Allochthonous, seaward-dipping deposits that flank reef-rimmed carbonate platforms (reef-rimmed carbonate foreslopes) display a spectrum of deposit types, seismic-scale stratal architecture, and bed-scale heterogeneity due to diverse sediment sources and resedimentation processes. This variability has resulted in a lack of consistent characterization approaches, and has made the development of predictive models that link carbonate foreslope deposit types to stratal architecture challenging. This study uses data from outcrops, including the Upper Devonian of the Canning Basin, Western Australia and the Upper Permian of the Delaware Basin, West Texas, and examples from literature to provide 1) an approach for characterizing reef-rimmed carbonate foreslopes in terms of deposit types and architecture, 2) conceptual models that outline the variations that exist, and 3) discussion of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that control the observed variations. The primary depositional elements that construct reef-rimmed carbonate foreslopes can be categorized as 1) debris elements (breccias and blocks) from brittle reef failure, 2) grain-dominated elements (grainstones and rudstones) from offbank transport of sand and gravel, and 3) mud-dominated elements (mud-dominated fabrics) that record relative foreslope quiescence and fine-grained periplatform shedding. The fundamental stratal geometries observed are 1) accretionary margins, characterized by margin-toforeslope interfingering and clinoforms, and 2) escarpment margins, characterized by aggrading-retrograding margin architecture and foreslope onlap. The combinations of element proportions, element distribution, stratal geometry, bed- to bedset-scale architecture, and depositional profile scale that exist in carbonate foreslopes range widely, warranting multiple depositional models. The deposit type and architectural variations observed in detail from Upper Devonian and Upper Permian outcrops of the Canning Basin, Western Australia, and the Delaware Basin, West Texas, respectively, are linked to differing scales of superimposed accommodation change and reef faunal assemblage. Observations from other outcrops and extensive literature review display further controlling factors that affect carbonate foreslope development, such as platform morphology, oceanographic conditions, slope height, tectonic setting, and siliciclastic input, suggesting a multi-variable interplay of controls. These controls dictate the productivity and resedimentation of the contributing sediment factories, and/or influence the development of the carbonate platform system as a whole. Knowledge and classification of carbonate foreslope deposit types, architecture, and controls not only improve understanding of these complex systems, but also allow for the development of predictive relationships for economic purposes. / text

The purpose of this report is to help fisheries officials better understand the cultures of small - scale fishing communities. By doing so they will be better prepared to develop more successful management policies and practices, and to help people in such communities to have more decent lives. The paper discusses cultural characteristics of small-scale fishing communities that are particularly important for fisheries officials to understand. Methods which might help fisheries managers to obtain trustworthy and reliable information about fishing cultures in an ethical manner are also suggested, including methods for rapidly acquiring important information while working within tight budgetary and time constraints. Recommendations appearing near the end of the paper provide guidance concerning how the foregoing objectives can be achieved, underscoring the importance of sustaining small –scale fishers' rights of access to fisheries resources while making their cultures integral considerations in fisheries- management policies and practices. Buen Hombre is one of six case studies of contemporary small -scale fishing communities from distinct world -culture regions are annexed at the end, richly exemplifying many of the issues discussed in this report The essay written by Richard Stoffle is about the people of Buen Hombre, a small coastal fishing and farming village of about a thousand people located on the north coast of the Dominican Republic near the Haitian border. It is found on pages 219 – 245. The people of this village deal with the normal and abnormal problems of change. These changes are sometimes global and sometimes local. Changes occur in their climate, economy, and their environment. The people of this village prepare for and accommodate to these changes by (1) promoting a conservation ethic and (2) limiting access to their marine resources. When they are successful, fish -based food security issues are ameliorated. This essay discusses food security issues as these were faced by the people of the village of Buen Hombre from 1985 to 1995. While this is a very small segment of time, many changes did occur and these illustrate key temporal and spatial processes. Short-term changes in the economy and climate are common for coastal peoples who must constantly adjust their adaptive strategies to survive. The full reference for the entire report is: McGoodwin, James, R. (2001). Understanding the Cultures of Fishing Communities: A Key to Fisheries Management and Food Security. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations; FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 401.

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This study investigates effects of eutrophication on settlement, abundance, mortality and community structure of soleractinian corals on fringing reefs on the west coast of Barbados, W.I. Juvenile abundance was lower, but juvenile size larger, on eutrophic than less eutrophic reefs. The lower abundance results at least in part from a higher juvenile mortality on eutrophic reefs. Algae were more abundant and grazers (Diadema antillarum and herbivorous fish) less abundant on eutrophic reefs. Juvenile community structure on all reefs, and adult community structure on eutrophic reefs, was dominated by type 1 corals (high recruitment, high natural mortality). Type 2 corals (low recruitment, low natural mortality) were common in adult communities on less eutrophic reefs. Settlement of coral recruits on artificial substrates was lower on more eutrophic reefs.

No description available.

This study investigates the characteristics and use of spawning sites by the bluehead wrasse Thalassoma bifasciatum in Barbados, and movements of wrasses from source reefs to proximate and isolate recipient reefs. Pair spawning rate increased with increasing projection height; group spawning rate increased with increasing proximity to the downcurrent reef edge. Daily group spawning rates, but not pair-spawning rates, were higher when daily current speeds were lower, suggesting that fertilisation rates in group spawns may be more sensitive to current speed than fertilisation rates in pair spawns. Migration rate to isolated reefs was 16% that to proximate reefs. Immigration rate to recipient reefs decreased with increasing distance from the source reef and increased with increasing population density on the source reef. Immigration rates to proximate reefs were phase, sex, and size-specific, and were strongly influenced by phase, sex, and size-specific differences in home range size of wrasses. Immigration to isolated reefs was also phase and sex-specific. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

No description available.

No description available.

Generations of hard corals have built the complex reef ecosystems that harbour a huge diversity of sea-life in the world’s shallow tropical oceans. These undergo both sexual and clonal reproduction, and may contain signatures in their genomes which help to decipher the riddles of past population dynamics and evolutionary history. Two species of coral, Acropora austera and Platygyra daedalea, were collected from sites along the east African coastline from Kenya in the north to Maputaland, South Africa in the south, and from the Chagos Archipelago. Sequences of two different DNA regions were tested, in a preliminary study, for their potential ability to elucidate connectivity and differentiation among these coral populations. These were the nuclear ribosomal ITS region of P. daedalea populations, and a previously-unused marker, the carbonic anhydrase 3/550 nuclear intron of A. austera. These molecular markers indicated high levels of connectivity amongst populations in a preliminary study based on limited sample sizes and a subset of populations. It was decided to further explore the variability of the carbonic anhydrase 3/550 intron, which showed evidence of subdivision and structuring within Mozambique populations relative to South African populations, in a study in which both the sample size per site and the number and range of sampled sites were increased. ITS sequences, although highly variable, revealed no population differentiation in P. daedalea; STR markers were used in subsequent studies of population differentiation in this species. Populations of both A. austera and P. daedalea showed signs of high connectivity along the region of the coastline sampled in this study. However, there appeared to be a disjunction in ecological connectivity between reefs in Maputaland, South Africa and those in southern Mozambique, between Durban and Maputo where the Agulhas Current originates. This was reinforced in A. austera populations which displayed a region of genetic discontinuity between Inhaca Island and Maputaland reefs of the central reef complex, in the region of Rabbit Rock. Northern reef complexes also harboured unique haplotypes in contrast to southern reefs which shared all haplotypes with those in the north, an indication that northern reefs have seeded the southern (Maputaland) reefs. P. daedalea populations appeared evolutionarily panmictic over scales relevant to this study. Evidence for fine-scale structure indicated that populations were separated from one another over ecologically relevant time-scales. These populations were defined by both their habitats and their sampling location. There was a possibility that the Platygyra species complex included cryptic species that were not distinguishable from P. daedalea. However, the disjunction in the connectivity between northern and southern population groups was also evident in the population structure of P. daedalea. There was a net immigration of propagules of both P. daedalea and A. austera into populations north of the disjunction between groups, where the prevailing current regime is dictated by the Mozambique Channel eddies. In contrast populations to the south of the disjunction (the southern population group) which are subject to the swiftly flowing Agulhas Current, showed a net emigration of propagules from Maputaland reefs. These emigrants were likely to be lost to inhospitable habitat south of the marginal Maputaland region. Although there was evidence for migration of both Platygyra and Acropora propagules between the Bazaruto Archipelago reefs and certain Maputaland reefs, genetic exchange between Mozambique and Maputaland reefs appeared to be limited and may have occurred primarily at evolutionary rather than demographic levels. Managers may need to treat the regional Maputaland reefs as separate stocks and manage them accordingly, as the relative isolation of these corals in the central and southern reef complexes in Maputaland, South Africa, means that they are at risk to losing species to evolutionary extinction. It is also important that reef health in northern Mozambique and Tanzania is maintained as, despite evidence of a break in demographic connectivity, between reefs in these regions and those in Maputaland, there was evidence to suggest that reefs were connected at evolutionary scales, thus maintaining levels of genetic diversity on southern African reefs. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

Coastal communities along the east African coastline rely on coral reefs and their associated resources for food security and income. However, increases in the frequency and severity of episodes of coral bleaching have resulted in mass coral moralities in many locations around the world including the western Indian Ocean (WIO). Reef corals obligately host dinoflagellate algal symbionts of the genus Symbiodinium. Coral bleaching is caused by the loss of these symbionts from the host, resulting from a variety of stresses, the major ones being increased seawater temperature and irradiance. The Symbiodinum genus is diverse and the distribution of symbionts is influenced by the host biology, external light environment and geographic location. Ten distinct clades of Symbiodinium have been identified. Although the Caribbean and Great Barrier Reef have been studied intensively with respect to Symbiodinium diversity in many locations in the WIO Symbiodinium diversity is unknown. The aim of this study was to determine diversity, distribution and prevalence of Symbiodinium types in corals along the east African coastline. The Symbiodinium ssrDNA region was analysed using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) in order to assess the cladal diversity of Symbiodinium. The results showed all samples analysed to belong to clade C. To gain more insight into Symbiodinium genetic diversity, the ITS region was employed to assess Symbiodinium diversity at the subcladal level. Twenty ITS types were identified. The most prevalent type was found to be subclade C1. No phylogeographic structuring was found amongst the symbiont types, however, specificity of symbiont types to coral hosts was demonstrated indicating potential susceptibility to perturbations such as increased seawater temperature. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2007.