{{Short description|Coral reef ecosystem of Tobago}} thumb|380x380px|The shallow waters of the Buccoo Reef Complex, Tobago, West Indies {{Designation list | designation1 = Ramsar | designation1_offname = Buccoo Reef / Bon Accord Lagoon Complex | designation1_date = 8 July 2005 | designation1_number = 1496<ref name="RSIS">{{Cite web|title=Buccoo Reef / Bon Accord Lagoon Complex|website=Ramsar Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/1496|access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref>}} The island of Tobago has multiple coral reef ecosystems.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Lapointe|first1=Brian E.|last2=Langton|first2=Richard|last3=Bedford|first3=Bradley J.|last4=Potts|first4=Arthur C.|last5=Day|first5=Owen|last6=Hu|first6=Chuanmin|date=2010-03-01|title=Land-based nutrient enrichment of the Buccoo Reef Complex and fringing coral reefs of Tobago, West Indies|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X09004639|journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin|language=en|volume=60|issue=3|pages=334–343|doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.10.020|pmid=20034641|bibcode=2010MarPB..60..334L |issn=0025-326X|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/tobagos-major-tourist-attraction-6.2.808091.09065114fd|title=Tobago's major tourist attraction...|website=www.guardian.co.tt|language=en|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref> The '''Buccoo Reef''', the Culloden Reed and Speyside Reef are the three largest coral reef marine ecosystems in Tobago.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Buglass|first1=Salome|last2=Donner|first2=Simon D.|last3=Alemu I|first3=Jahson B.|date=2016-03-15|title=A study on the recovery of Tobago's coral reefs following the 2010 mass bleaching event|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X16300376|journal=Marine Pollution Bulletin|language=en|volume=104|issue=1|pages=198–206|doi=10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.01.038|pmid=26856646|bibcode=2016MarPB.104..198B |issn=0025-326X|hdl=2429/51752|hdl-access=free}}</ref> The Buccoo Reef is a coralline reef ecosystem that is located on the southwestern region of Tobago.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> It is a popular ecotourism attraction where tourists can snorkel and see the coral reefs and schools of fish without diving equipment.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.looptt.com/content/tobago-bucket-list-10-things-you-must-do-island-you-die|title=Tobago bucket list: 10 things you must do on the island before you die|website=www.looptt.com|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/caribbean/totally-tobago/hidden-beaches/|title=Where are the best hidden beaches in Tobago?|date=2019-07-24|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2020-03-19|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> The Trinidad and Tobago Tourism Ministry estimates that 90% of its tourists visit the Buccoo Reef while exploring Tobago.<ref name=":1" /> The Buccoo Reef, also known as the Buccoo Reef Complex, spans 7&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> and has five reef flats that can reach up to 25 metres in depth.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last1=Alemu I|first1=Jahson Berhane|last2=Clement|first2=Ysharda|date=2014-01-06|editor-last=Dias|editor-first=João Miguel|title=Mass Coral Bleaching in 2010 in the Southern Caribbean|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=9|issue=1|article-number=e83829|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0083829|issn=1932-6203|pmc=3882216|pmid=24400078|bibcode=2014PLoSO...983829A|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":10" /> The reef complex has been designated as part of a protected Ramsar site since 2005.<ref name="RSIS"/>

In 1973, the Buccoo Reef Complex was designated as a protected marine park, called the Buccoo Reef Marine Park to monitor the health of the coral reef ecosystem.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last1=Lapointe|first1=B. E.|last2=Langton|first2=R.|last3=Day|first3=O.|last4=Potts|first4=A. C.|date=2003|title=Integrated water quality and coral reef monitoring on fringing reefs of Tobago: chemical and ecological evidence of sewage-driven eutrophication in the Buccoo Reef Complex|url=http://procs.gcfi.org/pdf/gcfi_54-38.pdf|language=en|pages=457–472}}</ref> Approximately 90% of Tobago's coastal shoreline is protected by coral reefs, including the Buccoo Reef Complex.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|last=Ramsaroop|first=Doon|date=1982-12-31|title=A preliminary survey of the coral reefs in Man-o-War Bay, Tobago|url=http://ttfnc.org/livingworld/index.php/lwj/article/view/492|journal=Living World, Journal of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://globalvoices.org/2019/09/15/tobagos-coral-bleaching-alert-makes-it-clear-there-is-no-alternative-to-fighting-the-climate-crisis/|title=Tobago's coral bleaching alert makes it clear there is 'no alternative' to fighting the climate crisis · Global Voices|date=2019-09-15|website=Global Voices|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wri.org/resources/maps/shoreline-protection-coral-reefs-tobago|title=Shoreline Protection by Coral Reefs - Tobago|date=2008-06-11|website=World Resources Institute|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref> These coral reefs help protect Tobago's land from eroding and avoiding landslides.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Burke, Lauretta Marie, contributor. Greenhalgh, Suzie, contributor. Prager, Daniel, contributor. Cooper, Emily, contributor.|title=Coastal capital, Tobago: the economic contribution of Tobago's coral reefs|oclc=919637127}}</ref> In 1999, a non-profit organization called the Buccoo Reef Trust was created to help the Trinidad and Tobago government in developing its marine education department and organizing sustainability projects, including the preservation of the Buccoo Reef Complex and other coral reefs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.buccooreeftrust.org.tt/about-us/buccoo-reef-trust/|title=Buccoo Reef Trust – Buccoo Reef Trust|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-19}}</ref><ref>Armstrong, Hyacinth G. (2005). [http://www.scielo.sa.cr/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0034-77442005000300028&lng=en&tlng=en "Environmental education in Tobago's primary schools: a case study of coral reef education"], ''Revista de Biología Tropical'', ''53''(Suppl. 1), 229–238. Retrieved 2020-03-19.</ref>

The Buccoo Reef Complex is made up of a shallow lagoon, seagrass beds and a mangrove wetland.<ref name=":4" /> The dominant corals in the Buccoo Reef Complex are the ''Montastrea'' species, the thin finger (''Porites divaricata'') corals and the fire corals (''Millepora'' species).<ref name=":13">O'Farrell, S. and Day, O. 2005. [http://www.buccooreeftrust.org.tt/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Coral_Bleaching_Report_1.pdf "Report on the 2005 mass coral bleaching event in Tobago: Part 1. Results from Phase 1 Survey"].&nbsp; 2005. pp. 1–42.</ref> In this region, the coral reefs experience two seasons: the dry season, which spans from January to May, and the wet season, which spans from June to December.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last1=Mohammed|first1=Shaazia|last2=Heron|first2=Scott|last3=Mahabir|first3=Rajindra|last4=Clarke|first4=Ricardo|date=2015-12-24|title=Performance Evaluation of CRW Reef-Scale and Broad-Scale SST-Based Coral Monitoring Products in Fringing Reef Systems of Tobago|journal=Remote Sensing|language=en|volume=8|issue=1|page=12|doi=10.3390/rs8010012|bibcode=2015RemS....8...12M|issn=2072-4292|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.metoffice.gov.tt/Climate|title=Climate|website=www.metoffice.gov.tt|language=en|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref> Sea surface temperatures in the Buccoo Reef Complex range between 26&nbsp;°C to 31&nbsp;°C.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite web|url=http://www.buccooreeftrust.org.tt/citizen-science/tobagos-reefs/|title=Tobago's Reefs – Buccoo Reef Trust|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-18}}</ref> The Buccoo Reef complex receives freshwater and nutrients from the Orinoco River.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Hassanali|first=Kahlil|date=2013|title=Towards sustainable tourism: The need to integrate conservation and development using the Buccoo Reef Marine Park, Tobago, West Indies|journal=Natural Resources Forum|language=en|volume=37|issue=2|pages=90–102|doi=10.1111/1477-8947.12004|bibcode=2013NRF....37...90H |issn=1477-8947|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11">{{Cite journal|last1=Muller-Karger|first1=Frank E.|last2=McClain|first2=Charles R.|last3=Richardson|first3=Philip L.|date=May 1988|title=The dispersal of the Amazon's water|url=https://www.nature.com/articles/333056a0|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=333|issue=6168|pages=56–59|doi=10.1038/333056a0|bibcode=1988Natur.333...56M|s2cid=4371215|issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The nutrient flow from the Orinoco River allow the proliferation of plankton.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":11" /> Approximately 119 species of fish inhabit the Buccoo Reef Complex.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9" /> These fish species benefit from the pool of plankton and they use the Buccoo Reef Complex to spawn and regenerate their populations.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":9" /><ref name=":7" />thumb|544x544px|A picture of the Buccoo Reef Complex from a glass boat tour.

Since 1970, the Buccoo Reef Complex has been declared at risk by marine scientists due to the rise of pollution, poor water quality, eutrophication and coral bleaching<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mallela|first1=Jennie|last2=Parkinson|first2=Richard|last3=Day|first3=Owen|date=January 2010|title=An assessment of coral reefs in Tobago|journal=Caribbean Journal of Science|volume=46|issue=1|pages=83–87|doi=10.18475/cjos.v46i1.a10|s2cid=87505578|issn=0008-6452}}</ref><ref name=":12" /><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.wri.org/blog/2016/06/history-untreated-sewage-sours-tobagos-waters|title=A History of Untreated Sewage Sours Tobago's Waters|date=2016-06-08|website=World Resources Institute|language=en|access-date=2020-03-19|last1=Burke |first1=Lauretta }}</ref> Approximately 28% of coral cover in the Buccoo Reef Marine Park has decreased from 1994 to 2008.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last1=Mohammed|first1=Azad|title=Chapter 24 - Trinidad and Tobago|date=2019-01-01|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128050682000292|journal=World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation (Second Edition)|pages=567–590|editor-last=Sheppard|editor-first=Charles|publisher=Academic Press|language=en|doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-805068-2.00029-2|isbn=978-0-12-805068-2|access-date=2020-03-19|last2=Mohammed|first2=Terry|last3=Alemu|first3=Jahson|last4=White|first4=Stephanie|last5=Gobin|first5=Judith|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Coral reef health has also declined during this period due to sedimentation, nutrient runoff from and thermal stress from urbanization in Tobago.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last1=Eakin|first1=C. Mark|last2=Morgan|first2=Jessica A.|last3=Heron|first3=Scott F.|last4=Smith|first4=Tyler B.|last5=Liu|first5=Gang|last6=Alvarez-Filip|first6=Lorenzo|last7=Baca|first7=Bart|last8=Bartels|first8=Erich|last9=Bastidas|first9=Carolina|last10=Bouchon|first10=Claude|last11=Brandt|first11=Marilyn|date=2010-11-15|editor-last=Romanuk|editor-first=Tamara Natasha|title=Caribbean Corals in Crisis: Record Thermal Stress, Bleaching, and Mortality in 2005|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=5|issue=11|article-number=e13969|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0013969|issn=1932-6203|pmc=2981599|pmid=21125021|bibcode=2010PLoSO...513969E|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Potts|first1=A. C.|last2=Sandy|first2=K.|last3=Clarke|first3=M.|last4=Bobb|first4=N.|date=2004|title=The coral reefs of Tobago: status and management; Los arrecifes de Tobago: condiciones y manejo|url=http://aquaticcommons.org/13683/|language=en|pages=765–776}}</ref> Three major coral bleaching events occurred in Tobago in 1998, 2005 and 2010 that also affected the coral cover of many coral reefs, including the Buccoo Reef.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":8" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Harding|first1=S.|last2=van Bochove|first2=J. W.|last3=Day|first3=O.|last4=Gibson|first4=K.|last5=Raines|first5=P.|year=2008|title=Continued degradation of Tobago's coral reefs linked to the prevalence of coral disease following the 2005 mass coral bleaching event|journal=Proceedings of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium|pages=738–741}}</ref> Following the bleaching event in 2005, the Buccoo Reef Trust conducted a study on the impact of bleaching event on all coral reefs across Tobago.<ref name=":13" /> It was found that many of the dominant corals in the Buccoo Reef Complex were significantly bleached.<ref name=":13" /> After the 2010 coral bleaching event in Tobago, the overall hard coral taxa cover has decreased from 25.19% in 2010 to 16.38% in 2012 at the Buccoo Reef Complex.<ref name=":4" /> Over the 2010–2012 period, macroalgae species increased from 15.87% cover to 37.90% cover in the Buccoo Reef Complex.<ref name=":4" />

== References == {{Reflist}}

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Category:Coral reefs of Trinidad and Tobago Category:Geography of Tobago Category:Tourist attractions in Trinidad and Tobago Category:Parks in Trinidad and Tobago Category:Ramsar sites in Trinidad and Tobago