Research Press Release
Nature
August 10, 2023
Simultaneously mitigating impacts of human activity on land and in the sea slowed coral loss during the unprecedentedly large marine heatwave in Hawaii, USA, and supported coral reef survival after the heatwave A paper reporting thatNaturewill be published in The findings highlight the potential for integrated management strategies to protect coral reefs.
Coral reef ecosystems are frequently impacted by human activities on land and in the sea. Disturbance of land areas includes pollution by various types of wastewater, and disturbance of sea areas includes overfishing. Corals are particularly affected by prolonged increases in ocean temperature (marine heatwaves). Marine heatwaves can cause coral bleaching and death.
Here, Jamison Gove, Gareth Williams and colleagues assess the extent to which human activities and environmental impacts on land and in the ocean contributed to changes in coral reefs around Hawaii between 2003 and 2019. During this period, 2015 saw the most severe marine heat wave ever recorded in the Hawaiian Islands, with ocean temperatures 2.2°C warmer than normal. The impacts of human activities analyzed included urban surface water, contamination from various types of wastewater, and restrictions on the use of fishing gear. Coral reef cover increased, decreased, and remained stable during the study period, depending on the region. Coral reefs that were less impacted by human activity on land and in the sea experienced increased coral cover prior to the onset of marine heatwaves and reduced coral loss during the onset. Furthermore, four years after the occurrence of this marine heatwave, coral reefs, which are inhabited by many herbivorous fish and are less affected by human activity on land, have fewer fish and less human activity on land. Hermatypic corals (coral species that are essential for reef growth) had higher coverage than reefs that were more affected by turbidity.
In this study, we present scenarios that suggest that reducing the impact of human activity on land and in the sea would increase the probability of formation of reefs with high reef-building coral coverage by a factor of 3–6 after 4 years of disturbance. modeled. The authors of the paper suggest that integrated land and sea management practices may improve coral reefs’ chances of survival in a changing climate.
doi:10.1038/s41586-023-06394-w
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