During the last 20 years, SAM has developed a multiplicity of hypothesis-driven conservation and restoration projects. Being home to the oldest Community-based coral aquaculture and reef rehabilitation program in the Caribbean, we aim to develop a variety of scientific publications that highlight our commitment towards the conservatiion of our marine resources. Most publications are freely available on our website.
Peer reviewed publications
Hernández-Delgado, Edwin A. Climate change impacts on Caribbean coastal ecosystems Book Chapter In: Bustos, Beatriz; Mauro, Salvatore Engel-Di; García-López, Gustavo; Milanez, Felipe; Ojeda., Diana (Ed.): Chapter 4, pp. 15, Routledge Handbook of Latin America and the Environment, London, 1st Edition, 2023, ISBN: 9780429344428. Gómez-Andújar, Nicolás X; Hernandez-Delgado, Edwin A Spatial benthic community analysis of shallow coral reefs to support coastal management in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico. Journal Article In: PeerJ, pp. 1-27, 2020.2023
@inbook{Hernández-Delgado2023b,
title = {Climate change impacts on Caribbean coastal ecosystems},
author = {Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado},
editor = {Beatriz Bustos and Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro and Gustavo García-López and Felipe Milanez and Diana Ojeda.},
url = {https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429344428/routledge-handbook-latin-america-environment-beatriz-bustos-salvatore-engel-di-mauro-gustavo-garc%C3%ADa-l%C3%B3pez-felipe-milanez-diana-ojeda?refId=2d2078f6-0cea-4106-8795-391245abd2df&context=ubx
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9780429344428/routledge-handbook-latin-america-environment-beatriz-bustos-salvatore-engel-di-mauro-gustavo-garc%C3%ADa-l%C3%B3pez-felipe-milanez-diana-ojeda},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429344428},
isbn = {9780429344428},
year = {2023},
date = {2023-05-30},
urldate = {2023-05-30},
pages = {15},
publisher = { Routledge Handbook of Latin America and the Environment},
address = {London},
edition = {1st Edition},
chapter = {4},
abstract = {This chapter provides a review and discussion of the main ecological and environmental challenges of coastal ecosystems of the Wider Caribbean region in the context of Anthropogenic climate change. The topic was developed through an interdisciplinary ecological and socio-environmental perspective that includes the mutually influential relations of biophysical and social processes. It discusses the importance of natural disasters, threats, and risks from the lack of environmental sustainability and injustice, and land-use degradation patterns. It also addresses the question of how this combination of factors, in the context of still strong colonial policies, legacies and environmental injustice, has resulted in the increased degradation of coastal ecosystems and in increasing the vulnerability of both ecosystems and human communities to threats by climate change. Factors such as hurricane impacts, deforestation, air and water pollution, water scarcity, lack of food security and sovereignty, overfishing, and sea surface warming trends, massive coral bleaching, and mass coral mortalities are also addressed in the context of rapidly declining ecosystem and infrastructure resilience across the region. A conceptual model of potential climate change impacts is presented based on coastal ecosystems to provide a clear sense of the ecosystem trajectories, turning points, factors, and current issues confronting ecosystems and environments across the Wider Caribbean region.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {inbook}
}
2020
@article{Gómez-Andújar2020,
title = {Spatial benthic community analysis of shallow coral reefs to support coastal management in Culebra Island, Puerto Rico.},
author = {Nicolás X Gómez-Andújar and Edwin A Hernandez-Delgado },
editor = {Gregory Verutes},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33088617/
https://www.sampr.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Spatial-benthic-community-analysis-of-shallow-coral-reefs-to-support-coastal-management-in-Culebra-Island-Puerto-Rico.pdf},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10080},
year = {2020},
date = {2020-10-14},
urldate = {2020-10-14},
journal = {PeerJ},
pages = {1-27},
abstract = {Caribbean coral reefs provide essential ecosystem services to society, including fisheries, tourism and shoreline protection from coastal erosion. However, these reefs are also exhibiting major declining trends, leading to the evolution of novel ecosystems dominated by non-reef building taxa, with potentially altered ecological functions. In the search for effective management strategies, this study characterized coral reefs in front of a touristic beach which provides economic benefits to the surrounding coastal communities yet faces increasing anthropogenic pressures and conservation challenges. Haphazard photo-transects were used to address spatial variation patterns in the reef’s benthic community structure in eight locations. Statistically significant differences were found with increasing distance from the shoreline, reef rugosity, Diadema antillarum density, among reef locations, and as a function of recreational use. Nearshore reefs reflected higher percent macroalgal cover, likely due to increased exposure from both recreational activities and nearby unsustainable land-use practices. However, nearshore reefs still support a high abundance of the endangered reef-building coral Orbicella annularis, highlighting the need to conserve these natural shoreline protectors. There is an opportunity for local stakeholders and regulatory institutions to collaboratively implement sea-urchin propagation, restoration of endangered Acroporid coral populations, and zoning of recreational densities across reefs. Our results illustrate vulnerable reef hotspots where these management interventions are needed and recommend guidelines to address them.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}