Scientists Collaborate to Save Florida's Carbonate Reefs
ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- Coral reefs are as fragile as they are
beautiful but until recently, few reef protection or research
programs existed. In the late 1980s, however, both scientists and
tourists could clearly observe that huge tracts of coral in the
Florida Keys were in trouble. Responding to public pressure,
Congress designated the entire Florida reef tract a National
Marine Sanctuary; at last, research funds started to flow toward
the stricken area. The April issue of GEOTIMES describes how
biologists, hydrologists, geologists, chemists, and marine
scientists are working together to protect reef organisms.
The interdisciplinary aspect of this research in itself is
unique, says Eugene A. Shinn (U.S. Geological Survey, Center for
Coastal Geology) in the article, "No Rocks, No Water, No
Ecosystem." He writes: "A lesson for geoscientists is that
geology can be integrated with and applied to environmental
problems other than traditional geohazards. It is important to
work closely with biologists, talk with conservation groups, and
communicate directly with the public and the media..." What
Shinn and his colleagues have discovered is that excess-nutrient
problems in Florida Bay affect offshore coral reefs. "The bay and
reef tract are a linked system," he observes, "and ... the reefs,
and Keys in general, lie downstream in the watershed of south
Florida."
Esther C. Peters and Harry B. McCarty, a husband-and-wife team
who have worked together on diseases of marine organisms since
1981, explain what keeps coral reefs healthy and what factors
cause disease. Most diseases have more than one cause, they
report in the article, "Carbonate Crisis?". Exposure to adverse
environmental conditions can alter the resistance of an organism,
making it more vulnerable to invasion by pathogens. Several new
coral diseases are described. At the 8th International Coral Reef
Symposium in Panama this summer, scientists will inaugurate the
"Year of the Reef," an intensive evaluation of the condition of
reefs around the world, to gain a better understanding of whether
coral reefs are in crisis.
What's North Carolina doing in the Florida Keys? Directing the
nation's largest coral reef science program, states Steven
Miller, science director of the National Undersea Research
Center/University of North Carolina at Wilmington. His article,
"Carolina, the Keys, and Coral Reef Research," describes the
center's research-diving and saturation-diving programs and the
role of its underwater laboratory, "Aquarius." The facility
provides nearly unlimited diving time and access to reefs with
good coral cover, good fish diversity and abundance, and
well-developed sponge and soft-coral communities. Research funded
by the center is providing what Miller describes as "the
scientific foundation for making intelligent management decisions
about protecting and using our wasted resources."
Coming in May ... GEOTIMES mixes oil and water in feature
articles describing oil exploration in Venezuela, oil politics in
the United States, and the mineral waters of New York's Saratoga
Springs.
GEOTIMES is published by the American Geological Institute, a
non-profit federation of 29 member societies representing 80,000
earth and environmental scientists. The Institute provides
information services to a worldwide geoscience community through
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Government Affairs Program (GAP) serves as a leading voice in
Washington, D.C., on science-policy issues of concern to the
nation's geoscience community. The Institute coordinates
improvements in earth-science education, offers scholarship
assistance to minority students, and works to increase public
awareness of the vital role geology plays in our society.
