Application of Standard Ecological Community Classification (CMECS) to Coastal Zone Management and Conservation on Small Islands

Classification of island coastal landscapes is a challenge to incorporate both the terrestrial and the aquatic environment characteristics, and place biological diversity in a regional and insular context. The Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) was developed for use in the United States and incorporates geomorphic data, substrate data, biological information, as well as water column characteristics. The CMECS framework was applied to the island of Great Exuma, The Bahamas. The classification used data from existing studies to include oceanographic data, seawater temperature, salinity, benthic invertebrate surveys, sediment analysis, marine plant surveys, and coastal geomorphology. The information generated is a multi-dimensional description of benthic and shoreline biotopes characterized by dominant species. Biotopes were both mapped and described in hierarchical classification schemes that captured unique components of diversity in the mosaic of coastal natural communities. Natural community classification into biotopes is a useful tool to quantify ecological landscapes as a basis to develop monitoring over time for biotic community response to climate change and human alteration of the coastal zone.