Threats to Corals-Outline

This discussion topic submitted by Matthew Beversdorf ( beversma@muohio.edu) at 9:30 pm on 3/28/01. Additions were last made on Saturday, May 4, 2002.

Threats to Corals

Coral reefs are the foundation on which the biodiversity of the oceans are built. In recent years threats to corals have caused scientists to raise an alarm about the decline of coral species. This paper identifies and discusses the types of threats to corals that caused declines in coral reef ecosystems in the last 10 years.

Outline
I. Introduction and Background
II. Identification and summary of threats to corals
A. Anthropogenic disturbances
1. Overfishing
2. Damaging fishing techniques: dynamiting, poisoning
3. Anchor damage
4. Nutrients
5. Divers
6. Carbon dioxide
B. More "Natural" disturbances
1. Temperature changes
2. Diseases
3. Solar radiation
4. Dust
5. Hurricanes
6. El Nino
III. Discussion
A. Interactions of threats
B. Rebounding ability/Adaptability of corals to disturbances
IV. Conclusion

Articles

-Brown, B.E. 1997. Coral bleaching: causes and consequences. Coral Reefs. Vol. 16: 129-138.
-Connel, J.H. 1997. Disturbance and recovery of coral assemblages. Coral Reefs. Vol. 16: 101-113.
-Guard, M., and M. Masaiganah. 1997. Dynamite fishing in southern Tanzania, geographical variation, intensity of use and possible solutions. Marine Pollution Bulletin. Vol. 34(10):
758-762.
-Hodgson, G. 1999. A global assessment of human effects on coral reefs. Marine Pollution Bulletin. Vol. 38(5): 345-355.
-McManus, J.W., L.A.B. Menez, K.N. Kesner-Reyes, S.G. Vergara, and M.C. Ablan. 2000. Coral reef fishing and coral-algal phase shifts: implications for global reef status. ICES Journal of Marine Science. Vol. 57: 572-578.
-Pennisi, E. 1998. New threat seen from carbon dioxide. Science. Vol.. 279: 989-990.
-Woesik, Robert van. 2001. Coral Bleaching: transcending spatial and temporal scales. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. Vol. 16(3): 119-120.


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