CORDIO Status Report 2000

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Foreword The temperatures of the world’s oceans are increasing at an accelerating rate. Recent estimates indicate that the magnitude of these increases might be as much as several degrees over the next century and undoubtedly, the impacts of these changes on the Earth’s ecosystems are likely to become increasingly obvious. Coral reefs have already shown dramatic responses to the increasing ocean temperatures. Under normal temperature conditions, reef-building corals, which form the foundation of coral reefs, are living very near the maximum sea temperatures that they can tolerate. If they are exposed to even modest increases in sea temperatures, perhaps only 1° C - 2° C, they become stressed and often ‘bleach’. This bleaching of corals is a response to stress, and it occurs when the symbiotic unicellular algae (zooxanthellae) that lives within the tissues of the coral polyp, are expelled or lost. The coral can survive for short periods without these zooxanthellae but unless the stress that caused the bleaching subsides and new zooxanthellae are incorporated into the tissue of the coral, the coral will die. For several months in early 1998, the temperature of surface waters (< 10 m) over much of the world’s tropical oceans increased between 3° C and 5° C. As a result, corals on reefs throughout the world bleached and, unfortunately, many died. The mortality of corals was particularly serious in the central and western Indian Ocean, where as many as 50% to 95% of all corals died. The impacts of the 1998 coral mortality are a matter of great concern. Coral reefs are one of the most diverse, productive and complex ecosystems on the planet. They are the home of hundreds of thousands of species, many of which are unknown to science. They are highly productive, providing food and shelter for most of the fish species caught in shallow tropical coastal waters. As a consequence, the impacts of such widespread coral mortality will have a direct bearing on critical marine and coastal biodiversity and fragile ecosystems that are affected. From a socio-economic perspective, the impacts of coral mortality are far reaching, affecting food security as well as local and national economies that are dependent on reef-based tourism and industry. It is particularly worrying that models, based on the IPCC Scenario A (dou- – 3 –
ling of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels by 2100), that forecast future climatic conditions predict that the temperature tolerances of reefbuilding corals will be exceeded permanently within the next few decades. Considering these grave predictions, it is a matter of great importance that we, as custodians of the planet, learn all that we can about the ecological and socio-economic implications of climate change. The CORDIO Program was launched in 1999 to obtain valuable data that will enable us to determine the consequences of increasing ocean temperatures. This report presents the results of work conducted within the first 18 months of the CORDIO Program and makes an important contribution to our knowledge of the problems caused by climate change. In gathering such data the CORDIO Program fulfils an important role and warrants full support. ARNE JERNELÖV Secretary General, FRN (Swedish Council for Planning and Co-ordination of Research) INDU HEWAWASAM Senior Environmental Specialist, World Bank MICHAEL STÅHL Head of Division, Sida (Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency) KARI ALANKO Director of the Southern Africa Unit Ministry of Foreign Affairs Finland MÅNS LÖNNROTH Director, MISTRA (Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research) LARS KRISTOFERSON Secretary General, WWF-Sweden – 4 –
Page 2 and 3: CORAL REEF DEGRADATION IN THE INDIA
Page 6 and 7: Address by the Global Coral Reef Mo
Page 8 and 9: Table of contents FORWARD 3 ADDRESS
Page 10 and 11: Executive Summary The World Conserv
Page 12 and 13: to date. Working group discussions
Page 14 and 15: Biophysical Generally, region-wide
Page 16 and 17: species exhibit different tolerance
Page 18 and 19: er-term, “shifting baselines” i
Page 20 and 21: flow diagram presented below. CORDI
Page 22 and 23: SECTION I Status Reports - 21 -
Page 24 and 25: East Africa - Summary DAVID OBURA C
Page 26 and 27: Kenya, reef status and ecology DAVI
Page 28 and 29: BENTHIC COMMUNITIES Benthic communi
Page 30 and 31: Figure 2. Three strategies for blea
Page 32 and 33: % cover % cover 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2
Page 34 and 35: Table 3: Population densities and s
Page 36 and 37: Assessment of coral reef degradatio
Page 38 and 39: Table 1. Reef stations surveyed in
Page 40 and 41: live coral cover for Mbudya Marine
Page 42 and 43: Table 5. Some environmental paramet
Page 44 and 45: Coral reef monitoring and managemen
Page 46 and 47: L impopo Maputo Sa ve River Riv er
Page 48 and 49: category) and size classes (total n
Page 50 and 51: The status of South African coral r
Page 52 and 53: South Asia - Summary DAN WILHELMSSO
Page 54 and 55:
SRI LANKA Most shallow coral reef h
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corals in Sri Lanka is relatively h
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Figure 1. Distribution of coral ree
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Kandakuliya Most of the nearshore r
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shallow water (0 m - 3 m) on the re
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Rajasuriya, A & De Silva, M.W.R.N.
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In each of these regions three reef
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Table 4. Summary data from transect
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The status of the coral reefs of In
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Relative importance in total landin
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Small pelagics Large pelagics Demer
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Indian Ocean Islands - Summary SUSI
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The reefs of the granitic islands o
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onies damaged was recorded using th
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FAMILY GENUS SPECIES DEAD SURVIVING
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FAMILY GENUS SPECIES DEAD SURVIVING
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Figure 10. Recruit on consolidated
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Reef systems of the islands of the
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Figure 2. Coral condition by locati
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At the Bank’s northern and southe
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chelles (Turner et al., this volume
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the shallow bays of Balaclava Marin
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Development of a geographical infor
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2 1,8 1,6 Mean Bleaching Score 1,4
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Meteorological data from the period
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Figure 16. Total sunshine (hrs) per
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solar irradiance. In Thailand, loca
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Harriott, V.J. 1985. Mortality rate
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Table 1. Location of CORDIO monitor
Page 112 and 113:
Figure 1. Recovery from settlement
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that due to its low impact, dead co
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Map of the Western Indian Ocean wit
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In April 1998, close to the peak of
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Pachyseris, Turbinaria spp.) and en
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Partial mortality of Favites flexuo
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REFERENCES Barnes, J., Bellamy, D.J
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SECTION II Environmental Monitoring
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Sea surface temperature in the west
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Temperature and water exchange in a
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Figure 2a. Time series temperature
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to th
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Figure 2. Settlement plates for cor
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REFERENCES CARICOMP. 1994. Manual o
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Figure 2. Two possible recoveries f
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SECTION III Thematic/Research Repor
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Socio-economic assessment of the im
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to escape predation (Williams, 1991
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Table 4 Demersal fish landings in 1
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mersal species have not been heavil
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Therefore, it must be concluded tha
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▲ Level of importance 35 30 25 20
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very few come specifically for reef
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Percentage 28% Food and beverages w
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Anonymous. 1998b. Basic Fisheries S
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has a 4 m tidal range) dominated by
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Table 1. Comparison of the gross be
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Greenstein, B.J., Curran, H.A. & Po
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to assess ciguatera risk by impleme
Page 170 and 171:
Evaluation of succession and coral
Page 172 and 173:
within each depth zone (5 m and 10
Page 174 and 175:
The taxonomic patterns of coral rec
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dives, this study has demonstrated
Page 178 and 179:
Bioerosive processes An important a
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each of the three different fish co
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Figure 1. Coral fragments transplan
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Pavona Echinopora 50 100 50 100 Gro
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A low-tech method for reef rehabili
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Impacts of bleaching on coral commu
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anching and massive corals (Plate 1
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es, metal bars and PVC surfaces. No
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strate that supports a low percenta
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egeneration and prevent further des
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APPENDICES - 197 -
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Coral Reef Degradation in the India
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LIST OF PARTICIPANTS LIONEL BIGOT A
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AGNETHA NILSSON Programme Officer U
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DR. SUE WELLS Co-ordinator, E.A. Ma
Page 208 and 209:
- 207 -
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