Green Blog: In the Caribbean Coral Die-Off, Myriad Wrinkles

At its ongoing conference in South Korea, the International Union for Conservation of Nature released a report on Friday indicating that live coral coverage on reefs in the Caribbean has plummeted from nearly 50 percent in the 1970s to less than 10 percent today. Yet describing the entire Caribbean as a region where reefs are in a state of general collapse tends to cloud the problem?s complexity, the study suggests.

Michael Lesser, a program director for biological oceanography at the National Science Foundation, acknowledges that the region is the ?poster child? for the global destruction of reefs. ?The pronouncement that the Caribbean itself would be in dire straits is no surprise ? we?ve been talking about this for a long time now,? he said.

Overfishing has left its mark, as has the decline of species like the parrotfish and the spiny black urchin known as Diadema antillarum, which graze on algae and ideally keep it from stifling the reefs. Ocean warming and acidification add more pressure, bleaching and weakening coral networks. ?It?s a sort of double whammy,? Dr. Lesser said.

But the conservation group?s report shows that the destruction is not spread uniformly. Spots like the Cayman Islands have up to three times more live cover than afflicted reefs in Jamaica and in the United States Virgin Islands, which also have noticeably smaller fish and an abundance of algae. There is also uncertainty about what causes coral decline in certain places, pointing up the need for varying strategies across the Caribbean instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.

Jamaica, for instance, struggles economically and is highly dependent on its marine resources, so overfishing is a primary concern there. Enforcing species protection and establishing minimum size limits for catch would therefore be a crucial strategy there, Dr. Lesser said.

Regulation of development and agriculture could help stave off a major threat to the United States Virgin Islands, where reefs are affected by land-based pollution and runoff that makes its way to the sea, the report noted. Ultimately, the study suggests that understanding all of the local factors will help tailor approaches for the long run and for the wider Caribbean.

As for a time scale for recovery, ?We?re talking decades,? Dr. Lesser said. Yet hope persists because coral reefs have bounced back in the past ? Australia?s Great Barrier Reef, for one.

Inevitably, though, success depends on the resources that countries have at their disposal to protect marine habitats. Given that countries with a low gross domestic product like Belize or Jamaica will have fewer resources to deploy, Dr. Lesser hopes that a greater global pull toward coral conservation can be mobilized.

To people in places where coral reefs are healthier, he advises: ?Look ahead to the Caribbean. It has the possibility of being a road map.?

Source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/10/in-the-caribbean-coral-die-off-myriad-wrinkles/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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