By Andrea Milam St. John Tradewinds The diverse ecosystem and rela- tive isolation of St. John have long made the island the perfect place for scientific study. Recorded studies of Love City’s plant and animal life go all the way back to 1767, and the island was the site of some of the most exten- sive underwater studies with the advent of scuba diving in 1956. “This little island has produced a lot of cutting edge science,” VI. National Park Chief of Resource Management Rafe Boulon told the St. John Historical Society at its Tuesday evening, December 8, meeting at the Bethany Moravian Church. The first reliable source of in- formation on plants came from Moravian missionary GCC Olden- dorp in 1767, when he listed plants and animals found on all three Vir- gin Islands. A more comprehensive study came in 1987, with Woodbury and Weaver’s vegetation map, which described different types of veg- etation and where they are found on St. John. Pedro Acevedo-Rodriguez got even more specific with his study in 1996, when he counted 747 spe- cies of vascular plants, 86 percent of which were native to St. John. He also found that St. John shared 87 percent of its species with the rest of the Caribbean. In 2000, Eleanor Gibney used aerial photos to classify vegeta- tion, and found that St. John is comprised mostly of moist forests, dry forests, woodlands and sparse vegetation. “A lot of the studies completed here were for thesis work,” Bou- lon said. “St. John is a good place to do this kind of work thanks to the national park.” Some of the studies resulted in positive change for the island, such at Colorado State University’s Wa- tershed Sciences Program erosion study, which was conducted from 1992-2004. “Unpaved roads were their pre- ferred targets for measuring ero- sion rates compared with undis- turbed hillslopes,” said Boulon. St. John Tradewinds, December 14-20, 2009 9 Rafe Boulon Details Rich Scientific History for Historical Society Tradewinds News Photo by Andrea Milam V.I. National Park Chief of Resource Management Rafe Boulon presents the history of science on St. John at the Tuesday evening, December 8, St. John Historical Society meeting at the Bethany Moravian Church. “Volunteers dug out tons of runoff soil gathered over several months and weighed it.” Students found that undisturbed hillslopes had a runoff rate of 0.01 tons per hectare per year, while un- paved roads had a rate of 25 to 600 tons per hectare per year. “They developed a new water- shed erosion model for St. John, which is used today in the Fish Bay watershed, which extends all the way up to Catherineberg,” said Boulon. The Maho Bay Camps Road Erosion Reduction Project, which was completed in 2005, reduced erosion in that area by 70 percent, Boulon added. Government agencies also take advantage of the island’s relative lack of development by continu- ally monitoring environmental conditions, Boulon explained. The USDA and the National Resource Conservation Service have five climate/soil monitoring stations on St. John, four of which are at Lameshur, and one of which is at Cinnamon Bay. St. John also claims one of the 13 PRIMENeéet sites in the U.S., which is located at Lind Point. PRIMENet, a program of long- term monitoring of environmental stressors in national parks born out of a partnership between the Na- tional Park Service and the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency, ob- serves many different conditions at the VINP site including ozone, visibility and standard meteorol- ogy. Boulon also shared information on studies of St. John birds — the earliest being in 1877, by Freder- ick Ober who collected birds on the island for the Smithsonian — and amphibians, reptiles, insects and exotic animals. With the advent of scuba div- ing in 1956, an entire underwater world was opened up around St. John, beginning at Lameshur Bay. “A lot of marine science, world- wide actually, began in Lameshur Bay,” said Boulon. “Some of the longest data sets in the Caribbean came from there.” Technology has no doubt in- creased exponentially since the 1950s, when Herb Kumpf and Helen Randall compiled their Ma- rine Habitat Map using both aerial photographs and information they collected by pulling one another on a wooden sled in the water be- hind a boat. “The contrast in technology is mind-boggling,” said Boulon. No presentation on underwater science would be complete without the mention of Tektite, the under- water habitat located at Lameshur Bay in 1969 and 1970. “Some phenomenal work came out of that project,” said Boulon. When it comes to the underwa- ter life surrounding St. John, fish- ery issues are well documented, while coral diseases are still poorly understood, Boulon explained. “A lot of work is needed,” he said. “We do know that we can control local stressors such as sed- iment, anchors and pollution, to increase the resilience of corals.” Give the perfect gift for the holiday... oe Certificates at ANY Value and enjoy a glass of champagne ™ » while receiving services Come Visit Our New ere LCi PM tee arated) ee sets pe be Fd i CCU r aL SR STE utylounge.com WWW .SKEINNYLEGS.COM Short Term-Full Service Since 1985 VACATION VILLA MANAGEMENT 24 years of on island rental service e: info@seaviewhomes.com Ww: www.seaviewhomes.com t: 340-776-6805; toll-free 1-888-625-2963 Experienced . Personalized . Professional . Proven Find All You Need On Every Level. amarketplace