Research Reports
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Murdoch TJT (2018) Status and Trends of Bermuda Reefs and Fishes: 2016 Report Card. Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping (BREAM) Programme, Bermuda Zoological Society, Flatts, Bermuda. BBP-2017-256. 55 pp.
In this report, we utilize a four - component index of reef condition, called the Sea Life Index (SLI) , which we introduced in 2016 in the report on the “Baseline Status of Bermuda’s Reefs and Fishes” (Murdoch and Murdoch 2016 ). We compared our baseline data from the same 39 sites to new data collected in the summer s of 2015 and 2016, using a team of trained scientific divers. Each reef was surveyed with replication using standardized scientific methods.
Murdoch TJT (2017) Status and Trends of Bermuda Reefs and Fishes: 2015 Report Card. Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping (BREAM) Programme, Bermuda Zoological Society, Flatts, Bermuda. BBP-2017-256. 42 pp.
In this report, we utilize a four - component index of reef condition, called the Sea Life Index, which we introduced in 2016 in the report on the “Baseline Status of Bermuda’s Reefs and Fishes ” (Murdoch and Murdoch 2016). We compared our baseline data from the same 39 sites to new data collected in the summer of 2015, using a team of trained scientific divers. Each reef was surveyed with replication using standardized scientific methods.
Murdoch TJT, Murdoch JMH (2016) Baseline Condition of the Coral Reefs and Fishes across Three Depth Zones of the Forereef of Bermuda. Bermuda Reef Ecosystem Assessment and Mapping (BREAM) Programme, Bermuda Zoological Society, Flatts, Bermuda. BBP-2016-237. 80 pp.
Bermuda’s coral reefs protect our beaches and coastal properties from erosion, and high coral cover and abundant parrotfish es make our coral reefs healthy. Predatory fishes like snappers and rockfishes play a critical role in maintaining reef health by eating the kinds of fishes which damage corals and promote healt hy herbivorous (plant - eating) fish populations . In this report, we provide clear evidence that historically abundant predatory fishes are rare and at critically low biomass levels on Bermuda reefs. The cover of corals remains high at fore reef locations, but is lower at 30m depth, within the lagoon and particularly at nearshore reefs, where marine plants are overly abundant and plant - eating fishes are scarce. Long - term monitoring is required to determine whether reef condition is stable or in decline across the Bermuda reef system. Unless we better manage and protect our predatory reef fishes , the health of our reefs will decline, reef erosion will increase , and beach es and coastal properties will suffer substantial damage from increasing storm wave erosion in the coming decades