Which coral reefs are endangered

The income flow in reef areas is threatened by reef degradation. The damage on reef is often caused by increased tourism. This is facilitated by uncontrolled building and irresponsible business operations, increased discharge of wastewater and incautious behavior of tourists themselves. Mass tourism is a threat to coral reefs and with them the income the reefs provide for the local public. Sustainable tourism, on the other hand, is a source of income for all activities related to tourism.

It additionally provides an alternative for destructive fisheries in the local communities. The most important human impacts related to mass tourism are among others increased sedimentation, loss of habitat, and discharge of garbage and wastewater.

This leads among others to increased turbidity which can bring the amount of light available for coral growth and survival below a critical threshold. Besides these, direct actions also have impacts on reef systems.

Corals get damaged and may even die when they come in contact with fins, hands, knees, boats or anchors. Photo: divers are sitting on corals, waiting for thresher sharks at Malapascua, Philippines. Many boats with snorkelers or divers anchor inside reefs. Every time this happens, some corals will break. Tourists like to buy souvenirs for friends and family, for example shells like the nice Giant Triton in the photo below.

The animal that lived in this shell is a natural enemy of the crown-of-thorns starfish. The reduction in numbers of the Giant Triton disrupts a natural balance which causes the crown-of-thorns starfish to increase its number. And sadly, this starfish preys on corals. Overfishing and destructive fishing methods lead to damage to both fish stocks and their environment.

The problems include dynamite- and cyanide fishing and trawling. Explosions from dynamite fishing shatter stony corals and kill fish and invertebrates including corals in a large radius.

After some time a whole reef is damaged. Cyanide fisheries use cyanide in concentrations that are not meant to kill, but just paralyze fish so that they are more easily caught.

These actions cause a lot of stress in corals and the cyanide kills many smaller reef organisms who are more vulnerable to overdoses. Corals that are repeatedly exposed to cyanide die. Cyanide fisheries also supply some live fish for the aquaria-trade.

Fishing nets often get stuck in reefs and damage them. Fishermen frequently cut those nets loose from their boats and leave them behind. The nets continue to damage corals and catch fish, something that is called ghost-fishing. Photo: nets damaging coral reefs. Discharge and pollution originating on land , e. Sedimentation by dredging and nutrients in run-off water lead to a higher turbidity in the water column, which prevents corals from catching the sunlight they need to grow and survive.

Sunlight is essential for photosynthesis, the primary source of energy and food for corals and plants. It hinders the growth and makes corals more vulnerable to disease.

Nutrient enrichment can tip the balance in an ecosystem by stimulation the growth of phytoplankton a. This, combined with natural fluctuations of warmer ocean temperatures, has resulted in extensive coral bleaching around the globe, involving thousands of square miles of reefs.

Another coral bleaching event in October extended into , becoming the longest and most damaging ever recorded. More than 80 percent of the northern part of the Great Barrier Reef has now suffered severe bleaching. Bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef Photo: Oregon State University. The researchers found that bleaching events have increased from one every 25 to 30 years in the early s to an average of one every six years since While coral reefs can recover from bleaching if given 10 to 15 years for their algae communities to recover, the increasing frequency of bleaching events means that many reefs may never be able to.

In addition, the 22 million tons of carbon dioxide our oceans absorb every day are changing the chemistry of seawater and increasing acidification. Today, coral reefs are experiencing more acidity than they have at any time in the last , years. One study showed that ocean acidification profoundly alters coral reef ecosystems. As C02 levels rise and acidification increases, the biodiversity of coral reefs drops, resulting in the elimination of key species needed for healthy reef formation.

All of these factors act in concert on coral reefs, and complex interactions between the threats leave coral reefs even more vulnerable. Climate change will also bring sea level rise that may result in drowned coral reefs, and more intense storms that produce excessive nutrient or sediment runoff.

Rising ocean acidity lowers the threshold at which corals bleach. Coral reefs provide us with food, construction materials limestone and new medicines—more than half of new cancer drug research is focused on marine organisms.

Reefs offer shoreline protection and maintain water quality. Losing the coral reefs would have profound social and economic impacts on many countries, especially small island nations like Haiti, Fiji, Indonesia, and the Philippines that depend on coral reefs for their livelihoods. What can be done to save these precious and beautiful ecosystems? Reefs at Risk Revisited called for the expansion of Marine Protected Areas where fishing and fishing methods are regulated.

Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Richard Ling. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest and richest coral reef in the world because it has been protected since the early s. After the creation of a marine sanctuary for Apo Island in the Philippines in , the fish population tripled.

Reefs at Risk Revisited also recommended curbing unsustainable fishing, managing coastal development better, and reducing both land and marine-based pollution. It also stressed the importance of comprehensive ecosystem management that includes all stakeholders, and the need to educate the public about the importance of coral reefs and investing in scientific research. Their goal is to eventually transplant these more resilient corals into the reefs. The Coral Restoration Foundation protects and restores coral reefs through creating coral nurseries and transplanting corals into reef restoration sites.

Concerned individuals can become citizen scientists and monitor corals at restoration sites, or volunteer to monitor marine sanctuaries, protect marine wildlife or clear ocean debris. Everyone can help coral reefs by practicing sustainable fishing, and eating only sustainably caught fish. And it is crucial, of course, for national and international bodies, and for all of us to address the threats of climate change by curbing carbon emissions.

It deals with the biology of corals, reef biodiversity, factors that impact coral reefs, and coral reef conservation and preservation. Ecology is a big part of being an environmental steward. People should realize that if they want their grandkids fishing the same waters and seeing the same beautiful reefs they need to take better care of it.

From the fish to the coral. As an avid diver in the Miami area, I also have seen first hand, the slow demise of these beautiful seascapes due to tourists.

To make matters worse, there are currently plans to expand ports in the area which will destroy more reefs. I know CRF is doing their best to put a stop to the blasting that will ensue. Chances are slim, but I am keeping fingers crossed. I only wish that someday soon the greater public will awake and see that is important to save our planet. The reefs are a beautiful and important aspect to our lives, why on earth would we knowingly harm them?

I have seen first hand the same thing in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The difference between the bleached coral and the live is unbelievable. I just hope the coral is still around when my kids are old enough to dive and enjoy the magic under our oceans!

I am sorry to say that at some point, while growing-up, I innocently contributed to the destruction of coral reefs. We have known and have heard for decades how the corals reefs are being destroyed, but the attempt to keep this from happening has been minimal. We have to educate the world about the importance of the coral reef and how we can all contribute to keeping them alive for other generation to appreciate.

My destruction of the coral reef near my house was out of pure ignorance, no one had talk to me about the importance of the reefs or how to protect them. The same thing I did to destroy the coral reefs are being done today out of pure ignorance.

We have to education the world about the preciousness of the coral reef and show them how to protect these living things that some of us sees as rock.

The preservation of these coral reefs has to start with education, we already know that they are being destroyed, now we have to concentrate on keeping that from happening.

Climate change, global warming from man made carbon our reefs is dying. False False False. These are much healthier in the warmer water. Coral bleaching. Without this our coral reefs would surely die with catastrophic results. Ever wonder why we get such large ocean swells, Cyclones, Hurricanes and extreme weather around the world adjacent to the Equator.

Reason is extreme weather conditions in these areas cause huge rough seas and any bleached or dead coral gets pounded into coral sand which lies around most coral reefs by the millions of tons.

If water gets acid or alkaline coral sand slightly dissolves and balances PH for coral reef health. It is important to communicate the status of coral reefs on the local level.

This information can often be difficult to find or access. For country level information on the threats to reefs you can access the opens in a new window Reefs At Risk website to find reports that include detailed global, regional, and local reef information. Reefs at risk from integrated local threats by region. This new report presents the results of an analysis of the severity of impacts to coral reefs to compare their relative importance globally and regionally.

Risks were categorized by scale of the impact and frequency of the events. The results will help decision-makers and reef managers understand the relative importance of the risks coral reefs face. Join Our Network.