Coral reefs at the World Conservation Congress

By Qamar Schuyler

Over 6,000 delegates from more than 80 countries recently attended the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. IUCN, or the World Conservation Union, is composed of members from non-profit and governmental agencies around the world. During the three-day conference, there were over 300 presentations, panel discussions, and lectures on topics ranging from the detrimental effects of deep sea trawling to incorporating indigenous knowledge in evaluations of natural resources.

One of the scientific presentations, by Clive Wilkinson, gave attendees a preview of the upcoming release of his new book, Status of the Reefs of the World, 2004. This edition is the newest addition to his series, which includes Status of Reefs of the World 2000 and 2002. The series outlines the major threats to the world’s reefs and provides recommendations for ways to alleviate them.

According to Wilkinson, there are 10 major threats currently facing reefs worldwide. They can be divided into three categories: global change, direct human pressures, and the human dimension. Global change includes coral bleaching, increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide, and diseases and invasive species. Human pressures include overfishing and destructive fishing practices, sedimentation and runoff, nutrients and chemical pollution, and coastal development. And finally, the human dimension includes poor management capacity, increases in poverty and world population, and a lack of political will to work toward coral reef solutions. We will be highlighting one of these major threats to the reefs each week, starting with coral bleaching, so stay tuned to this page to find out more.

These threats were identified on corals worldwide, but how are reefs in Micronesia faring compared to other places? Well, fortunately for us, we are in a good position, on a global scale. Most Micronesian reefs were not affected by the global mass bleaching events that followed the El Nino of 1998 and devastated reefs in places like the Maldives. Palau is an exception, as corals there were subjected to bleaching, but Palau’s reefs appear to be recovering well. We also have relatively low anthropogenic (human-caused) impacts here in Micronesia.

Although this is a very encouraging report, it is important to recognize that these observations are made on a very grand scale, incorporating reefs around the world. Therefore, although Micronesia as a whole compares well at this scale, there are many stressors that are very evident on a local scale. We must therefore remain vigilant and continue to work to alleviate these threats in order to protect our local reefs.

In addition to the scientific, management, and technical presentations, delegates were also treated to a variety of cultural events, including theatre, dance, and movies. Of particular interest was a group called KampuchAfrique, a theatre troupe composed of actors from both Africa and Cambodia. They performed an outstanding piece entitled The Fence, which portrayed issues facing communities living on the borders of protected areas.

What is coral bleaching?

Did you ever play 20 Questions when you were a kid? When I played it, the first question was always “Is it an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral?” It seemed like every object in the world could be conveniently categorized as one of those three. That’s certainly not the case for corals, however. As I like to tell students, corals are kind of all three at once! How does that work? The coral itself, called a polyp, is an animal. But, it has an algae growing within its tissues, so it’s also got characteristics of a plant (vegetable in the 20 questions game). It also makes its own skeleton, so you might also consider it a mineral.

Animal, vegetable, AND mineral. It’s the vegetable part that we’re concerned about when discussing coral bleaching.

The alga, called zooxanthellae (or zoox for short), has a symbiotic relationship with the coral animal. In other words, both of them benefit from their relationship, much like a happy marriage. The coral polyp protects the zoox, housing it within its tissues. Meanwhile, the zoox is able to create its own food by photosynthesis. It makes more than it needs to survive, so the polyp gets to keep that extra energy. Both of them are happy. However, like in any marriage, sometimes that relationship goes sour. If the coral is stressed out by high water temperatures, too much UV radiation, or other factors, it will expel the zoox. This causes the coral to turn white, because the pigments in the zoox are what gives the coral its color. This process is called bleaching. If the stress goes away quickly, the coral can regain its zoox and continue to live a good life (in other words, a short separation does not necessarily ruin the marriage). However, if the stress continues and the zoox do not return, the coral can starve and die.

In 1998, a massive El Niño caused sea surface temperatures to rise in many parts of the globe. This triggered mass bleaching events, killing up to 90 percent of the corals in certain areas. Again, if the stress is alleviated, it is possible for reefs to recover even in the face of these massive casualties. However, in many parts of the world, reefs are stressed by so many other causes that it is extremely difficult or impossible for them to recover.

(Qamar Schuyler is the Coral Outreach Specialist for CRM, DEQ, and DFW. She can be reached for questions at Qamar.Schuyler@crm.gov.mp.)