Resolving Current and Future Conflicts Between Tourism and Ecosystems in the Bahamas

Resolving Current and Future Conflicts Between Tourism and Ecosystems in the Bahamas

  Resolving Current and Future Conflicts between Tourism and Ecosystems What are the Information Needs and Gaps?  

Major Ecosystems of The Bahamas
Coral Reefs
Seashores
Rock Seashores
Whiteland Coppice
Blackland Coppice
Pine Forest

Additional Ecosystems
The Bahamas has the largest Mangrove System on the planet. They comprise of :
Red Mangrove - Red mangroves exclude salt by having significantly impermeable roots which are highly suberised, acting as an ultrafiltration mechanism to exclude sodium salts from the rest of the plant.
Black Mangrove - (Avicennia germinans Stearn); black mangroves have characteristic pneumatophores (oxygen-obtaining root projections) surrounding their bases, projecting some 5-20 cm out of the sediment.
White Mangrove - Occupying higher land than the red and black mangroves, the white mangrove (Languncularia racemosa) has no visible aerial roots, unlike the black mangrove which has pneumatophores and the red mangrove with prop roots.
Buttonwood Mangrove -Often found in the upland transitional zone, the buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus) is often associated with mangrove communities. 

Coral Reefs

Coral Reefs are the natural wonders of the world. Over one hundred different species decorate the ocean floor with an infinite variety of patterns appearing as spires and pinnacles of pillar corals, “trees and shrubs” of stone hard elkhorns, huge boulders that look like giant brains, and delicate flower-like figures of lettuce and leaf corals.

Sandy Seashore
An area filled with an interesting mix of unique plants and animals that have be able to adapt to Bahamian eco-environment where the soil is infertile, and it is often windy, dry and salty.
Along the sandy seashore, there are no large rocks, algae or tidal pools. In the context of The Bahamas, our seashores are divided into four general zones: Intertidal, Pioneer, Fixed Dune and Scrub Woodland Zones.

The Rock Seashore
This type of seashore is comprised mostly...

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