Journal of Oceanography and Marine Research
Open Access
ISSN: 2572-3103
+44 1300 500008
ISSN: 2572-3103
+44 1300 500008
Smith GW
University of South Carolina Aiken,
SC 29801
Tanzania
Review Article
Stressors and Disturbance Regimes on Back Reef Systems: Scale and Scope from Natural and Anthropogenic Sources
Author(s): Sullivan Sealey KM, Valerie P, Smith GW and Slingsby SSullivan Sealey KM, Valerie P, Smith GW and Slingsby S
Back reef environments present a particular challenge in terms of characterization and management. Shallow near shore and lagoonal habitats associated with reef systems are the first areas to be impacted by land-based sources of pollutants and disturbances, defined as “stressors”. Stressors are a link in the chain of events that lead to environmental change or “phase shifts” in natural systems. Stressors as “damaging stimuli” need to be defined in terms of thresholds for both populations of organisms, and ecological communities. Stressors alter the abundance and dynamics of individual populations of organisms, and thus impact the community structure and function. Microbial communities are key to processing nutrients and pollutants from land-based sources, but poorly characterized. The effects of changes in microbial communities usually go unnoticed .. View More»
DOI:
10.4172/2572-3103.1000157