Life and Death of Coral Reefs / Edition 1

by Charles Birkeland

Overview

Charles Birkeland Living coral is a thin veneer, measured in millimeters. Yet this thin film of living tissue has shaped the face of the Earth by creating limestone structures sometimes over 1,300 m thick from the surface down to its base on volcanic rock (Enewetak Atoll), or over 2,000 km long (Great Barrier Reef). About half the world's coastlines are in the tropics and about a third of the tropical coastlines are made of coral reef. Archipelagoes of hundreds of atolls such as the Marshalls, the Maldives, the Tuamotus, and most of the Carolines and Kiribati have been fonned by coral. In addition to enlarging high islands (such as the entire northern end of Guam) and extending and protecting coastlines, ancient biogenic reefs have fonned even larger areas on the present continents. Shallow living coral 2 reefs are estimated to presently cover over 600,000 km (Smith, 1978). Coral reefs are dynamic systems, producing limestone at the rate of 400-2,000 tons per hectare per year (Chave et aI. , 1972). The Great Barrier Reef dominates 2 230,000 km and has grown to this size in a geologically brief period of a few million years. Coral reefs influence the chemical balance of the world's oceans. Roughly half the calcium that enters the sea each year around the world, from the north to south poles, is taken up and temporarily bound into coral reefs (Smith, 1978).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781461377467
Publisher:	Springer US
Publication date:	10/12/2012
Edition description:	Softcover reprint of the original 1st ed. 1997
Pages:	536
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.04(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction.- 1.1 The Value of Reefs.- 1.2 Present Conditions of Coral Reefs.- 1.3 Shift in Controlling Factors.- 2. Reefs and Reef Limestones in Earth History.- 2.1 Biogenic Sediments and Bioherms.- 2.2 Basic Carbonate Chemistry.- 2.3 Limestones and Earth History.- 2.4 The Atmosphere and the Evolution of Life.- 2.5 CO2 and Time Scales.- 2.6 Atmospheric CO2 as an Evolutionary Driving Force.- 2.7 What It Takes to Accumulate CaCO,.- 2.8 History of Biogenic Reefs Through Time.- 2.9 Modern Reefs.- 2.10 Conclusion.- 3. Reefs as Dynamic Systems.- 3.1 Process: The Ultimate Control of Reef Development.- 3.2 Reef Accretion: How It Works.- 3.3 Reefs and Global Warming.- 3.4 Where Do We Go from Here?.- 4. Bioerosion and Coral-Reef Growth: A Dynamic Balance.- 4.1 Bioeroder Diversity.- 4.2 Conditions Favoring Bioerosion.- 4.3 Variety of Effects.- 4.4 Case Studies.- 4.5 Conclusion.- 5. Interactions Between Corals and Their Symbiotic Algae.- 5.1 Description of the Symbiosis.- 5.2 Nutrition and Adaptations to Environmental Factors.- 5.3 Stability of the Symbiosis.- 5.4 Cost-Benefit Analysis of the Symbiosis.- 5.5 Environmental Effects on the Symbiosis.- 5.6 Conclusion.- 6. Diseases of Coral-Reef Organisms.- 6.1 Diseases of Reef Plants.- 6.2 Diseases of Reef Invertebrates.- 6.3 Diseases of Reef Vertebrates.- 6.4 Unanswered Questions.- 6.5 Ecological Implications.- 7. Organic Production and Decomposition.- 7.1 Definitions and Methodologies of Production.- 7.2 Producers and Consumers.- 7.3 Rates of Coral-Reef Metabolism and Their Variation in Space and Time.- 7.4 Controls on Coral-Reef Production.- 7.5 Interactions Between Humans and Coral-Reef Production.- 8. Reproduction and Recruitment in Corals: Critical Links in the Persistence of Reefs.- 8.1 Coral Reproduction.- 8.2 Larval Recruitment.- 8.3 Reproductive and Recruitment Failure of Corals.- 9. Invertebrate Predators and Grazers.- 9.1 Invertebrates Having Minor Effects.- 9.2 Invertebrates Having Major Effects.- 9.3 Disproportionate Effects of Some Invertebrate Species.- 10. Effects of Reef Fishes on Corals and Algae.- 10.1 The Players: Corallivorous and Herbivorous Reef Fishes.- 10.2 Fish Effects on Algae.- 10.3 Fish Effects on Corals.- 10.4 Fish Effects on Invertebrate Corallivores and Herbivores.- 10.5 Ramifications for Reef Management.- 11. Indirect Interactions on Coral Reefs.- 11.1 Definition, Variety, and Examples of Indirect Effects.- 11.2 Relative Importance on Coral Reefs.- 11.3 Some Practical Considerations.- 11.4 Future Directions.- 11.5 Conclusion.- 12. Geographic Differences in Ecological Processes on Coral Reefs.- 12.1 Physical Processes That Bring About Geographic Differences.- 12.2 Geographic Differences in Characteristics of Dominant Species.- 12.3 Regional Differences in Ecological Processes.- 13. Ecosystem Interactions in the Tropical Coastal Seascape.- 13.1 Biological Interactions in the Seascape.- 13.2 Fluxes of Nutrients and Organic Material in the Seascape.- 13.3 Physical Interactions in the Seascape.- 13.4 Reef Management, Global Change, and Comparative Research.- 14. Diversity and Distribution of Reef Organisms.- 14.1 Definitions and Scales.- 14.2 Biota of Reefs.- 14.3 Role of Diversity in Reef Ecosystems.- 14.4 Practical Biodiversity: Identification of Reef Organisms.- 14.5 Distribution of Diversity: Large-Scale Patterns.- 14.6 Distribution of Diversity: History of Regionalization.- 14.7 Distribution of Diversity: Evolutionary Diversification.- 14.8 Effects of Human Activities.- 14.9 Conclusion.- 15. Disturbances to Reefs in Recent Times.- 15.1 Conceptual Framework.- 15.2 Tolerances of Reef Corals.- 15.3 Natural Disturbances on Coral Reefs.- 15.4 Human Disturbances to Coral Reefs.- 15.5 Human Versus Natural Influences on Coral Reefs.- 15.6 Prediction of Responses of Reefs to Climate Change.- 16. Traditional Coral-Reef Fisheries Management.- 16.1 Value of Traditional Knowledge.- 16.2 Putting Management Back at the Village Level.- 16.3 Applying Traditional Knowledge in Modern Settings.- 17. Resource Use: Conflicts and Management Solutions.- 17.1 Sustainable Use.- 17.2 Resource-Use Conflicts.- 17.3 Case Study: Logging Versus Fisheries and Tourism in the Philippines.- 17.4 Marine Parks.- 17.5 Implementation of Sustainable Development.- 17.6 Conclusion.- 18. Implications for Resource Management.- 18.1 Export Fisheries Not Sustained.- 18.2 High Productivity, Low Yield.- 18.3 Reserves for Breeding Sk.- 18.4 Economics of Harvesting Diverse Resources.- 18.5 Village-Based Control.- 18.6 Exemplary Cases: Bermuda and Palau.- 18.7 Nonextractive Commercial Uses of Coral-Reef Resources.- 18.8 Integrative Coastal-Area Management.- 18.9 Conclusion.- References.

Editorial Reviews

What sets it apart is that the editor, Chuck Birkeland, has charged his distinguished group of seventeen contributors with examining the ebb and flow of life on reefs, and how this can be affected by people. - Reef Encounter, JUly 1997

From the Publisher