Caribbean Biodiversity Survey

In collaboration with North Carolina State University, Kido Ecological Research Station (KERS), and the Grenadian Ministry of Agriculture, PCCS Associate Scientist Dr. Gregg Moore has designed an interdisciplinary survey and analysis of the biological diversity of a chain of small islands within the Lesser Antilles. The work is supported through an Expedition Grant from Earthwatch Institute and will enlist the help of some 40 volunteers over the course of the years work. PCCS’ role in the ecosystem-scale investigation is 1) overall project supervision, 2) coastal botanical survey and habitat characterization, and 3) GIS mapping of communities and data management. An abstract of the research plan is described below. Preliminary ground work began in May of 2003 while the initial field survey was conducted over the month of January 2004. Additional survey dates are scheulded for June 2004 and will continue annually for up to three years.

The purpose of this research is to survey and document the existing ecological resources of the Southern Grenadines Archipelago, a cluster of 25 small tropical islands located in the Eastern Caribbean, towards the conservation, protection, and restoration of habitats and the key species they contain. These data will be utilized in the later development of a guidance document and management template for site-specific sustainable ecotourism strategies for this larger eco-region. Using the research team’s specific experience in the Grenadines, our current goal is to complete rapid ecological inventories of a series of islands within the Archipelago using standard, uniform methods to facilitate direct comparison between sites.

These inventories will include 1) general plant community/habitat characterizations, 2) specific botanical surveys, 3) vertebrate point count survey, 4) order-specific invertebrate survey, 5) photo-documentation of rare, threatened, endangered or otherwise conspicuous flora and fauna that may be particularly significant to conservation and ecotourism efforts, and 6) GIS mapping of dominant habitat types. Contributing to the resources of the scientists and environmental professionals on our team, Earthwatch volunteers will assist in the collection of field data on Carriacou and throughout the Archipelago on day trips aboard the KERS 57’ catamaran along with local volunteers from the islands. The data the team collects will be integrated into a progressive management document aimed at encouraging local government, land managers and businesses to promote sustainable ecotourism throughout the region. Our work will support and promote the efforts of local conservation organizations working towards protection of these natural resources, and will significantly facilitate the establishment of formal national parks and protected seascapes currently proposed in the region. For more detailed information, please visit www.earthwatch.org.