Print PageSeveral islands across the archipelago of Puerto Rico (PR) were historically used as targets for naval training activities by the U.S. Navy and other NATO countries, including the island municipalities of Culebra (1901-1975) and Vieques (1941-2000). Long-term socio-economic, health and ecological impacts of naval training activities in PR have been poorly or not documented at all. Social injustices in Culebra included relocating the town of San Ildefonso, naming it Dewey after a U.S. Navy admiral, taking over all beaches/coastlines for amphibious landing maneuvers, ship to shore bombing, aerial firing ranges, napalm testing, and other activities that had already been outdated technologically. Also, access to beaches, navigation and fishing were prohibited, while coral reefs were bombarded. Ecological impacts of bombing have been often described in the literature as minimal, with recurrent allegations of hurricane confounding effects. However, lack of natural recovery of coral and fish assemblages on bomb-cratered reefs has never been addressed. This study was aimed at: 1) documenting what was the condition of benthic communities on 35-50 year-old craters at Culebra Island in comparison to adjacent sites; 2) comparing coral recruitment rates within and outside craters; 3) comparing fish community structure within and outside; and 4) addressing the preliminary impacts of a community-based bombarded coral reef rehabilitation effort using low-tech threatened Staghorn coral (Acropora cervicornis) aquaculture and transplanting methods.
Results/Conclusions
Bomb-cratered reefs were largely dominated by heavily fragmented benthos, with % coral cover usually below 1% and dominance by non reef-building taxa (i.e., filamentous algal turfs, macroalgae, cyanobacteria, sponges, and sporadic octocorals and ephemeral hard coral species). Benthic spatial heterogeneity was also significantly lower within craters which also resulted in a lowered functional value as fish nursery ground. Overall fish species richness, abundance and biomass were significantly lower within craters. Though coral larval settlement occurred within the crater, coral spat mortality was high largely due to the unstable fragmented bottom. Low-tech, community-based approaches to culture, harvest and transplant A. cervicornis into formerly bombarded grounds have proved successful in increasing benthic heterogeneity, fostering coral sexual reproduction and genetic recombination, and helping restore on fish community structure, while fostering meaningful community-based participation. However, introducing and fostering compliance with coral reef conservation measures (i.e., no take marine reserve) in a community still traumatized by these military practices and past actions of Government as the island was declared spoils of war at the turn of the century has been a paramount challenge.
