- Science
Research project ideas
Coral - Algal Phase Shifts
Investigations into the competition between macroalgae and coral in the shallow reef areas within the lagoon and the resulting ecological effects. Research can be focused on a range of topics relating to the coral algal phase shift phenomenon, suggestions include:
• Transect and quadrat based methodologies can be used to investigate the benthic composition and extent of the phase shift across various reef areas in the bay.
• Photographic surveys on specific reef areas to document the frequency and nature of contact interactions between corals and macroalgae.
• Studies into algal succession within and between the bay’s reef systems using settlement tiles (long term study).
• Investigating the importance of herbivory in controlling macro algae populations through manipulation caging experiments (long term study) or through benthic comparisons of sites with varying fishing pressure and /or urchin populations.
• Determine rates of herbivory on reefs through simple herbivory assays (McClanahan et al 1994) and discuss the implications of this to coral reef health.
Fisheries Studies
There is huge scope involved with the assessment of the Bay of Ranobe’s traditional fishery:
• Catch size and composition assessment through analysis of fish landing data that can be collected by working alongside ReefDoctor’s local fisheries surveyor.
• Research into the octopus fishery and influence of the seasonal no take zones (NTZs)
• Investigations into the harvesting of sea urchins and sea cucumbers from the lagoon by local villagers. This can include an establishment of a monitoring programme, calculation of extraction rates and sustainable management development initiatives.
• Assessing the ecological impact of the traditional fishing practice of beach seining on the shallow water reef habitats.
• Assessment of the aquarium trade in the bay, involving the evaluation and assemblage of information to be gathered from visits to fish traps and from interviewing the individuals involved with the trade.
Marine Protected Areas
There are four MPA’s in the Bay of Ranobe; the ‘Massif des Roses’ was the first to be established in 2007, while the remaining three, Ankaranjelita, Andabotira and Ankarabory were opened in Dec 2008. Potential future projects relating to the impacts of marine reserves on coral reefs include:
• Comparing benthic communities (live coral cover, macroalgae abundance) between protected and non protected reefs.
• Assessing the impact of fishing closure by analysing differences in reef fish communities between protected and non protected sites, including abundances, biomass, species diversity and trophic level.
• Investigating the population dynamics of sea urchins and triggerfish (keystone predators) and comparing this between fished and non fished reefs.
Seagrass
The shallow lagoon of the Bay of Ranobe has extensive seagrass meadows, anthropogenic impacts (namely trampling by locals collecting marine resources at low tide and beach seining) vary in intensity across different regions of this system. Suitable projects include:
• Investigating anthropogenic impact on seagrass cover and species diversity across various sites using comparative analysis.
• Research into the ecological and economic significance of the seagrass habitat through fish and invertebrate surveys.
Sea Urchin Ecology
Sea urchins are important members of coral reef herbivorous populations and can impact the reef structure and function both positively (graze algae preventing the succession to macroalgae) and negatively (can cause bioerosion). Potential research projects include:
• Assessment of the sea urchin populations across the Bay of Ranobe, by collecting data on sea urchin densities (McClanahan & Shair 1990, circular quadrat method or regular belt transects) and species composition, and the implications of this to the health of coral reef system.
• Ecological and economic impacts of the lagoon sea urchin fishery.
• Research into the urchin- predator population dynamics and the use of urchin abundances as indirect indicators of fishing pressure.
• Investigating sea urchin predation rates across sites using predation tagging assays described by McClanahan & Muthiga 1989.
• Investigate the potential competitive exclusion of Parrotfish (Scaridae) in areas where urchin densities are high (see work by McClanahan et al on Kenyan coral reefs).
Coral Research
For those who have a research interest in hard coral and have good coral identification skills (or are able to learn prior to the study) the following projects may be suitable:
• Investigating the bleaching susceptibilities of certain reefs to future bleaching events based on taxonomic and morphologic analysis of the coral community.
• Coral spawning studies through the implementation of settlement plates and microscopic assessment of settled coral colonies
• Coral recruitment surveys based on simple quadrat methodologies.
• An assessment of the hard coral species diversity within the bay.
Socio-Economic Studies
There are many possible socio-economic projects to conduct in the Bay of Ranobe that can either compliment biological/ecological research or form an individual study:
• Socio-economic survey of the subsistence turtle fishery in Ifaty. A survey questionnaire taken from a similar study in the Caribbean, translated into the local Vezo dialect is available at ReefDoctor.
• Research into the bay’s ecotourism industry, involving questionnaires aimed at local dive shops, tourists, hotel and business owners and local communities.
• Interview programme concerned with discovering the perspectives and opinions of local communities on certain issues addressing the bay such as MPA’s, overfishing, ecotourism etc.
• Feasibility studies into potential aquaculture projects for the region to generate alternative sources of income for local communities, such as sea cucumber mariculture and algal farms.
• A study into the trends and current population of Ifaty, this could also include Lakana (fishing boats) censuses to ascertain fishing pressure.
