Questioning Community Based Coral Reef Management Systems: Case Study of Awig-Awig in Gili Indah, Indonesia

Issues and complexities arising when the fisheries and marine tourism sectors have stakes in an institution governing the coral reefs ecosystem called awig-awig are discussed, awig-awig is a colloquialism meaning ‘a local rule’. The community-based management system is commonly recognized as a better approach to governing resources, however, the success of awig-awig in the study area is questionable. Awig-awig fails to deal with the conflict of interest among stakeholders in coastal resource appropriation, despite the community being relatively culturally homogenous. The benefits of awig-awig are biased in favor of the tourism as opposed to fisheries, leading to the fishers’ resistance of awig-awig. There are critical factors to this weakness: a crisis of legitimacy within community, socio-economic inequality among actors involved in such system, high intervention from external agencies, and the institutional conflict over conservation policy. In addition, awig-awig reduces community spirit as it is perceived as not being attached to any customary law or traditional norms. Group cohesion is challenged and there is no common understanding of the problem or alternatives strategies.     

Community involvement in marine protected areas: the case of Puerto Morelos reef, México

The case of Puerto Morelos reef marine protected area (MPA) provides an example of a community-based marine conservation initiative to protect a coral reef ecosystem. The establishment and maintenance of this MPA had five stages: (a) identification of community leaders who would participate in the project; (b) generation of consensus on the need to protect the reef through discussions among local stakeholders, NGOs and reef scientists; (c) involvement of government agencies in establishing the status of a MPA; (d) take-over of decision-making by centralized governmental agencies; and (e) continuous problem-solving process between the government and stakeholders. Over a 9-year period, the control of the MPA was taken over by government and stakeholders' participation downgraded from a decision-making to an advice-giving role. Government shortcomings to manage this MPA could be circumvented via collaborative co-management. Given the small population size of the community and strong sense of ownership, there was a high level of participation in the decision-making processes and scientific advisors are present in the area.     

Metaprotella Sandalensis (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Caprellidae): A Bioindicator of Nutrient Enrichment on Coral Reefs?

The population of the caprellid Metaprotella sandalensis Mayer (Crustacea: Amphipoda) associated with the seaweed Turbinaria ornata (Turner) J. Agardh was studied on a spatial scale in relation to the influence of physico-chemical factors on the coral reef system at Mauritius Island. Some areas of the coast of Mauritius are currently subject to disturbance due to industrialisation and rapidly growing tourist development programmes, meanwhile other sites of the island are still unaltered. T. ornata was sampled at 12 stations, distributed around the whole island to represent the heterogeneous conditions. The density of Metaprotella sandalensis living on T. ornata was measured. The linear regression and the multivariate analysis showed a strong correlation between the densities of the caprellid and the physico-chemical parameters. The highest densities of M. sandalensis were found in the most stressed sites characterised by the highest values of nitrate, phosphate, chemical oxygen demand and silting. According to these results and taking into account that M. sandalensis and T. ornata are widely distributed in most of the tropical ecosystems, we preliminarily propose usage of the density of this caprellid as a new monitoring tool on coral reefs or, at least, as a first diagnosis for the detection of nutrient enrichment on these ecosystems.     

南中国海地区珊瑚礁资源的破坏现状及保护对策

南中国海具有丰富的浅海和热带的生物多样性,是全球珊瑚礁分布的中心之一。全球34%的珊瑚礁分布在东南亚,该海区拥有全球70个珊瑚属的50个属。东南亚的珊瑚种类有超过一半的分布在南中国海,75种的海绵以及118种的棘皮类动物属于南中国海的地方特有种。珊瑚礁具有重要的生态服务功能,它支持渔业生产、保护海岸、净化空气、提供沿海社区发展的生活资料,在海岸旅游和药物开发等方面具有巨大的潜力。但是由于受人口增加和经济发展的巨大压力,南中国地区珊瑚礁资源破坏严重,退化趋势明显。文章在对南中国海地区珊瑚礁资源的利用现状和退化原因进行分析的基础上,提出南中国海地区珊瑚礁资源保护与管理的建议,以期能在双边或区域的层面上共同协作,采取适当的措施去扭转南中国海地区珊瑚礁生境退化趋势。     

Does it matter that male beaugregory damselfish have a mate preference?

Male beaugregory damselfish (Stegastes leucostictus) spent more time courting larger females in both two-choice and single presentations. Female size was significantly correlated with gonad weight. We also verified that female fecundity was extremely variable within a natural population. We found that male reproductive success was highly correlated with both clutch size and clutch number. However, clutch size was not significantly correlated with clutch number, indicating that males that received larger clutches did not receive more egg clutches. Furthermore, there was no difference between the number of offspring produced by males that mated with the largest females and by males that mated with the most females. Thus, although males preferred larger females, males produced similar numbers of offspring by mating with large females or mating with many females. Received: 7 March 1997 / Accepted after revision: 1 November 1997     

Endocrine disrupter nonylphenol and bisphenol A contamination in Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands, Japan--within coral reefs and adjacent river mouths

Certain chemicals possess the potential to modulate endocrine systems, and thereby interfere with reproduction and developmental processes in the wild. We analyzed endocrine disrupters nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) levels at various sites in Okinawa and Ishigaki Islands, Japan. River-water samples showed undetectable to low concentrations of NP and BPA at most of the sites investigated. However, an appreciable amount of BPA was detected in sediments at one coral reef site. In addition, significant numbers of river sediment samples showed appreciable amounts of NP and BPA. Most of the sampling sites for this study are located within a distance of 1 km from the coral reefs, which are under influence of river-waters to a variable extent. Therefore, influence of endocrine disrupters may have already begun on adjacent coral reefs. Both endocrine disrupters were positively correlated with human population densities, but not with the contents of red soil generated by farm land reformation. Therefore, it is concluded that NP and BPA pollution is a consequence of human waste discharge, both domestic and industrial, and not by agricultural activities.     

海门市蛎岈山牡蛎礁海洋特别保护区生态系统健康评价

在分析海门市蛎岈山牡蛎礁海洋特别保护区海域生态系统现状及特点基础上,构建了包含环境、结构、稳定性3个方面24个指标的海洋特别保护区生态系统健康评价指标体系,并采用熵权综合指数模型和模糊综合评价模型对保护区的生态系统健康状况进行评价及对比分析。熵权综合指数法评价结果表明,保护区生态系统处于健康趋向亚健康的状态;熵权模糊综合模型评价结果表明,保护区生态系统处于健康状态。由于模糊综合评价模型能反映保护区各生态要素的健康状况,其评价结论更趋近于保护区客观现状,更适用于海洋保护区健康评价。     

电凝聚法去除珊瑚礁岛地下水有机物的效果研究

为去除珊瑚礁岛淡水透镜体(俗称岛水)里的腐殖质等有机物,降低色度,采用自行设计的电凝聚器进行了正交试验,确定了影响珊瑚礁岛地下水有机物去除效果的各因素主次顺序及最佳参数. 结果表明,电凝聚法对珊瑚礁岛淡水透镜体中有机物有较好的去除效果,影响去除效果的各因素主次顺序为停留时间(T)>电流密度(I_F)>电极板间距(d). 各因素的最佳值:电极板间距(d)为5 mm,电流密度(I_F)为30 　A/m2,停留时间(T)为90 s. 在最优条件下,原水经电凝聚处理后,上清液的浊度为0.4 NTU,色度为5度.      

Trade-offs associated with dietary specialization in corallivorous butterflyfishes (Chaetodontidae: <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chaetodon</Emphasis>)

Increasing dietary specialization is an inherently risky strategy because it increases a species’ vulnerability to resource depletion. However, risks associated with dietary specialization may be offset by increased performance when feeding on preferred prey. Although rarely demonstrated, highly specialized species are expected to outperform generalists when feeding on their preferred prey, whereas generalists are predicted to have more similar performance across a range of different prey. To test this theory, we compared the growth rates of two obligate coral-feeding butterflyfishes (Chaetodon trifascialis and Chaetodon plebeius) maintained on exclusive diets of preferred vs nonpreferred prey. In the field, C. trifascialis was the most specialized species, feeding almost exclusively on just one coral species, Acropora hyacinthus. C. plebeius meanwhile, was much less specialized, but fed predominantly on Pocillopora damicornis. During growth experiments, C. trifascialis grew fastest when feeding on A. hyacinthus and did not grow at all when feeding on less preferred prey (P. damicornis and Porites cylindrica). C. plebeius performed equally well on both A. hyacinthus and P. damicornis (its preferred prey), but performed poorly when feeding on P. cylindrica. Both butterflyfishes select coral species that maximize juvenile growth, but contrary to expectations, the more specialized species (C. trifascialis) did not outperform the generalist species (C. plebeius) when both consumed their preferred prey. Increased dietary specialization, therefore, appears to be a questionable strategy, as there was no evidence of any increased benefits to offset increases in susceptibility to disturbance.