coral reefs. Therefore, a sustainable ecosystem-based management is required to maintain the ecosystem. In this study, we identify issues related to the marine park’s governance, development on islands, tourist activities and coral health status in the TMP for assessing potential management strategy for conserving the ecosystem. The findings on management in TMP found that there is an overlapping in managing the marine park between the federal and state government. Unintegrated development to accommodate rising number of tourist and their activities in the marine parks are identified as the factors contributing towards degradation of the ecosystems. Relatively, reef areas close to these local pressures are in ‘poor’ condition, indicating that threats arising from the activities affecting the marine ecosystem. Hence, this study analyses the potentials in adopting Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) in the TMP for managing the conflict between user and the ecosystem. The Australian Great Barrier Reef Marine Park which applied the zoning of marine area is used as a benchmark to examine the best practices of MSP to govern the TMP. At present, we suggest using coral reef health status as an early alternative and best practice to provide different zoning criteria for strategic marine protected area (MPA) management for TMP.
... A similar case also occurred in coastal Belizean America that the damage to coral tissue and changes in coral pigmentation were mediated by turf algae (Wild et al. 2014). The dominance of coral reefs may shift to algal-abundant conditions through localized human activities such as overharvesting of herbivorous fish, waste disposal, and overuse of fertilizers along adjacent coastlines, as well as large-scale processes, including climate change effects and regional sea urchin mortality (Renfro and Chadwick 2017). Hadi et al. (2018) state coral ecosystems have been threatened globally by intense anthropogenic factors and natural disasters. ...
Aldyza N, Barus TA, Mulya MB, Sarong MA. 2022. Coral resilience inside and outside of Pesisir Timur Pulau Weh conservation zone, Sabang City, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 23: 5744-5751. Conservation is one of the efforts to conserve marine life and provide opportunities for an ecosystem to recover. One of the water areas protected by the community is Pulau Weh (Weh Island). In 2010 and 2016, coral reef ecosystems in the waters of Weh Island suffered a lot of damage due to the pressure from nature, i.e., the bleaching phenomenon. As a result, the benthic experienced a vacuum of the substrate. The emptiness of the substrate occurred due to the death of corals and the appearance of a layer of grass algae. Therefore new corals were difficult to recover without a solid and conducive substrate. Hence, this study aims to measure the resilience of corals and benthic conditions inside and outside conservation areas on Weh Island. Benthic data collection used the Point Intercept Transect method while measuring the potential resistance of corals using the resilience index through coral cover, fleshy seaweed, and rubble indicators. Benthic conditions were viewed based on the value of the results of the resilience component with the condition of the coral cover. The result showed that coral reef ecosystems inside and outside the Pesisir Timur Pulau Weh (PTPW; East Coast of Weh Island) conservation area had a high level of resilience (with scores ranging from 3 to 6, out of 6 for benthic condition scores). The benthic inside the conservation area averagely has a good score and it is likely to be in the recovery period from disturbances. While the score for the benthic outside the conservation area is only 3 (out of 6 for benthic condition scores), which indicates that the area is very vulnerable to disturbance even though it has a chance to recover. If there is another bleaching phenomenon in the future, corals that have just tried to recover in this vulnerable area may be damaged again and the coral cover will be decreased.
... La pression démographique croissante et la crise requin survenue à La Réunion entre 2011 et 2013 ont conduit à une augmentation de la fréquentation des usagers dans le récif de Saint-Gilles pratiquant la baignade, mais aussi le snorkeling, paddle, kayak ou kitesurf (Lemahieu et al., 2017). Plusieurs publications scientifiques mettent en évidence que la présence de ces activités nautiques et le tourisme de masse sont corrélés à la dégradation des écosystèmes récifaux (diminution de la CCV et de la biodiversité ; Gil et al., 2015 ;Renfro & Chadwick, 2017). Par ailleurs, l'urbanisation massive du bassin versant en lien avec l'augmentation de la population à La Réunion détériore les récifs. ...
Coral reefs act as barriers that protect the coastline from strong swells and surges. Due to anthropogenic pressures and intensified cyclonic swells, the vulnerability of these ecosystems increases. It is therefore essential to understand how reefs are maintained to assess their ability to protect coastal populations and ecosystems. To this end, the research lab ENTROPIE is conducting hydrochemical samplings on the Saint-Gilles reef in Reunion Island, a reef that is particularly exposed to the cyclones affecting the island and to anthropogenic pressures.
As part of the multidisciplinary research project ReNovRisk-Transferts, this study, coordinated by Espace-Dev lab, evaluates the potential of multispectral satellite imagery to study the maintenance
of coral reefs in relation to in situ hydrochemical measurements.
Our results highlight the possibility of mapping live coral cover from Pleiades or SPOT imagery using a BIBG brightness index. The values produced by this index are sufficiently correlated with reference
(R² = 0.53) and field (R² = 0.52) coral cover values to be considered valid. However, the low spectral resolution of multispectral imagery hinders the clear distinction of coral and photosynthetic organisms. This limitation must be considered when using this methodology for reef substrate mapping. This study also proposes a methodological approach to extrapolate hydrochemical point estimates of reef maintenance (carbonate budget) to the entire reef. This approach is the result of an interdisciplinary reflection and offers an innovative approach that requires the mapping of only one substrate, the coral cover, to establish a general carbonate budget. Future studies may test its validity.
... Los períodos prolongados de altas cargas de nutrientes pueden alterar el ecosistema de la laguna arrecifal, de modo que un aumento en el nitrógeno inorgánico disuelto puede propiciar el predominio de las algas y, por lo tanto, la perdida de cobertura y menor abundancia de los pastos marinos y el arrecife de coral (Earp et al., 2018). El aumento de la carga de nutrientes del sistema costero causado por las actividades antropogénicas es el factor principal en la pérdida de pastos marinos (Short et al., 2018) y la amenaza para los arrecifes de coral (Renfro y Chadwick, 2017). La detección temprana de los cambios en la concentración de nutrientes en los ecosistemas costeros tropicales es esencial para mantener sus servicios ecológicos. ...
... Impacts have occurred from diver equipment including cameras, fins, and gloves (Dixon et al., 1993;Hawkins and Roberts, 1992;Ong and Musa, 2012b;Riegl and Velimirov, 1991). Ecological impacts on the marine fauna around coral reefs (Hasler and Ott, 2008) in turn affected fish behaviour (Ong and Musa, 2012b), caused habitat degradation (Wong, 1998), and a decline in live coral cover, along with reduced habitat complexity, diminished coral growth, shifts in reef assemblage composition, and increased coral disease (Guzner et al., 2010;Lamb et al., 2014;Lyons et al., 2015;Toyoshima and Nadaoka, 2015;Renfro and Chadwick, 2017). ...
... Non-regulatory management approaches appear to be more preferable to control and minimize diver behaviour and reduce impacts on marine resources Giglio et al., 2018;Medio et al., 1997;Rouphael and Inglish, 1995;Rouphael and Hanafy, 2017;Renfro and Chadwick, 2017). Recommendations include guiding of divers by experienced and qualified guides or dive leaders and implementing brief education programmes such as the 'Green Fins' programme to educate divers on "Low-Impact Diving" techniques, and to establish a code of conduct for diving activities (Roche et al., 2016). ...
Global demand for SCUBA diving activities in coastal areas continues to grow. Academic research has acknowledged that SCUBA diving can have ecological impacts. To understand the current state of knowledge this study applied the systematic quantitative literature review method (SQLR) to determine what evidence is available on ecological impacts from recreational SCUBA diving. In total 69 research articles about ecological impacts of SCUBA diving were analysed. This paper explored research trends, geographical distribution of research articles, nature of impact and management recommendations for future practice. The research found that SCUBA diving impacted through diver contact with coral reefs caused breakage, fragmentation and led to disease. 10 coral varieties were identified as impacted including some listed as (critically) endangered or vulnerable by the IUCN. Impacts can be minimized using non-regulatory and regulatory management strategies. We present a novel framework that connects diver characteristics with coral reef impacts and discuss how to apply this framework and guide future studies in this area of SCUBA diving research.
... Lower abundance in coral cover as well as diversity has already been observed(Baumann et al 2016(Baumann et al , 2019. The MAR is further threatened by sea level rise, hurricanes, overfishing, coastal development, pollution from wastewater and solid waste, tourism as well as lionfish invasions and disease outbreaks(Jackson et al 2014, Renfro and Chadwick 2017, Suchley and Alvarez-Filip 2018. The reef is currently considered critically endangered and at risk of ecosystem collapse(Bland et al 2017). ...
Climate-related risks in Central and South America have received increased attention and concern in science and policy, but an up-to-date comprehensive review and synthesis of risks and adaptation potential is currently missing. For this paper we evaluated over 200 peer-reviewed articles and grey literature documents published since 2012. We found that climate change in Central and South America during the 21st century may increase the risk to severe levels for the following topical risk clusters: 1. Food insecurity; 2. Floods and landslides; 3. Water scarcity; 4. Epidemics of vector-borne diseases; 5. Amazon Forest biome shift; 6. Coral bleaching; 7. Coastal risks of sea level rise, storm surges and erosion; 8. Systemic failure due to cascading impacts of hazards and epidemics. Our synthesis also identified feasible adaptation measures for each risk. The impacts of the risks will be heterogeneous throughout the region, with rural communities, Indigenous peoples, Afro-Latin Americans, women, disabled people, and migrants identified as being the most severely affected. We refer to a number of adaptation options for each risk. However, unabated climate change together with low adaptive capacity will strictly limit adaptation options. Immediate strengthening of policies for building adaptive capacity and increase of research on the risk-adaptation nexus in Central and South America are paramount. Our findings might contribute to guide the adjustment and emphasis of adaptation policies and climate risk management strategies from local to national level.
