Marine reserves can help damaged coral reefs recover
Marine reserves can help damaged coral reefs recover
mongabay.com
May 14, 2007
Marine reserves can help coral reefs damaged by overfishing, disease, and bleaching caused by high temperatures, reports a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Monitoring corals of the Bahamas’ Exuma Cays Land and Sea Park, a international team of researchers “found that the number of young corals doubled in areas in which native fish, such as parrotfish, were protected from being caught,” according to a news release from the University of Exeter.
The researchers say that parrotfish help control the growth of seaweeds that would otherwise choke out young corals. Young corals are important to reef eclogy becuase they replace corals that have died as the result of disease, high temperatures, and storm damage.
Adult male of the queen parrotfish, Scarus vetula, one of the most important grazers on Caribbean coral reefs. Photograph courtesy of Evan D’Alessandro. |
“This is the first evidence we have that marine reserves benefit coral,” said Dr. Peter Mumby, lead author and a professor at the University of Exeter. “We estimate that humans have already destroyed around 30% of the world’s coral reefs and climate change is now causing further damage to coral. These findings illustrate the need to maintain high levels of parrotfishes on reefs in order to give corals a fighting chance of recovering. This can either be done using marine reserves or national fisheries legislation that protects parrotfish.”
The researchers say that about 19 percent of the world;s coral reefs are found in marine reserves.
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This article is based on a news release from the University of Exeter.