Coral Reefs

Question 1

Why will coral reefs have to be resilient?

Answer 1

Projected increases in carbon dioxide and
temperature over the next 50 years exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past half-million years.

Question 2

How bad is the coral reef situation?

Answer 2

An estimated 30% are already severely damaged, and close to 60% may be lost by 2030.
There are no pristine reefs left.

Question 3

What has been been the major drivers of massive and accelerating decreases in abundance of coral reef species?

Answer 3

The direct and indirect effects of overfishing and pollution from agriculture and land development.

Question 4

Future changes in ocean chemistry
due to higher atmospheric carbon dioxide
may cause what?

Answer 4

Weakening of coral skeletons and reduce the accretion of reefs, especially at higher latitudes.

The frequency and intensity of hurricanes (tropical cyclones, typhoons) may also increase in some regions, leading to a shorter time for recovery between recurrences

Question 5

The most pressing impact of climate change, however, is…

Answer 5

Episodes of coral bleaching and disease that have already increased greatly in frequency and magnitude over the past 30 years.

Question 6

A major concern is that the accelerating rate of environmental change could exceed the evolutionary capacity of coral and zooxanthellae species to adapt.

Answer 6

A common view is that corals are too long-lived to
evolve quickly, and that geographic differences in temperature tolerances have evolved over much longer time frames than the decadal scale of current changes in climate

Question 7

What is currently the best management tool for conserving coral reefs and many other marine systems?

Answer 7

MPAs- range from ineffective “paper parks,” to multiple-use areas with varying degrees of protection, to marine reserves, or no-take areas (NTAs).