Recently additions to the ReefBase Publication

The Great Barrier Reef, Nature's pinnacle of achievement in the ocean realm, is the embodiment of wilderness, of remoteness – a place of endless beauty that has endured when so many other places on Earth, cherished by generations past, no longer engender strong emotions or else have been

altered beyond all recognition. A truly cohesive account of how the Great Barrier Reef has changed in the geological past and will change in the human-controlled future must embrace concepts of time, the linking of disparate scientific disciplines, and the human takeover of climate control. As we turn from past to future in this book, we delve into scientific advances that are still in their infancy and that often go unappreciated because they are viewed in isolation rather than as a part of a bigger picture. Link

2. Clive Wilkinson's – A Bad Year for Caribbean Corals

Wilkinson, C., D. Souter. 2008. A Bad Year for Caribbean Corals. A World of SCIENCE, Vol. 6, No. 2. April – June 2008. 20p. (ID: 26456)

The years 1998 and 2005 were the two most damaging years for coral reefs in recorded history. They were also the world's hottest years since records began in 1880. About 16% of the world's reefs were lost to coral bleaching in the Indian Ocean and Western Pacific in 1998. Seven years on, unusually warm waters caused even worse coral bleaching, this time in the Caribbean where it was also a record year for hurricanes. Some of these hurricanes nevertheless had a silver lining: although they caused extensive damage, they also helped to save many corals by 'taking the heat off them'. LINK

3. Developing Resilient Fishery-dependent Communities in the Coral Triangle – The WorldFish Center

Tupper, M., A. Tewfik. 2008. Developing Resilient Fishery-dependent Communities in the Coral Triangle. The WorldFish Center Publications. (ID: 26371)

Over 150 million people live within the Coral Triangle (Green and Mous 2006), of which over 2.6 million are fishers who are dependent on marine resources for their livelihoods. Current reef fishery management focuses primarily on threats arising from within the fishery, such as overfishing and destructive gears. However, land use practices (logging, mining, urbanization and coastal development) lead to increases in sedimentation, nutrient input, and habitat destruction. These external impacts can reduce biodiversity through species loss and exacerbate overfishing by limiting the amount of suitable habitat. Climate change and population growth are other key external threats to biodiversity, fisheries, and livelihoods and must be viewed as a fundamental threat to human security in countries already vulnerable to social and economic dislocation and conflict. LINK

4. Snorkel the Web: ReefBase brings a sea change in access to information about coral reefs – The WorldFish Center

The WorldFish Center. 2007. Snorkel the Web. Factsheet No. 1713. (ID: 26387)

ReefBase is a sophisticated online information system that facilitates the global monitoring and management of coral reefs and thereby supports efforts to protect them. After the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, for example, scientists and organizations around the world relied on ReefBase for assessments of damage to coral reefs in Southeast Asia and of how coastal communities were affected. Teams organized by ReefBase partner institutions conducted post-tsunami field observations, and their findings formed the basis for a comprehensive status report prepared by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network. LINK

5. Lessons learned and best practices in the management of coral reefs – The WorldFish Center

Tupper, M., J. Oliver, R. Kenchington, T. McClanahan, N. Muthiga, D. Gill, D. Burnham, S. Campbell, N. Andrew, R. Mahon and D. Walfoort. 2008. Lessons Learned and Best Practices in the Management of Coral Reefs. Lessons Learned No. 1804. The WorldFish Center Publications. (ID: 26386)

This brief presents a review of lessons learned and best practices in the management of coral reefs based on the analysis of 30 projects funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) related to coral reefs and associated tropical marine ecosystems and 26 non-GEF funded projects. The key lessons learned and recommendations are grouped according to eight priority issues in coral reef management. LINK

6. Decadal trends in a coral community and evidence of changed disturbance regime
M. Wakeford, T. J. Done, C. R. Johnson. 2008. Decadal trends in a coral community and evidence of changed disturbance regime. Coral Reefs (2008) 27:1–13. (ID: 26457)

A 23 year data set (1981–2003 inclusive) and the spatially explicit individual-based model "Compete" were used to investigate the implications of changing disturbance frequency on cover and taxonomic composition of a shallow coral community at Lizard Island, Australia. Near-vertical in situ stereo-photography was used to estimate rates of coral growth, mortality, recruitment and outcomes of pair-wise competitive interactions for 17 physiognomic groups of hard and soft corals. These data were used to parameterise the model, and to quantify impacts of three acute disturbance events that caused significant coral mortality: 1982—a combination of coral bleaching and Crown-of-Thorns starfish; 1990—cyclone waves; and 1996—Crown-of-Thorns starfish. LINK

7. The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States: 2007
Lumsden S.E., T.F. Hourigan, A.W. Bruckner, G. Dorr (eds.). 2007. The State of Deep Coral Ecosystems of the United States. NOAA Technical Memorandum CRCP-3. Silver Spring MD. 365 pp. (ID: 26458)

This report represents the first effort by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in partnership with other federal, academic and non-governmental partners, to bring together available information on the abundance and distribution of structure-forming corals that occur in U.S. waters at depths greater than 50 m. It consists of an introduction, National Overview and seven regional chapters describing deep coral communities in U.S. waters off Alaska, the U.S. West Coast, Hawai'i and the U.S. Insular Pacific, the Northeastern U.S., Southeastern U.S., Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean. This report reflects the tremendous increase in awareness of these communities that has evolved over the last few years as the result of increasing exploration and research to understand deeper regions of the oceans. In the U.S., NOAA is proud to serve as a leading partner in much of this work. LINK