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Young World
Save the Caribbean reefs
SUBAJAYANTHI. B
Photo: AP
In danger: Coral reefs becoming overgrown with seaweed.
A vividly coloured fish could be the key to saving the Caribbean’s coral reefs from plummeting into terminal decline, scientists claim. Their research forecasts that reefs risk being damaged beyond repair by the influx of seaweed. But urgent action such as protecting parrotfish, which graze upon the floral invaders, may prevent the ecosystems from reaching this tipping point. The research is published in the journal Nature. Professor Peter Mumby, a
marine ecologist from Exeter University and lead author of the paper, said: “We are seeing more and more coral reefs becoming just overgrown with seaweed.” Reefs in the Caribbean are among some of the most heavily affected. They are rapidly transforming from coral-dominated domains into algal-flooded havens. The seaweed growth is boosted by human activity, such as fertilizer washing off from agricultural land into the coastal waters, and over-fishing, Professor Mumby explained. “Then to compound these problems you have the climate stresses that are more and more inevitable now, which cause major problems with warming waters and hurricanes.” Professor Mumby and colleagues used computer simulations to predict whether reefs could bounce back once the seaweed had taken hold, especially if some of the pressures upon them were removed.
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