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Nowlis, J. S., Roberts, C. M., Smith, A. H., & Siirila, E. (1997). Human-enhanced impacts of a tropical storm nearshore coral reefs. Ambio, 26(8), 515-521.
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Central America / Caribbean: St. Lucia
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Land development ranks among the most significant human threats to coral reefs, causing damage by promoting the erosion and transport of soil and sediment in water. Following a tropical storm, more sediment and coral damage was found on reefs closest to the mouths of large rivers, where coral mortality depended on the amount of sediment and even exceeded 50% at some sites. Significantly more sediment was found at sites near road construction works at the time of the storm. This problem is likely to grow in scale given the growing demands for development and the increasing frequency of large storms in the tropical Atlantic.
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