Lime Cay, the man islet of the Port Royal Cays, located 17 degrees north and 76 degrees west, is one of the many cays in Jamaica. By definition, a cay is a small low elevated sandy island formed on the surface of a coral reef. These types of islands are usually found in the Caribbean Sea, Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Ocean. Also they are circular in shape. A cay is home to many different species due to the formation of habitats such as the rocky shore habitat. A cay is formed when the current of the ocean transport lose sediments across the surface of a reef to a depositional node, which is where two currents converge and the sediment load is released.
Layers of deposited sediment gradually build up on the reef surface resulting in a low island forming on this reef. Cays provide a variety of habitats ranging from marine to terrestrial. Hence, Cays are important protectors of the biodiversity of our planet. Cays provide several habitats for its organisms such as rocky shores, sea grass beds, sand bed, coral beds and inner terrestrial land. Prominent organisms that occupy the marine and the coastal habitats include echinoderms, crabs, fishes etc. The terrestrial portion of Cay is usually dominated by various Mangrove species.
The Dissertation on Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and most complex reef system in the world and one of the most complex and biodiverse natural systems on Earth. The Reef covers an area of 344 400 square kilometres. It is made up of thousands of individual coral reefs and hundreds of island and coral cays. The reef has over 1500 species of fish, 400 species of coral, 4000 species of mollusc, 800 species of ...
Method:
A trip was made to Lime Cay to carry out a comprehensive ecological study of Lime Cay. It was done in 4 parts: Project 1: The Impact of Man on the Environment Persons walked along the cay and waded in the water to find evidence of the presence of man to determine the ways in which he affects the habitat. Evidence of the presence of animals was also investigated and a possible food web was made based on the animals (or evidence of animals) that were observed.
Project 2: Echinoderm Distribution
A group of 8 swimmers went into the surrounding sea of the cay with snorkelling gear in order to observe the abundance and distribution of echinoderms in habitats where they were likely to be found. A quadrant was randomly thrown 5 times in each of the different sea habitats. These included the sea grass, sea sand and the rocky habitats. The number of echinoderms in the quadrant for each throw in each habitat was recorded in a table.
Project 3: Mangrove Distribution
Persons walked around the cay and into the mangrove, and identified the different mangrove types, making note of the characteristics of each plant, as well as the ambient conditions and how they could affect the distribution of the mangroves.
Project 4: Rocky Shore Study
A suitable area of the rocky shore was investigated and notes were made on how conditions in this area varied (in terms of temperature and salinity) and how organisms were adapted to live in this environment.
