Caribbean Estuarine IBI

An Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) allows ecosystem “health” to be evaluated based on the constituent members of the flora and fauna, an approach which has proven effective in mant freshwater temperate systems. The Nature Conservancy, Water Resources Institute, Albrey Arrington (Perry Institute for Marine Science), Craig Dahlgren (Caribbean Marine Research Station), and I are currently working together to develop such an index for Caribbean estuarine systems. This effort will yield two products, a detailed IBI incorporating various measures of organism abundance and food web characteristics, as well as a Rapid Assessment Index that can be more easily taught and applied. Some of the taxa we are utilizing in this approach are pictured here.

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