Abstract

The phrase “shifting baselines” is a concept that has been widely accepted among the marine scientific community for years. It is a term describing a change in how a system is measured against a previous reference point, which may be signif-icantly different from an even earlier reference point of the same system. The Caribbean Sea’s benthic and pelagic commu-nities have been subject to a shifting baseline data collection series for decades, describing the rapid change of coral reefs over a short period of time. While most reef communities throughout the Caribbean are on the decline in regards to coral cover and fish biomass, Little Cayman reefs offer some positive outlook to the future. Here we address a ten year dataset of the reefs surrounding Little Cayman, Cayman Islands using the Atlantic and Gulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) ben-thic habitat assessment and fish diversity surveys, documenting major changes against earlier studies. Datas show that his-torically influential reef framework builders such as the Acroporids, Montastraeas, and Orbicellas show a significant popu-lation decline in comparison to the newly dominate Agaricias, Undarias, and Siderastreas. Competition on Little Cayman reefs is high with the macroalgal populations ofLobophora, Halimeda, and Padina increasing by 80% over the past ten years. Datas also show a significant change in fish diversity, particularly the now protected Nassau Grouper (Epinephelus striatus).

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