ScienceMaster - JumpStart -Coral Reefs

Coral reefs and associated seagrass and mangrove communities are among the most biologically complex and diverse ecosystems on Earth. They provide habitat to one-third of all marine fish species, build tropical islands, protect coasts from waves and storms, contain an array of potential pharmaceuticals, and support tourism and fishing industries worth billions of dollars. Coral reefs are also fundamental to the fabric of local communities, providing a source of food, materials, and traditional activities.
Recent evidence indicates that coral reefs are deteriorating worldwide, and many are in crisis. Symptoms include loss of hard corals, increased abundance of algae, diminished recruitment of coral larvae, reduced biological diversity, and a dramatic increase in bleaching episodes and disease outbreaks. Scientists and managers still lack critical information about the causes, but evidence suggests a variety of human forces, including population increases, shoreline development, increased sediments in the water, trampling by tourists and divers, ship groundings, poor water quality from runoff and inadequate sewage treatment, overfishing, and fishing with poisons and explosives that destroy coral habitat.
The resources and information on this page will highlight coral reefs, their past, present and future.

What is a coral reef?

The scientific community is now cognizant that its ability to recognize, understand, and safeguard coral reefs against stress is inhibited by a lack of knowledge of both fundamental parameters (e.g., depth, geographic location, initial health, and diversity) and how reef communities respond to changes in environmental parameters (e.g. wave energy, nutrient flux, sedimentation, and water chemistry).

Within the past half decade, there have been numerous workshops and conferences focused on the need to improve our understanding of coral reef systems, their life cycle, and the natural processes and anthropogenic activities which affect them.

Threats to coral reef ecosystems

Recent evidence indicates that coral reefs are deteriorating worldwide, and many are in crisis. Symptoms include:

Scientists and managers still lack critical information about the causes, but evidence suggests a variety of human forces:

These stresses act separately and in combination with natural factors such as hurricanes and disease, to degrade reefs. In an effort to prevent further loss of coral reef ecosystems, on June 11, 1998, President Clinton signed Executive Order 13089, on Coral Reef Protection. The executive order directs U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, co-chaired by the Secretaries of Interior and Commerce to develop and implement a comprehensive program of research and mapping to inventory, monitor, and "identify the major causes and consequences of degradation of coral reef ecosystems." The order directs Federal agencies to use their authorities to protect coral reef ecosystems and, to the extent permitted by law, prohibits them from authorizing funding or carrying out any actions that will degrade these ecosystems.