Ziomek, Kamp, Effenberger 1

Erika Effenberger

Ashley Ziomek

Chloe Kamp

Mr. Wilson

Honors Biology Period 4

25 May 2017

The Decline of Coral Reef Habitats

Imagine the ocean, our beautiful blue, red, and green galore coral reefs supporting nearly

a quarter of the oceans marine wildlife, simply being stripped away. Unfortunately this isn't a

fantasy, but a key global issue happening in our oceans today. Due to environmental issues

occurring in the ocean such as competition and predation, but now a days, most impacting is

marine pollution and ocean acidification, causing a rapid decline in coral reef habitats, impacting

our world as we know it. Coral reefs are greatly important to our world because they are one of

the most diverse ecosystems, containing over 25% of all marine species, in addition to providing

essential environments for marine food chains. Reefs are physically as well as biologically

important, playing a fundamental role in protecting coastlines from erosion and contributing to

the formation of white sandy beaches and shorelines. But what will occur if a coral reef begins to

die out faster than they already are? Sadly for us, some of the effects of the deaths of coral reefs

are unfathomable, with lifelong consequences. Coral reefs are not only an ecosystem benefiting

the ocean and all of its aspects, but also our growing fishing industry and the safety a multitude

of nations. Due to so many species of marine life having their homes within the safety of coral

reefs, they will no longer have protection if they were to all die out, causing a mass extinction of
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many species that could not adapt quickly enough to an ever changing environment without their

original home. In addition to this, the consumers of marine life generally found in coral reefs will

begin to lose their own food, lowering their populations. Furthermore, it will greatly impact

countries whose main commerce is fishing, changing their economy and their peoples daily lives.

As we can see, coral reefs are so much more than a gorgeous part of our ocean, but an essential

portion of our daily lives and the well being of our country as well as others. (Kamp,

Effenberger)

To understand the impact that coral reefs have on our planet, especially in our oceans

there are a momentous amounts of key terms and concepts that have to do with coral reefs and

their decline in population. To completely understand this topic there are a few vocabulary words

that are necessary to understand why our coral reefs are endangered. First off, ocean

acidification, a main cause to the decline of coral reefs, is the reduction in the pH levels of the

ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by the uptake of carbon dioxide from

the atmosphere. In addition, another contributor to the decline of coral reefs is global warming.

This is when there is increase in temperatures throughout Earth causing severe problems such as

coral reef bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when the water is too warm, corals will turn

completely white causing coral to easily die, eventually leading to their extinction. Although it

might not seem that impactful it takes a very long time for even a single coral to grow. To add

even more, many companies use the concept of poison fishing to stun the coral reefs so that

small parts can break off to be sold in the market for aquarium reef fish. Furthermore, another

cause of the decline of coral reefs is overfishing. Overfishing occurs when fish are caught more

frequently than they are able to reproduce offspring. Another example of this is dynamite fishing
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which is when explosives are used to kill schools of fish more efficiently, not only contributing

to overfishing, but also damaging coral reefs to an irreparable extent. Furthermore, some key

facts that are necessary to understand this topic is what truly is at stake. Coral reefs are the most

important ecosystem in our ocean, as they house a variety of marine animals such as starfish, sea

anemone, crustaceans, sea turtles, and much more. It is is also incredibly important to know the

coral reef ecology. The coral reef is an intricate three-dimensional environment which houses

many plants and animal both inside and out of its ecosystem. Not only does the coral act as a

backbone to its entire ecosystem, but provides shelter and protection to multiple marine life.

(Effenberger)

There are many reasons as to why coral reefs have began to decline but its most

contributing factors leading to its endangerment are recreational activity, overexploitation, and

pollution. Many people have gone scuba diving at some point in their lifetime, even going out to

some of the world's most famous and beautiful coral reefs such as the Great Barrier reef or the

Belize Barrier reef. But doing so does more harm than good, adding on to reasons for their

decline. When doing recreational activities like these many touch coral reefs which can devastate

and eventually kill an entire colony. In addition, when any type of boat is above a coral reef the

harm done can be monumental, as boat groundings and damage from anchors can cause the

breaking of the coral reefs, scraping, and there is always the potential for a accidental oil spill

which can permanently kill coral reefs. Furthermore, coral reefs are being over exploited for a

number of reasons. Coral mining is used to obtain coral to sell as jewelry, medicine, and some

construction materials. But the methods for removing coral are disastrous as they use mining

blasts which could lead to a coral reefs death. In addition, our own fishing markets are over
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fishing and have used incredibly harmful ways to catch the most fish in one go possible. This has

the same effects as coral mining because the coral reefs have the potential to deteriorate, taking

an incredibly long time to regenerate, or even cause its death. Although, coral reefs have been

most gravely impacted by pollution and the detrimental effects of global warming. Due to a rise

in ocean pollution, coral reefs can be impacted in a number of ways. One being the fact that it

can cause disease to appear on the coral, but also lengthen the reproduction of coral. Due to

plastics large numbers with in the ocean it can also cause the death of numerous marine

organisms and other reef species. Furthermore, coral reefs are greatly impacted by climate

change, which is known to have been caused by human activities such as the burning of fossil

fuels. Due to the temperatures rising, coral bleaching is occurring, where coral will turn white,

dying much easily. In addition ocean acidification caused by an increase in carbon dioxide levels

has caused coral reefs to not be able to absorb calcium carbonate which helps maintain their

structure, without it reefs begin to dissolve. As we can see in the following image the impact of

both human activities alongside natural disasters have added to the decline of coral reefs.

(Effenberger)
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A major player in the process of helping this issue is WWF, the World Wildlife

Foundation. They have a mission to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the

diversity of life on Earth. WWF and government partners are working to create a network of

marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Coral Triangle. They are studying the impacts of protected

areas on local communities as well as the reef itself, working to make sure that MPAs are

designed and managed well, and monitoring the impacts of reserves to find solutions that benefit

both people and nature. Another major player is NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration. As directed by the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, NOAA has the

responsibility to conserve coral reef ecosystems. Bill Clinton is also a major player who created a

task force to prevent the decline of coral reefs. Other organizations involved are The Nature

Conservancy, the Coral Reef Alliance, One Reef, and more. (Effenberger)

Many people are currently trying to prevent the decline of coral reefs. During Bill

Clintons presidency the government established the Coral Reef Task Force also known as CRTF

to protect and conserve coral reefs. The CRTF is responsible for mapping and monitoring U.S.

coral reefs. They also research the causes of coral reef degradation including pollution,

overfishing, and finding solutions to these problems. They promote the conservation and the

sustainable use of coral reefs. Also, companies like Coral Grace sell clothing and ten percent of

their profits are donated to help the coral reefs. (Kamp)

If the decline of coral reefs is not contained it will have a major impact on the future.

Coral reefs have the most biodiversity in the ocean and is home to millions of sea creatures.

Without coral reefs the animals living there will not have a home and, therefore, die out because

they have no way to hide from predators. This sets off a chain reaction because each animal will
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run out of a food source. This affects humans because the fish we eat will die out therefore

killing one of the main ways we get protein. Also, if the coral reefs die and the animals that live

there die too, the future generations will never be able to see what a coral reef is like. (Ziomek)

To prevent the decline of coral reefs we could pass laws to prevent fossil fuels from being

put into the air. This will help the coral reefs because carbon dioxide from the fossil fuels is

going from the air into the ocean making the water acidic. The acidic water weakens the coral

making it die much faster than healthy coral. Also, we could pass laws to prevent boats from

fishing over coral reefs. Overfishing throws off the ecosystem and the food chain in the coral

reefs. Also, careless boating, diving, snorkeling, and fishing happens around the world, with

people touching reefs, stirring up sediment, collecting coral, and dropping anchors on reefs has

caused harm to coral reefs, therefore these laws will help prevent this. Some tourist resorts and

infrastructure have been built directly on top of reefs, and some resorts empty their sewage or

other wastes directly into water surrounding coral reefs. To prevent this from happening there

should be laws preventing anyone from dropping anchor twenty feet from a coral reef. Also,

laws that say if a resort empties sewage into a coral reef they will be fined. Also, live coral is

removed from reefs for use as bricks, road-fill, or cement for new buildings. Corals are also sold

as souvenirs to tourists and to exporters who don't know or don't care about the longer term

damage done, and harvested for the live rock trade. Counties need to pass laws preventing coral

being removed from its habitat. (Ziomek)

Word Count: 1769

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(Kamp)
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Works Cited

"Climate Science Glossary." Skeptical Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

"Coral Reefs." Ocean Health Index. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Coral Reefs: Threats." WWF. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2017.

Frost, Emily. "Corals and Coral Reefs." Ocean Portal | Smithsonian. Smithsonian's National

Museum of Natural History, 30 Aug. 2016. Web. 14 May 2017.

Laloup, Jen. "Coral Decay: Scientists Pinpoint Regions Where Declining Coral Reefs Could

Impact People the Most." PLOS Research News. N.p., 17 Nov. 2016. Web. 15 May 2017.

"Losing Our Coral Reefs." State of the Planet Losing Our Coral Reefs Comments. N.p., n.d.

Web. 14 May 2017.

"Mapping the Decline of Coral Reefs : Feature Articles." NASA. NASA, n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

"Monitoring Coral Reef Health in Indonesia." WWF. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 15 May

2017.

"Status of and Threat to Coral Reefs." Status of and Threat to Coral Reefs | International Coral

Reef Initiative. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2017.

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "Corals."

Protecting Coral Reefs - Corals: NOAA's National Ocean Service Education. N.p., 01 June

2013. Web. 14 May 2017.

(Kamp)
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