Southeastern Bahamas Coral Reef & Island Survey

摘要: Coral reef ecosystems in the Bahamas are valuable biological and economic resources, providing food security, a major source of marine biodiversity and high cultural and tourism attraction value. The reefs of the Southeastern Bahamas are among the least studied reefs in the country and therefore are a substantial gap in the environmental and ecological knowledge for the Bahamas. These reefs play an important role in the recruitment dynamics, serving as larval sources and sinks for the ecologically and commercially important species such as spiny lobster, conch and Nassau grouper occurring in the Exuma Land and Sea Park and areas in the central and southern Bahamas. Consequently, it is important to provide protection to this area of The Bahamas as there are relatively few anthropogenic impacts in these southern areas due to their remoteness and the small populations on the inhabited islands.