Dreama Weber

Taylor Huston

Geography 1840: Global Environmental Change

Grant Elliot

December 10, 2014

Decline of Coral Reef Builders in the Great Barrier Reef

It is commonly known that coral reefs have been declining dramatically in recent years.

In fact, Pandolfi (2003) states that 11% of coral reefs have already been lost and another 16% is

severely damaged. Specifically, the Great Barrier Reef, located off of the Queensland coast in

northeastern Australia (see Appendix A), has lost half of its reef in the past 27 years (Gammon,

2012). The same article discusses that this overall decline has a yearly rate of about 3.4%. The

main problem is that that reef building corals have had the most decline. According to De’ath,

Lough, and Fabricius (2009), the Great Barrier Reef has lost approximately 14.2% of its

calcification within reef building corals since 1990. Without these reef building corals, the reef

cannot continue to grow or make up for lost ground. This may eventually lead to an

overwhelming amount of coral death or even the collapse of the reef system. In order to

understand how and why the Great Barrier Reef is struggling, we must first understand how coral

grows in normal conditions. Coral is basically made up of builders, known as polyps. These tiny

spineless animals secrete skeletons of calcium carbonate to form reefs. Although they begin as

miniscule, as the colony of polyps grows, so does the coral. When these polyps are unable to

secrete this chemical, coral is unable to grow and reefs are unable to form. This process makes it

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clear that the problem associated with coral reef loss, in the Great Barrier and throughout the

world, is what is affecting these polyps and leaving them unable to function properly. This is

what we are going to discuss more thoroughly throughout this paper.

Coral reefs, such as the Great Barrier, have been created from virtually nothing. Since

corals are mostly sessile, meaning they are fixed in a certain position, there is no way for them to

escape threats that come their way.  Building skeletons helps the coral by providing protection

from potential predators, and helps newly forming coral to attach itself to a rocky surface. The

skeletal portion of the coral is made from calcium carbonate, which is directly affected by the

acidification of the ocean. Ocean acidification is a process where carbon dioxide (CO2) is

absorbed by the ocean and changes its chemical makeup. Appendix B details this process by

outlining the chemical procedure as well as the predicted increases in CO2 in oceanic chemistry.

The PMEA Carbon Group explains that ocean acidification begins as an increase of CO2 in the

atmosphere. This influences the climate and eventually ocean circulation causing an uptake of

CO2 in the ocean leading to acidification. A doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide can reduce

calcification levels in corals by as much as fifty percent. Acidification of the ocean, can also

cause the coral to not be able to recover from bleaching events.

Bleaching events occur because of ocean temperatures warming. When ocean water

becomes too warm, the coral expels the zooxanthellae that live within the polyps. This is a

problem because the zooxanthellae assist the coral in nutrient production. Buchheim (1998)

describes how the zooxanthellae have a symbiotic relationship with the coral. It assists the coral

with photosynthesis, increasing the coral’s energy, calcification levels, and nutrient flux. The

coral, in return, protects the zooxanthellae and supplies it with carbon dioxide. When the

zooxanthellae are forced to leave the coral, it leaves the skeleton exposed and deprived of the

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coloration the zooxanthellae provides it with. This is where the white color results from that

gives bleaching its name. This bleaching can occur in massive quantities if the change in

temperature is drastic enough. The Great Barrier Reef, itself, has experienced eight mass coral

bleaching events since 1979 (Union of Concerned Scientists 2011). With time, the coral will be

able to recover from bleaching events. However, it is projected that annual bleaching events will

occur within the Great Barrier Reef. If this were to happen, the coral would not be able to

recover quickly enough to survive future bleaching events. These events in coral reefs can be

compared to someone contracting a disease. If the reef is not properly taken care of, then the

disease will only get worse. Between ocean warming and ocean acidification, the Great Barrier

Reef is struggling to grow at a normal rate.

Coral reefs disappearing “positively scares [scientists]” (Skoloff 2010). Coral

reefs are essentially the center of marine life. Almost half the fish that the world consumes create

homes in coral reefs. If coral reefs were to disappear completely, it would not only affect marine

life, but it would also affect us humans. Experts are suggesting that hunger, poverty and political

instability would ensure. Entire nations could be “threatened in terms of existence” (Skoloff

2010). Reefs are special for food, medicine and people’s livelihood. If coral reefs were to

disappear, it would place a large strain on human existence.

The Great Barrier Reef, specifically, is the most extensive reef on the planet and is an

essential ecosystem with wide ranging influence. First, the reef houses the largest amount of

marine biodiversity of any reef system. UNESCO and the WHC state that the Great Barrier Reef

houses approximately 1,500 species of fish, 360 species of hard coral, 5,000 species of mollusk,

175 species of birds, and a diversity of sponges, anemones, marine worms, crustaceans, and

others. The reef is also made up of more than 2,900 individual reefs which have their own unique

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form and structure. The reef is also a habitat for hundreds of protected species that include shells,

fish, sharks, crocodiles, sea snakes, marine turtles, birds, seals, whales, dolphins, and dugong

(Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority). This biodiversity depends on corals and without

them, the ecosystem would fall apart. Secondly, the reef is an essential part of the Australian

economy. Not only is it fishing spot, providing food as well as an opportunity for the fishing

industry, it attracts a large amount of tourism which helps fuel the economy. Lastly, the

biodiversity of the reef attracts researchers from around the country. This has led to several

medicines being developed from the corals as well as many other fascinating discoveries. If we

let this reef disappear, we may be losing opportunities to further improve our society as well as a

large sum of money.

Although fishing is a large industry supported by coral reefs, fishing can also cause

damage to the reefs. If too many fish are caught, then the reef becomes under populated. When

this occurs, the macroalgae are able to grow uncontrollably. When the fish are populating the

reef, the algae is contained because it has no place to grow. The Global Coral Reef Monitoring

Network works to keep the reefs clean, by going into the less populated reefs and cleaning them

of the unhealthy amounts of macroalgae.

The question now is what we can do to help prevent more reef loss or even repair these

ecosystems. Unfortunately, as this is a result of large scale climate change and temperature

increases, there is not much we can do at this point. However, some species of coral have begun

fixing this problem themselves. They are able to internally regulate their pH levels. So when

seawater pH levels rise due to acidification, the corals up-regulate their pH so that the overall

internal change in pH is less severe and the coral is able to continue calcifying. This internal pH

change results in higher calcification levels than in similar seawater conditions where the coral

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did not up-regulate their pH levels (Matz 2014). Although this is very useful for those species of

coral and may increase their survival rates when faced with ocean acidification, it does not apply

to every species of coral or to other organisms inhabiting this ecosystem that may be affected by

changing pH levels.

This means that the best shot at improving the situation in the Great Barrier Reef is to try

and fix the error of our ways. Human involvement is believed by many to be the cause of this

increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere as well as climate change and therefore has a large

effect on the corals and other organisms in the reef. Individually, people may be able to help on a

small scale by doing simple everyday things to conserve energy and put less carbon dioxide into

the atmosphere. This may include carpooling to work or school, taking the bus or riding a bike

instead of driving, unplugging all appliances that are not in use, turning off light switches when

you leave a room, conserving water, planting trees, and disposing of trash properly. Becoming

slightly more involved may mean contacting a government representative to inform them of the

extent of the problem and encouraging them to take action or spreading the word about the

problem to family members or friends. This can be taken even further by supporting reef-friendly

business or those that try to operate environmentally sustainably or volunteering for a reef clean-

up event.

Reef clean-ups are a solution that operate on a larger scale that involve becoming

engaged in an organization that is dedicated to improving the ecosystem of the Great Barrier

Reef. One such organization is Reef Check, a community that is focused on monitoring the

health status of coral reefs across the world. They have noticed this problem happening across

the world have been engaging in order to resolve this problem and increase the health of coral

reefs. Their goals as an organization have been to educate the public about coral reefs, create a

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global network to monitor the status of reefs, scientifically investigate reef processes, and

stimulate local community action. Although this program has been successful as far as their

outreach, education, and monitoring efforts, they have not actually implemented anything to

directly help the reef. Other communities are more focused on physically improving the reef by

removing debris or planting coral to increase the amount of activity in the ecosystem. These

programs are on too small of scale to produce a large amount of change. Although these are steps

in the right direction, we have not yet found a successful widespread way to help these polyps

survive changes and continue their normal calcification process.

Overall we do not have an effective long term solution to this decline in productivity in

coral reef systems or more specifically the Great Barrier Reef. This is because the causes are on a

global scale and are mostly a result of climate change or global warming. The increase in the

amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere because of human activity has increased

both the temperature and acidity level of the ocean. Corals, having a limited range of tolerance

for both temperature and pH level, cannot keep up with this relatively quick change and are left

unable to continue calcifying. This has led to many reefs suffering severe loss or even collapse.

The Great Barrier Reef specifically, has been declining drastically and is predicted to continue

declining. If this continues, the loss of this reef will have severe consequences on marine life, the

economy of Australia, and the progress of our society.

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Appendix A

Great Barrier Reef. [Map/Still]. In Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

Appendix B

PMEL Carbon Group. (n.d.). Ocean Carbon Uptake. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

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 Reference List

Buchheim, J. (1998, January). Coral Reef Bleaching. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

Union of Concerned Scientists. (2011, January 1). Coral Destruction to Great Barrier Reef,

Australia | Global Warming Effects. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

De'ath, G., J. M. Lough, and K. E. Fabricius. "Declining Coral Calcification On The

        Great Barrier Reef." Science 323.5910 (2009): 116-119. Science. Web. 9 Oct.

        2014.

Gammon, K. (2012, October 1). Half of Great Barrier Reef Lost in Past 3 Decades. Retrieved

December 10, 2014.

Great Barrier Reef. [Map/Still]. In Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. (n.d.). Protected Species. Retrieved December 10,

2014.

Hodgson, G., & Liebeler, J. (2002, August). The Global Coral Reef Crisis: Trends and Solutions.

Retrieved December 10, 2014.

Matz, H. (2014, January 17). Coral Reefs and the Threat of Ocean Acidification. Retrieved

December 10, 2014.

Pandolfi, J. (2003). Global Trajectories of the Long-Term Decline of Coral Reef Ecosystems.

Science, 301, 955-958.

PMEL Carbon Group. (n.d.). Ocean Carbon Uptake. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

Skoloff, B. (2010, March 26). Death of world's coral reefs could wreak global chaos -

USATODAY.com. Retrieved December 10, 2014.

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, & World Heritage

Convention. (n.d.). Great Barrier Reef. Retrieved December 10, 2014.