Abstract

Climate change is thought to negatively impact the resilience of marine ecosystems in Caribbean countries. While ma-rine habitats have been the focus of previous governmental initiatives in Grenada, specific management plans for seagrass beds are yet to be developed. In this study, seagrass density (Thalassia testudinum) and other environmental factors were measured on benthic transects in nearshore ecosystems on the East and West coasts of Grenada (n=192), to assess disturb-ance interfering with coastal ecosystem resilience and the government’s current approach to habitat conservation. Paramet-ric exploratory data analysis, GLM models and nMDS were used to investigate the effects of disturbance on seagrass densi-ty. The data showed that seagrass density correlated significantly with the level of disturbance at the study sites (P <0.001). The data also showed that disturbed seagrass beds (>15cm long) grew less densely, suggesting that continued disturbance may impact the habitat’s suitability for supporting marine life. Environmental factors such as shallow water (P <0.001) and temperature rise (P <0.001) also had a negative effect on seagrass density, which implies that long-term disturbance through tourism and climate change may harm the coastal ecosystem. Overall, the results of this study suggest that alterna-tive, more seagrass-focused approaches may be required in order to fully address seagrass bed conservation and ensure its continued resilience in Grenada.

PDF Preview