HSN/QVC – Beware of Coral Jewlery

Caribbean coral suffers 'phenomenal' loss
By Alex Kirby
BBC News Online environment correspondent
Coral reefs across the Caribbean have declined by 80% in three decades, UK
scientists say.
They believe the causes are both natural and human, but found no evidence of
climate change damage.
Reefs in some areas appear to be recovering, but there are doubts about how
well new coral formations will cope.
The scientists say this "dramatic" rate of loss appears not to have slowed
since 1975.
The team, from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the Tyndall Centre
for Climate Change Research, report their findings in the online journal
Science Express.
Foundations destroyed
They write: "We report a massive region–wide decline of corals across the
entire Caribbean basin, with the average hard coral cover on reefs being
reduced by 80%, from about 50% to 10% cover, in three decades."
Click here to see main areas of coral decline
Hard coral is the main component of a reef: it is the substance on which
soft corals like sea fans, and other species, are able to grow.
The authors analysed the results of 65 separate studies of 263 sites. Their
results showed patterns of change in coral cover varied across time periods,
but were largely consistent across sub–regions.
They say this suggests that local causes have operated at more or less the
same time across the region.
Economic penalty
Suspected causes of the decline include natural factors like hurricanes and
disease, and others of human origin, including overfishing, pollution, and
smothering by sediments released by deforeastation.
A live coral display
Coral loss can have serious consequences, including the collapse of reef
fisheries, a reduction in tourism, and increased coastal damage from
hurricanes.
Although most of the loss occurred in the 1980s, there is no evidence the
rate of loss is slowing. There is obviously less coral to be lost, simply
because most has gone already.
The team said: "The feeling among scientists and tourists has long been that
Caribbean corals are doing badly, since many people have seen reefs degrade
over the years.
"We are the first to pull information together from across the region and
put a hard figure on coral decline. The end result has surprised us.
"The rate of decline we found exceeds by far the well–publicised rates of
loss for tropical forests."
Dr Isabelle Cote, a tropical marine ecology specialist in UEA's School of
Biological Sciences, said: "The good news is that there are some areas in
the Caribbean that appear to be recovering.
Uncertain future
"The bad news, however, is that the new coral communities seem to be
different from the old ones.
"We don¿t know how well these new ones will be able to face the challenges
of rising sea levels and temperatures that result from global warming."
All that's left: Dead coral
While the authors say their analysis shows "a clear and dramatic decline in
absolute coral cover", it also reveals significant variations from year to
year.
Dr Cote told BBC News Online: "The year–on–year changes provide a more
fine–scale picture of what is happening.
"In 1983–84, for example, there was a massive sea urchin die–off across the
Caribbean, which corresponded with a very rapid coral decline.
"We're fairly certain the death of the urchins, probably from a pathogen,
caused the loss of the coral.
Uncharted waters
"Urchins eat the algae which normally compete with the coral in a very
limited habitat, and without the urchins to control them the algae simply
won."
The authors say there are suggestions this pattern of decline in many areas
of the Caribbean "is unprecedented within the past few millennia".
The situation looks unlikely to improve in either the short or the long
term, they believe.
They conclude: "The ability of Caribbean reefs to cope with future local and
global environmental change may be irretrievably compromised."