Abstract

Coral reef systems are fundamentally important ecosystems for the island of Barbados, supporting a highly diverse marine fauna along while providing critical resources and services which residents of the island are dependent on through means such as food and employment. Coral reefs also play a key role in the contribution to the economies of the Caribbean small island developing states such as Barbados, where tourism is the main economic driver. Over the past five decades the Barbadian coral reef systems have been impacted by global (eg climate change) and local stressors (eg anthropogenic runoffs) causing dynamic changes in the ecosystems such as coral bleaching and benthic algal domination, leading to loss of coral cover and an increase in coral mortality. Here we conducted a pilot study into the marine microbial communities that inhabit the seawater of two coral reef systems located on the west coast of Barbados that have different structural features, ecological features and local stressor exposure. By incorporating modern and novel analysis approaches we revealed that the two reef systems have distinct microbial ecology compositions that reflect the ecosystems ecological differences and effects by stressors. Our data gives insights into the microbial microbiome that interacts with other microbiomes (eg coral holobiont) within the Barbadian reef ecosystems, creating a baseline for future studies and surveying efforts.