*Valuing Caribbean Biodiversity Knowledge DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89016*

are unintentional such as ballast water transfer and hull-fouling of international vessels [24–27]. Intentional releases usually entail the release of an animal one can no longer care for into the wild [28]. The invasive marine species gain access to resources needed by the native marine populations to survive. Without the usual checks and balances in their own native range, they often outcompete and overpopulate their new habitat, causing a nuisance. The zebra mussel, *Dreissena polymorpha* (**Figure 4A**), native to Europe, entered the USA Great Lakes in 1988 and then grew in numbers far greater that the native mussels causing substantial damage to industrial waterways with an annual maintenance cost of ~US\$ 1 billion [29]. The Caribbean wants to prevent such a disaster in its waters.

With increased movement of goods and people across oceans, the risk increases. If introduced species successfully establish, they begin to interrupt nature's delicate balance causing a cascading effect that can change entire ecosystems over time. *Halophila stipulacea*, a seagrass species native to the Red Sea and Indo-Pacific, was first observed in the Caribbean in 2002 and has rapidly spread [30–32]. *H. stipulacea*

#### **Figure 4.**

*Marine pictures: (A) Zebra mussels (https://www.healthylake.ca/zebra-mussels), (B) Psuedodiploria strigosa brain coral infected with black band disease, (C) queen conch (https://www.keywestaquarium.com/queenconch), (D) juvenile and adult conch, (E) juvenile queen conch in invasive seagrass Halophila stipulacea. Pictures (B, D, E) by Dr. Kimani Kitson-Walters.*

outcompetes Caribbean native seagrasses through its ability to rapidly expand and form dense mats which impacts native fish and epibenthic species [33]. The invasive seagrass has impacted the endangered queen conch (*Lobatus gigas*), a giant mollusk endemic to the Caribbean region, as it limits access of the juvenile conch to the sediment [34]. This has detrimental implications for this important species and countless others that use native seagrass meadows as a nursery habitat (**Figure 4C**–**E**).

Biotechnology is helping us better understand the magnitude of the marine bioresource and to monitor it, and thus propose solutions. Using DNA barcoding to identify Caribbean reef fish allowed processing of 3400 specimens of 521 reef fishes collected from six areas across the Caribbean between 2004 and 2009. By using these advanced methods, it is clear that tropical reef diversity has been underdetected and therefore underestimated [35]. This method was found especially useful for matching juveniles with adults and barcoding unknown specimens. This effort also resulted in the naming of new genera and resolution of taxonomic issues. Importantly, this database grows with each new set of barcodes making the information more and more robust [36].

The continued advancement of biotechnology provides new perspectives to age-old questions, providing solutions to problems that were unsolvable less than a decade ago. For example, the use of microsatellite DNA technology allowed for accurate distinction of populations and of individuals within populations and subsequently their genetic connectivity across temporal and spatial scales [37, 38]. This is especially useful in informing management strategies of important species on a local and regional level, whether the goal is commercial or for conservation. In the case of the over-harvested queen conch, biotechnology has helped with both these goals. The multi-million US dollar conch trade has declined significantly throughout the Caribbean with little known about whether it can recover. It was found that genetic connectivity of the species across the region was limited by oceanic distance [39], making recovery of specific populations difficult due to complete reliance on self-recruitment or on upstream populations in the territorial waters of neighboring countries. The management practices, or lack thereof, on upstream populations therefore have a significant impact on the recovery of downstream populations [39, 40]. This serves as another reminder, that in the Caribbean we do not, and cannot, survive alone. This technology is applicable to all species and can be used to guide local and regional management and conservation, safeguarding biodiversity.

The use of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), another advanced genomics technique, can provide deeper insight into the connectivity of key species. SNPs allow for targeted research into specific aspects of a species' ecology on the molecular level. Questions about the effectiveness of marine protected areas, organism's response to climate change and anthropogenic stressors as well as identification of genetically distinct populations, can be answered using SNPs technology [41, 42]. SNP libraries can and have been developed for numerous species for conservation and management purposes. In the Caribbean, SNP technology has been applied across various taxa including endangered corals (*Acropora palmata* and *Orbicella faveolata*), fish (Nassau grouper), invertebrates (spiny lobster) and an invasive angiosperm (*Halophila stipulacea*) [42–46]*.*

Along with gathering and analyzing knowledge, various methods are being used as counter-measures against possible extinctions. These include but are not limited to:


### **Figure 5.**

*Ex situ medicinal plant collection by a local community in Quickstep, Trelawny, Jamaica.*

### **Figure 6.**

*In vitro medicinal plant collection at the Biotechnology Centre, UWI, Mona Campus, Jamaica.*
