Fragile Coral Reefs Are Dying

[Guest guest]

Just an example of what I was saying in the other post. Towards the

bottom half of the report it tells about the fungus.

KC

November 18, 2001

Copyright © 2001 ASSOCIATED PRESS . .

http://www.puertorico-herald.org/issues/2001/vol5n48/CoralReefs-

en.shtml

CULEBRA, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Hues from pink to orange, auburn and

green draw the eye across a coral reef that has grown inch by inch

for thousands of years.

The underwater garden off the small island of Culebra is among the

healthiest in the Caribbean Sea. But new, little-understood diseases

are killing the coral, eating away its color and leaving skeletal

patches that look like concrete.

Across the globe, polluted runoff and algae are smothering corals

while hot spells are bleaching the color from their branches and

ridges.

Scientists say if nothing changes, 40 percent of the world's reefs

could be lost by 2010.

``I snorkel like some people go hiking,'' said Ann Lucking, who

runs the conservation group Coralations on Culebra. ``But it's

frustrating now. Everything is dying.''

Most scientists blame modern society: rampant coastal construction;

polluted runoff; land clearing without erosion control; sewage;

bilge water from cruise ships; removal of live coral and exotic

species for aquariums; overfishing and fishing with cyanide and

explosives. And that's before considering climate change.

There are very few reefs, probably less than 5 percent, that bear no

trace of human activity, said Mark Spalding, a marine ecologist at

the U.N. Environment Program's World Conservation Monitoring Center

in Cambridge, England.

Spalding and other scientists have determined that coral reefs cover

110,900 square miles, less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the

world's oceans. But they support more than 1 million species of

marine life, sustain tourism industries and provide food for

islanders throughout the tropics.

Healthy reefs are like undersea rain forests that naturally draw in

carbon, helping pull harmful greenhouse gases from the air. They

also provide medication. AZT, a drug for HIV patients, is derived

from a Caribbean reef sponge.

Corals come in about 1,500 known species -- from soft swaying fans

to stony varieties with hard skeletons that form reef bases. They

are made up of polyps, tiny animals that live in colonies and feed

at night on microscopic plants and creatures.

The coral's surface is the living part, with color infused by single-

celled algae called zooxanthellae that live in polyp tissue. The

algae act like solar panels, passing energy to the coral as they

photosynthesize while feeding on the corals' waste.

Extremely sensitive, corals survive in a narrow range of

temperature, sunlight and salinity.

An uncommonly severe El Nino in 1998 raised ocean temperatures and

changed currents, causing bleaching that devastated reefs worldwide.

Scientists say parts of the Indian Ocean lost up to 90 percent of

corals. The bleaching struck reefs around the Persian Gulf, East

Africa, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.

Some recovered. Many died.

Reefs least exposed to people fare best. Australia's Great Barrier

Reef -- so immense it can be seen from outer space -- remains in

relatively good condition, as do many in the South Pacific and

Hawaii.

Reefs popular with divers and fishermen often lose their luster.

Corals die as boats smash anchors onto them, tourists touch them and

fishermen walk over shallow sections.

Some of the largest reef fish are shot with spear guns, and lobsters

are trapped for sale to restaurants. That leaves the system

unbalanced, increasing populations of smaller fish and snails that

gnaw at the coral.

Off Indonesia, the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia,

some of the most severely threatened reefs face destruction from

explosives hurled toward them to kill nearby fish.

Scientists disagree about how much of the world's reefs have died:

Some say 10 percent are degraded beyond recovery, others say 27

percent is gone.

A 1998 report by the Washington-based World Resources Institute

estimates people are endangering 58 percent of reefs.

They also are threatened by diseases that have decimated Caribbean

and Florida Keys reefs since the 1970s. It's not clear if the

harmful microorganisms are new or if the coral has become more

susceptible.

In the Caribbean during the 1980s, white band disease wiped out much

of the elkhorn -- majestic corals with cypress-like branches that

grow to 12 feet or more.

Corals that have proved incredibly resilient, recovering after

hurricanes for millennia, now are being lost at a devastating rate.

Along a stunning reef on Culebra, some 35 to 40 percent of the coral

has died since 1997, said marine biologist Edwin of the

University of Puerto Rico.

dived down to an area of white overtaking a golden boulder

coral: ``White plague,'' he said after surfacing.

Of a black band advancing across yellow brain coral, he diagnosed:

``Black band disease.''

Motioning to a purple blotch on a star coral: ``That one, we don't

know what it is.''

Scientists have named at least 29 coral diseases.

A fungus called Aspergillus -- believed to have come from dust blown

across the Atlantic from Africa -- is eating away at Caribbean fan

corals.

A particularly deadly form of white plague, ``type two,'' races

across corals at nearly one inch a day. Laurie , a

microbiologist at Miami's Florida International University, helped

isolate the cause -- a bacterium of unknown origin.

``Too much money is being spent on monitoring,'' she said.

``Understanding what causes these diseases is the first step in

understanding how to manage or prevent them.''

The critical priorities are to reduce harmful fishing and pollution,

said Clive Wilkinson of the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network,

based in Australia.

``If the pressures are taken off reefs, they will recover naturally

and relatively rapidly,'' in 10 to 20 years, he said.

Some conservation efforts are paying off. After years of insistence

from local fishermen, Puerto Rico set up a ``no-take'' area off

Culebra. Two years later, fishermen say their catch has improved,

and healthier fish populations mean healthier reefs.

Even as white plague eats away at boulder corals off Culebra, they

still spawn once a year. On the seventh night after a recent full

moon, one released peach-colored eggs that floated away to form a

new colony. Whether it will thrive is an open question.

Perhaps the most difficult threat to assess is climate change:

Warmer ocean temperatures would bleach reefs and it's uncertain how

weakened corals would cope with higher sea levels.

The costs involved in protecting the world's reefs also remain

unclear, but many experts warn the costs of doing nothing are much

greater. By one estimate, coral reefs are worth $375 billion each

year to fishing, tourism and other industries.

Along the north coast of Puerto Rico, where sewage and sediment have

killed most reefs, some outcroppings of elkhorn and brain coral

survive off San .

To save these and other reefs, experts say, people will have to

change.

``Either people realize they have to press politicians to fight for

these things, or we lose,'' Lucking said. ``We lose everything.''

[Guest guest]

> Just an example of what I was saying in the other post. Towards the

bottom half of the report it tells about the fungus.

> KC

>

Yeah. " Aspergillus Sydowii " .

The one that is causing the massive increase in asthma in Trinidad as

seen in the National Geographic Special Report " Strange Days on Planet

Earth " .

Hang on to your hats, folks!

It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good!

-