Reef-building coral species are facing extinction

by michelle.sundvick | July 11, 2008 at 03:24 pm | 465 views | 15 comments

The results of a global study show that a third of the world's reef-building coral species are facing extinction due to a combination of climate change, fishing, and pollution.

The economic value of the world's reefs has been estimated at over $30bn (£15bn) per year, through tourism, fisheries and coastal protection.
"The picture is frightening," said Alex Rogers from the Zoological Society of London, one of 39 scientists involved in the assessment.

"It's not just the fact that something like a third of all reef-forming corals are threatened, but that we could be facing the loss of large areas of these ecosystems within 50 to 100 years.
"The implications of that are absolutely staggering - not only for biodiversity, but also for economics."
The analysis shows that reef-building corals are more threatened than any group of land-dwelling animals except amphibians.

The corals lose their colour, with reefs taking on a bleached appearance, and begin to die off because the algae are not there to provide nutrients.
The new analysis shows that before 1998, only 13 of the 704 coral species assessed would have been classified as threatened. Now, the number is 231.

Overfishing in many regions - especially the use of dynamite to fish in East Asia and heavy trawls that reduce reefs to rubble - the excavation of building materials from reefs, coastal development, invasive species and pollution are all fingered in the new analysis.

Coastal development and farming produce effluent, which stimulates the growth of types of algae that smother growing coral.
Meanwhile, fishermen are catching fish that would usually graze on these algae.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7498502.stm

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Paschen

at 20:57 on July 11th, 2008

good stuff:

michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff.

This is a serious problem! The U of Tokyo is doing research on how to stop the process or slow it down at least!

dotnethed

at 21:52 on July 11th, 2008

good stuff:

michelle.sundvick, I like this story. It's good stuff. It's horrifying the rate at which we are destroying this planet. Thanks for drawing attention to yet another example of human excess wreaking havoc on the environment!

normbear

at 02:58 on July 12th, 2008

Heron Island and other coral cays east of Gladstone on the Queensland coast are at the southernmost reaches of the Great Barrier Reef marine park in Australia.

NormanBear has contributed a photo to this story.

Mila Apnea Girl

at 15:25 on July 12th, 2008

I´m a Colombian girl and this is my second home, this island is called: Old Providence Island and has the third largest Coral Reef after Australia and Belize....we have to be happy for it...me , as a colombian...i´m very proud of it...we should take care of it...it´s a treasure ;)

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rpointer00

at 22:57 on July 12th, 2008

This coral reef is on display to the public at the Atlantis Marine World Aquarium in Riverhead NY.

To their credit the marine biologists who manage this tank use live coral and live rock. Absolutely no part of this tank is fake or painted.

rpointer00 has contributed a photo to this story.

Mark Karl

at 08:01 on July 13th, 2008

While this is a photo of some healthy pillar coral, the species is rare in the Florida Keys. The remaining patches are facing the same environmental pressures as the rest of our coral reefs.
Many people talk about coral bleaching as killing the reef system. Bleaching is just one issue in the larger problem of coral disease.
http://www.coris.noaa.gov/about/diseases/

As the Website says,
"Coral diseases and syndromes generally occur in response to biotic stresses such as bacteria, fungi and viruses, and/or abiotic stresses such as increased sea water temperatures, ultraviolet radiation, sedimentation and pollutants."

I have seen evidence of bleaching in the Florida Keys, but I have seen more examples of coral disease killing the coral and destroying the reef system.

Controlling pollutants and fishing pressure are short-term actions we can take. Controling our impact on climate change is a long-term action we can take to preserve our coral reef systems.

Mark Karl has contributed a photo to this story.

justexpressive

at 12:11 on July 13th, 2008

We were recently in "our" coral reef: John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo, Florida and I think one of the other contributing factors to this problem is people at large.

Our dive captain and first mate were very explicit about the location being a protected area and people absolutely not being allowed to put their feet down or touch any of the coral, animals or even the sand. People did not heed these warnings and were not careful. It made me so angry to see people kicking up sand and allowing their fins to touch down. I could see pieces of coral knocked over as we were swimming along.

And of course, people are dumping fish that don't belong and are not native to the reef out there. You can't just take a fish that gets too large for your tank and dump it out at the reef. People don't think about the impact that sort of thing has on the ecosystem at large.

It is such a gorgeous place and I'm lucky that our family was able to see it.

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Philippe Colling

at 17:29 on July 13th, 2008

Paso del Cedral - Cozumel (Mexico) - June 2008

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Señora Presidente

at 09:10 on July 14th, 2008

If you've never experienced the other-worldly magic and beauty of coral reefs, you cannot appreciate what a tragedy it would be to lose them.

Señora Presidente has contributed a photo to this story.

FedeSub

at 01:14 on July 15th, 2008

Respect the Sea!

FedeSub has contributed a photo to this story.

doclam

at 03:21 on July 15th, 2008

I took this image while exploring the beautiful reefs in Moorea, French Polynesia. The reefs and lagoons were strikingly beautiful.

doclam has contributed a photo to this story.

kactusficus

at 05:07 on July 15th, 2008

Crinoids are very delicate and sensitive organisms. They live by filtering particles from the water flow.

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kaleidosc0peeyes

at 00:28 on July 21st, 2008

I took this picture at the Winnipeg Assiniboine Park zoo. Before we know it, zoos may be the only place we can observe the spectacular beauty of coral reefs. This is definitely a great article -- more attention needs to be paid to this problem.

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otonili

at 07:13 on August 7th, 2008

coral reefs are the most colorful, vivid environments on earth!

otonili has contributed a photo to this story.