Diversity and time-series analyses of Caribbean deep-sea coral and sponge assemblages on the tropical island slope of Isla de Roatán, Honduras

Shore-based submersible operations, from 2006 to 2020, have allowed us to examine megabenthic assemblages along the island margin of Isla de Roatán from depths of about 150 to 750 m, including repeated observations of the same organisms. These dives were used to photo-document a diverse benthic assemblage and observe the health and condition of the sessile fauna in a well-explored but relatively undocumented area of the Mesoamerican Reef. Samples were collected by dip net, and some dives profiled the water column chemistry in the year 2011. The deep-sea coral assemblage observed off Roatan exhibits high abundance and diversity. The sessile habitat-forming taxa consist primarily of at least 20 different octocorals (e.g., Plexauridae, Primnoidae, Coralliidae, Isididae, and Ellisellidae) and 20 different sponges each (Demospongiae and Hexactinellida), with several known and unknown taxa of Zoantharia, Antipatharia (Bathypathes spp), and Scleractinia (e.g., Desmophyllum pertusum, Dendrophyllia alternata, Madracis myriaster, and solitary taxa). Crinoidea were also abundant and diverse, represented by at least nine species. Epifaunal assemblages associated with corals include at least 24 macroinvertebrate species dominated by Asteroschema laeve (Ophiuroidea) and Chirostylus spp. (Decapoda: Anomura). Repeated observations of a few large octocoral colonies over many years illustrate patterns of predation, recolonization, and epibiont host fidelity, including a 14-year record of decline in a plexaurid octocoral (putatively Paramuricea sp.) and loss of its resident ophiuroids. The shore-based submersible provides a practical and relatively inexpensive platform from which to study coral and sponge assemblages on a deep tropical island slope. The deep-sea coral gardens are likely to harbor new species and new discoveries if more samples can be acquired and made available for taxonomic research.

Notes on the Location of Happiness

This article explores the world making capabilities of travel writing (Goodman 1978; Youngs 2013). The premise is that literary products are key elements in the configuration of the world itself and that specifically authors of travel accounts mediate the world to their readership at home (Archetti 1994). By highlighting three different examples of travel writing, the article discusses the persistent notion of the tropical island as an actually existing paradise on earth. More specifically, the discussion focus around the notion that happiness exists in places to which one can travel to. The examples at hand are two eighteenth century travel logs one French and one English; Louise-Antoine de Bougainville’s from 1772 and William Bligh’s from 1792, while the third and final example is a contemporary Swedish travel piece written by Anders Mathlein and first published in 2001.

Climate Adaptation for Tropical Island Land Stewardship: Adapting a Workshop Planning Process to Hawai‘i

Tropical island ecosystems are highly vulnerable to the multiple threats of climate change (Nurse et al. 2014; Bonan 2008). In response, agencies and organizations are tasked with developing land-management strategies to help ecosystems adapt to changing environmental conditions (Swanston et al. 2016). Research has shown that proactive planning can reduce climate change impacts by facilitating more efficient and rapid responses (Bierbaum et al. 2013). Complex socio-ecological conditions, environmental change related stressors (e.g., wildfire, pests, disease, and drought), a lack of resources, and shifting public policy and agency mandates (Nagel et al. 2017) can all hinder response effectiveness (Crausbay et al. 2020). Despite these challenges, considerable progress has been made in assessing climate vulnerabilities of forest ecosystems and in developing adaptation options for land managers (Swanston and Janowiak 2012; Janowiak et al. 2014; Swanston et al. 2016; Halofsky et al. 2018; Schmitt et al. 2021). Adaptation planning in response to significant anticipated changes is becoming increasingly sophisticated, especially with respect to anticipated changes in forest wildfire regimes, species invasion, species composition, ecosystem health, and hydrological functioning due to climate change. Here we describe our conversion of a highly successful adaptation workshop process (Schmitt et al. 2021) to a virtual environment in response to COVID-19. We effectively delivered content to managers and created an experiential learning environment in which they developed adaptation tactics for their management projects, integrating Indigenous science and knowledge into the workshop format and content. This workshop was additionally novel because it used an adaptation process (Janowiak et al. 2014, Ontl et al. 2018) that has been applied many times in the continental U.S. within primarily temperate and sub-boreal systems (https://forestadaptation.org/), and applied it for the first time to a tropical island system.

Impact of COVID-19 on monthly water consumption on a tropical tourism island: case study of Phuket (Thailand)

Phuket is a tropical island in Thailand that is famous for tourism. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the number of tourists reducing to almost zero. Since tourism contributes around one-half of the gross provincial product of Phuket, the impact was so severe that even the numbers of people employed and registered as locals decreased. Analysing the data from January 2015 to March 2021, we found that the total, residential and non-residential monthly consumptions dropped significantly after Thailand's State of Emergency was declared in March 2020. Unlike other studies that reported residential consumption increasing when people are required to stay home for a prolonged period, Phuket's residential consumption decreased by more than 10% from the pre-COVID-19 level, possibly due to the drop in peer-to-peer accommodation bookings. To study the impact on consumption in detail, we modelled using cascade regression analysis by dividing the predictors into three groups, namely socioeconomics, weather and calendar period. The results showed that the number of guest arrivals was the most statistically significant in all types of consumption and should be used as a predictor for water demand forecasting models in tourism areas.

Application of eDNA Metabarcoding for Detecting Anura on a Tropical Island

As anuran biodiversity quickly declines, it is important to understand local patterns of anuran occurrence. However, the limitations of traditional sampling methods make anuran biodiversity surveys inadequate. Tropical environments are rich in anuran species, which makes biodiversity measurements more difficult. Therefore, it is important to develop a rapid, inexpensive and nondestructive method to measure anuran biodiversity in tropical environments. We used eDNA metabarcoding to measure anuran diversity at 288 sites in 18 regions of Hainan Island. We also used traditional methods and compared the results with those obtained through the eDNA metabarcoding methods. We detected 9 anuran species by traditional sampling methods. We produced 626 million reads by eDNA metabarcoding and assigned them to 15 anuran species. Therefore, eDNA metabarcoding can be used for rapid and large-scale anuran biodiversity surveys.

Assessment of ecosystem services provided by livestock agroecosystems in the tropics: a case study of tropical island environment of Guadeloupe

The present study aims to assess (1) the ecosystem services (ES) provided by LFS and (2) the differential ES between local (Creole) and exotic breeds from pig, cattle and goat. The ES are defined as the benefits that humans derive from LFS. They were summarized in 12 ES indicators that cover services related to provisioning, ecological and socio-cultural aspects and territorial vitality. A total of 106 LFS units that covers the five agroecological zones of Guadeloupe were analysed. Functional typologies of LFS per species were created from surveys. The effect of breed on the ES indicators was tested. Results showed that the 40 pig LFS units were separated into 3 clusters that were differentiated in ES according to provisioning ES (cluster 1), cultural use and sale to the neighborhood (cluster 2) and pork self-consumption (cluster 3). The typology of the 57 farms with cattle distinguished 4 clusters with differences in ES provided in self-consumption (cluster1), ecological ES (cluster 2), socio-cultural ES for racing or draught oxen (cluster 3) and ES associated with territory vitality (cluster 4). The 66 goat LFS units were classified into 3 clusters different in ES concerning self-consumption (cluster 1), cultural aspects (cluster 2) and provisioning ES (cluster 3). Our study highlights that ES indicators are not breed dependent (P > 0.10) but rather livestock farming system dependent. The ES rely more on the rearing management than on the breed type, and up to now, there are no specifications in Guadeloupe to differentiate management between breeds.