Corals and Coral Reefs

Part 1: Past, Present and Future

Nancy Knowlton
National Museum of Natural History

Reefs have come and gone through time

Many organisms build reefs

Today corals build enormous structures

Complex three-dimensional habitats

Reefs are home to millions of species

So what is a coral?
Polyp Zooxanthellae

Skeleton

Animal + Vegetable + Mineral

Corals also capture food

Tentacles have nematocysts

Some corals dont have zooxanthellae

These corals grow more slowly They only build reefs in the deep sea

Corals grow by budding and adding skeleton

Usually < 1 cm per year

Corals also reproduce sexually

Egg-sperm bundles being released

Fertilized eggs -> planula larva -> coral recruit

Why do we care about coral reefs?

Monetary Value of Coral Reefs

Food, Tourism, Biodiversity Shoreline Protection (non-extractive uses often dominate)

Globally - 29.8 billion US$ per year Indonesia - 1.6 billion US$ per year Hawaii 364 million US$ per year

Coral reef crisis local & global

In

Out

Nutrients Toxics Sediments Invasives CO2

Anything Big

GLOBAL LOSSES OF CORAL REEFS Discovery Bay, Jamaica - 1975

GLOBAL LOSSES OF CORAL REEFS Not just Jamaica

Caribbean: 80% decline in 30 years

Pacic reefs not far behind

Direct Destruction Dynamite and Cyanide Fishing

Effects of Blasting, Red Sea Control reefs: 43-65% coral cover Blasted reefs: 2-15% coral cover
Riegl and Luke 1998

Sedimentation smothers corals

Lionsh invasion

Voracious predator of baby reef sh

Predator Plagues: Crown of thorns starsh

Photo: John Ogden

Why? Loss of Predators and Excess Nutrients

Photo: Enric Sala

Nutrients and over-shing also favor seaweeds

Coral-coral competition

Coral-algal competion

Urchin die-off

X
Lessios et al. 1984

More disease in a warmer nutrient-rich ocean

White-band disease

Black-band disease

Often no known pathogen Could be due to stress or bacterial overgrowth

Catastrophic Mortality
1988

Black band

1998

Catastrophic Mortality
1971 1971

White band -> EPA listing

1988

Coral Bleaching

Extreme temperature, light, salinity

Caused by stress

Breakdown in symbiosis between coral and algae

Tissues become transparent Can see skeleton through tissue

Massive mortality if severe

Photo: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg

During 1998 El Nio in Indian Ocean 80% bleached, 20% died

Rising temperatures -> more bleaching

Bleaching threshold 1o C

Ocean Acidication

The other CO2 problem

Some corals cant grow skeleton in acidic water

Skeleton needed to make a reef

Skeletons provide essential 3-D habitat

Invertebrate diversity

inverts

Photo: Wolcott Henry 2011

Average fert

20 10 0 0 100 200 300 Time from first spawning colony

Even surviving corals need mates

B
100
Peak fertilization potential

80 60 40 20 0 0 1

R2 = 0.88

Number of spawning corals/diver

Dead reefs turn into sand

1950

18.5% loss

1991
Lewis 2002

So what can we do to reverse decline

Individual protection of species not realistic for most species

California Condor Approach

Need to Build Resilience

Hurricane Allen 1980
Category 5 Storm

150 years

150 years

Marine Protected Areas -> More Resilient Reefs

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Gold Standard More than 33% in no-take zones

Four mega-protected areas in US waters

Hawaii

Australia

Gradient in human impacts

Kingman (US) pop. 0

Few people Many sh Much coral

Palmyra (US) pop. ~10

Tabuaeran (KR) pop. ~ 2000

Kirimati (KR) pop. ~ 6000

Many people Few sh Little coral

Striking ecological changes with protection *

Bottom cover

Increasing protection

Photos: Enric Sala

Bacteria

Fewer Pathogens

Viruses

Other microbes

Increasing protection

Increased Resilience

Increasing Protection

Local and global action needed

Longer Term/Global Scale: Reduce CO2 emissions Prevent extinctions Is Rocket Science

Short

/Local Scale:

Control shing pressure Improve water quality Not Rocket Science

Grand challenge: ensuring that people and reefs coexist

~Thank you~

Photo: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg