'%Healthy Reefs for Healthy People - A Guide to Indicators of Reef Health and Social Well-being in the Mesoamerican Reef Region%'%by Melanie McField and Patricia Kramer% of 38

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DRIVERS

CHANGE

Drivers of change are human activities and natural events that directly or indirectly influence the integrity and

health of the reef ecosystem. While these influences can result in favorable changes, in this guide the phrase

"drivers of change" refers specifically to threats or stressors that may negatively impact species diversity,

richness and abundance; habitat quality, extent or productivity (including critical habitats such as spawning,

breeding and foraging sites); or key ecological processes (such as larval transport).

On regional and global scales, distinguishing the effects of natural disturbances from those of human

disturbances is generally difficult. Observed effects may derive from multiple sources with synergistic effects.

These combined events and activities may have long-term effects on ecological processes that may enable or

hamper a reef's ability to recover and persist.

Disturbances (e.g., waste disposal or predator outbreaks) can profoundly influence coral reef health, and

many have increased in scale, frequency, and intensity over the past few decades. Recovery in the wake of

disturbances is being delayed or not observed at all on many reefs. Disturbances that were once acute in

nature (e.g., coral bleaching or disease outbreaks) are now becoming chronic.

The primary drivers of change that pose the greatest risks to Mesoamerican Reef health are:

· Tourism and coastal development

· Land use and agriculture

· Fishing

· Global climate change.

These activities and threats are the focus of most of the ongoing conservation management interventions

in the region. Fifteen indicators associated with these primary drivers of change have been identified (Table

7.c).

Table 7.c. Drivers of Change Indicators.

Attribute

Indicator #

Indicator

Tourism and

Coastal Development Index

Coastal Development

Tourism Development Index

Tourism Sustainability Index

Land Use and

Agricultural Input Rates

Agriculture

Sediment Delivery Rates

Foraminifers (FORAM) Index

Contaminant Accumulation

Fishing

Certified Fisheries Products

Volume of Production

D10

Conch Abundance

D11

Spiny Lobster Abundance

D12

Protected Fish Spawning Aggregations

Global Climate Change

D13

Photic (Amphi) Index

D14

Coral Bleaching Index

D15

Reef Resiliency to Bleaching