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Gardening
to save the reef
05 September 2006
Aerial
view of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia
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Australians may have to
resort to "underwater gardening" if they are to protect
their priceless coral reefs through the stresses of climate
change.
Researchers at the ARC Center of Excellence for
Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) say that the if the coral bleaching
events of 2002 and this year are anything to go by, climate
change holds some major adverse impacts for systems such as the
Great Barrier Reef and Ningaloo in Western Australia.
Professor
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, of CoECRS and The University of Queensland,
said a recent study found that the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO
World Heritage area, had experienced unprecedented rates of
bleaching over the past two decades.
The study conducted
for the Australian Business Round Table by CSIRO also found that
an additional warming of only 1°C was anticipated to cause
considerable losses or contractions of species associated with
coral communities.
Up to half the reef could be bleached
every year with only a 1 degree warming, the report said. Two
degrees' warming would result in bleaching of up to 80 per cent
of the reef area.
“In such circumstances, we'd see
a role for limited activity to physically protect or even re-seed
damaged reefs, especially in areas of particular economic or
environmental significance,” Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.
“Of course the Great Barrier Reef itself is too
vast to reseed with corals, but in particular areas there may be
a case for transplanting mature corals or releasing coral spawn
to accelerate the processes of reef recovery.”
Corals
of the Great Barrier Reef
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While the idea of
replanting a reef is still controversial, it is conceptually
similar to re vegetation and river recovery programs taking place
on land across Australia, he says.
One of the main
challenges will be to restore a number of inshore reefs, which
have been destroyed or extensively damaged by sediment, nutrients
and coral bleaching caused by human activity on the land over the
past 40 years, he said.
“If we can fix the water
quality problems which are causing the loss of these reefs –
as we are starting to do in inland rivers – it may be these
coastal reefs will provide a good place to try large-scale coral
restoration.”
However coral bleaching events caused
by bodies of warmer water circulating over the reef can be so
extensive - as in 2002 - that little can be done about the huge
areas killed.
“We may eventually have to look at
the possibility of harvesting corals from the north of the reef
(where they have adapted to warmer waters) and move them to the
south, or take corals from outer to inner shore reefs to help
maintain coral populations in particularly significant or
important areas," he said.
“The technological
challenges are enormous.”
Professor Hoegh-Guldberg
said the CoECR was working with the Coral Reef Targeted Research
Project funded by The University of Queensland, World Bank and
the Global Environment Facility to explore techniques for
restoring and managing coral reefs through climate change and
other impacts.
This is expected to yield a range of
methods for active intervention to keep reefs healthy in the face
of rapidly changing conditions, temperatures and extreme weather
events.
Source
/ Credit: University of Queensland
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