Coral reefs are one of theworld’s natural wonders.They cover less than onepercent of the earth’ssurface, yet support

millions of plant and animal species.They provide food, medicines, stormprotection and recreational opportuni-ties. Their monetary value to humansis estimated to be billions of dollars.While reefs are largely out of sight,and therefore, out of mind, for manypeople who live away from coastalareas, human activity in all areas ofthe world is imperiling the survival ofreef ecosystems.

The International Year of the Reef(IYOR) 2008 is a worldwide effort topublicize the value of reefs; helppeople learn about threats to reefs; andmotivate individuals, governments andorganizations to take actions to protectreefs around the world. The U.S. CoralReef Task Force (CRTF) is a leadingU.S. proponent of the IYOR 2008, and

the Department of the Navy is theExecutive Agent for the Department ofDefense to the CRTF.

Reefs: More than CoralsCoral polyps are the tiny colonialanimal that forms the calcareous struc-tures we commonly call reefs. Coralreefs are actually ecosystemscomprised of a myriad of differentplants and animals. In most reefcommunities there are over 1,000different species (not just coral) thatmake up the community. Over timethe hard corals are joined by algae,sponges, sea grasses, soft corals,mollusks, sea cucumbers, crabs, andfish of many sizes. Reefs also providefood and shelter to migrating marinecreatures including whales, sharks, seaturtles and commercially valuable fish.In many cases, calcareous algae andshellfish also contribute significantly tobuilding the reef’s hard framework,sometimes more than the corals do.

Corals have much greater variety thanis commonly thought. The coral reefsgenerally pictured in popular mediaare restricted to warm tropical watersand depths of 300 feet or less.However, corals are found from theNorth to the South Pole, and fromthe intertidal zone to the abyss. Thereare generally considered to be sevenmajor groups of corals:

1. Fire corals (Order Milleporina);

2. Lace corals (Order Stylasterina);

3. Stony corals (Order Scleractinia);

4. Black and wire corals (OrderAntipatharia);

5. Soft corals (Order Alcyonacea);

6. Horny corals/sea fans (OrderGorgonacea); and,

7. Blue corals (Order Helioporacea).Some corals specialize in deepwater living such as the Lophelia sp.reefs off of Norway are found atdepths of 6,500 feet. Some Lopheliareefs reach up to 100 feet off thesea floor and extend for more thanseven miles.

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Navy Commemorates International

Year ofthe Reef 2008

Efforts Seek to Conserve Critical CoralReef Ecosystems

50 percent of the world’s reefs are at risk of either near-term or long-term collapse.

Reefs at RiskTropical and subtropical coral reefs continue to decline inmany regions. The Status of Coral Reefs of the World: 2004report estimates that 20 percent of reefs are beyondrecovery and 50 percent of the world’s reefs are at risk ofeither near-term or long-term collapse. Some factors thatcontribute to the decline include:

� Poor land-use and agricultural practices that contributeexcess sediment and nutrients to reef areas. Sedimentclouds the water and chokes many filter-feeding reefresidents. Excess nutrients contribute to excessive algalgrowth that can then smother the reef.

� Damage from fishing drag nets, explosion-based fishing,boat anchors, clumsy or inattentive divers and coralcollectors, all of which contribute to injuring andbreaking fragile coral.

� Pollution from harbor uses and ship discharges. Oils,sewage and trash all deteriorate water quality andecosystem health.

� Trophy-fishing that takes the largest individuals of aspecies, which often are also the best breeders.

� Overfishing that disturbs the natural balance of the reefcommunity. In Hawaii, for example, overfishing andexcessive nutrient input are believed to contribute to anative alga, Dictyosphaeria cavernosa (“green bubblealgae”) over-running some reefs.

� Climate change is exacerbating the stresses inflicted oncoral communities, as well as contributing to additionalproblems. Increased ocean temperatures have causedwidespread coral bleaching and rising sea levels arechanging water chemistry and available sunlight.

International Year of theReef 2008The IYOR, organized by the International Coral ReefInitiative (ICRI), is a world-wide effort to bring thewonders, benefits and plight of reefs to the world’s atten-tion. The first IYOR in 1997 spurred considerable researchand numerous protection efforts. Yet as new threats arediscovered and reef health continues to decline, increasedawareness and understanding of coral reefs remains anurgent need. To boost conservation and management ofvaluable coral reef and associated ecosystems, the ICRIdesignated 2008 as the International Year of the Reef.

The stated goals for IYOR 2008 are:

� Strengthen awareness about the ecological, economic,social and cultural value of coral reefs and associatedecosystems,

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Coral being overrun byDictyosphaeria cavernosa(“green bubble algae”) on a reef flat off the south-central coast of Molokai, HI.Photo by Rebecca Stamski-MacKnight

Did You Know?

reefs in the western Pacific and Indian Oceans have agreater variety of organisms than reefs in the western

Atlantic and Caribbean. For example, there are approxi-mately 50 species of stony coral in the Caribbean, butmore than 450 in Guam.

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Bleached elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata).Photo by Tom Szlyk

C O R A L B L E A C H I N G

warm, tropical ocean waters where extensive reefscomprised of hundreds of types of coral can be

found are surprisingly low in available nutrients. Althoughcoral can feed on minute, free-floating organisms(plankton), these warm-water corals largely depend onsymbiotic algae called zooxanthellae. The algae convertsunlight to energy, providing a critical energy source inthe nutrient-poor tropical waters, and incidentallyproviding an array of spectacular colors for coral. Underadverse conditions, including increased water tempera-ture, the host coral might expel the algae on which itdepends. This act “bleaches” the coral, causing it to loseits remarkable color. If the resulting coral bleaching issustained, the coral will die.

� Improve understanding of the critical threats to coralreefs and generate both practical and innovative solu-tions to reduce these threats, and

� Generate urgent action at all levels to develop andimplement effective management strategies for conserva-tion and sustainable use of these ecosystems.

U.S. Coral Reef Task ForceThe CRTF is a leading U.S. proponent of IYOR 2008.Presidential Executive Order 13089 created the CRTF in1998 to implement comprehensive coral reef conserva-tion. The CRTF includes all federal agencies whoseactions can affect coral reefs, as well as leaders of sevenU.S. states and territories and three freely associatedstates. The Department of Navy represents the Depart-ment of Defense on CRTF. The overarching themes forCRTF are:

1. Understanding coral reef ecosystems by supportingmapping, assessment and research efforts; and

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Photo from IYOR/Dean Jacobson

Yellowtail Damselfish—juvenile(Microspathodon chrysurus) and

Staghorn Coral (Acropora cervicornis)Andros Island, Bahamas.

Photo by Tom Szlyk

2. Reducing the adverse effects of human activities bypromoting education, laws and local protection.

Navy Role in Reef ProtectionWhile the Navy’s mission is to maintain, train and equipcombat-ready Naval forces, its facility locations, technologyand environmental stewardship have made the Navy animportant partner in understanding and conserving reefsecosystems around the world.

Research, Mapping & AssessmentCoral reef assessments, mapping and monitoring are ongoingat several locations. The U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Undersea Testand Evaluation Center (AUTEC) maintains an active moni-toring program for the extensive reef system at Andros Island,the Bahamas. AUTEC initiated reef monitoring approximately30 years ago, making it one the few institutions with such along record of near-shore reef conditions. AUTEC currently isworking with the University of Miami to analyze these datasets to evaluate long-term trends in reef health.

Foureye Butterflyfish(Chaetodon capistratu),

Andros Island, Bahamas.Photo by Tom Szlyk

The Naval Facilities EngineeringCommand’s Marine Ecological DiveSupport (MEDS) team brings exem-plary skills in both marine ecologyand advanced diving to Navy marinenatural resources work around theworld. The marine ecologists, who areNavy-trained divers, collect data andconduct assessments to support base-line monitoring, environmentalimpact statements, Integrated NaturalResource Management Plans (INRMP)and coral reef assessments. The MEDSteam has completed marine naturalresources surveys adjacent to Navalinstallations and at sites of interest tothe Navy in Florida, California,Washington, Hawaii, Guam, NorthernMarianas Islands, Palau, Japan, DiegoGarcia and Cuba. Other team servicesinclude inspecting ship hulls to helpprevent the spread of invasive speciesand conducting surveys for invasivealgae identification on submergedlands and for other submergedaquatic vegetation.

TechnologyNavy natural resource managers arefinding ways to apply existing tech-nology to coral reef protection, andresearchers are combining technolo-

gies to develop new ways for gatheringdetailed habitat data rapidly and lessexpensively. Increasingly, Navy plan-ners use Geographic InformationSystems to direct operations awayfrom sensitive marine resources,including reef areas. The NavalResearch Submarine, NR-1, has helpedresearchers study reefs too deep for

individual divers to assess. The Navy’sAUTEC is the host site for aDepartment of Defense StrategicEnvironmental Research andDevelopment Program effort todevelop a new underwater “videomosaics” tool to advance the state-of-the-art in coral reef mapping andmonitoring. Image spectroscopy is

methods for estimating the economic value of coralreefs vary, yet each suggests the reefs’ importance

for humans. A report from the Hawaii Coral Reef InitiativeResearch Program, a partnership of the University ofHawaii and the State of Hawaii supported by the NationalOceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Center forSponsored Coastal Ocean Research, indicated that theover-all value of Hawaii’s potential 410,000 acres of coralreef is $10 billion. Based on reef-related tourism and fish-eries activities, the reefs generate $360 million each yearfor the state’s economy. This estimate does not include

such vital assets as providing a natural barrier againstwave erosion and coastal hazards, cultural values andother intangible benefits that are difficult to measureeconomically. The United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) estimates the value of coral reefs is between$100,000 to $600,000 per square kilometer a year whilethe cost of protecting them, through the managementcosts of a marine protected area, is just $775 per squarekilometer annually.

Source: UNEP-WCMC (2006), In the front line: shoreline protectionand other ecosystem services from mangroves and coral reefs)

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Hydrozoan corals, like this fire coral (Millepora sp.), are important members of many coral reefs. The whitish leafy algae is Padina sp. Apra Harbor, Guam.

Photo by Stephen Smith

Economic Value of Coral Reefs

allowing for non-invasive reef healthmonitoring. Other technology researchincludes developing remote sensingtechniques that will allow reefmanagers to measure biochemicalchanges that could be precursors to ableaching event.

Sanctuary EffectMuch like the land-based protectionthat restricted access to military facilitiesprovides to plant and animal species,restrictions around coastal Naval instal-lations appear to be providing sanctuaryfor reef species. Data collected in PearlHarbor show that, for the speciesstudied, fish are more abundant andlarger than at other locations in the

Main Hawaiian Islands. For example,the highly prized spectacled parrotfishaverages 71 grams body weight per fishoff Lanai with an average of 1.8 individ-uals sighted per standard survey tran-sect. Within Pearl Harbor, thespectacled parrotfish averages 243grams body weight and an average of14 individuals were sighted per transect.This example of the stunning differencebetween locations is thought to be

primarily the result of Navy restrictionson boating, fishing and diving. But PearlHarbor is not unique. Studies at facili-ties including former Navy bombingrange Isla De Vieques, Puerto Rico;Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean;Okinawa, Japan; and Guantanamo Bay,Cuba, suggest benefits from restrictedaccess such as limited physical damage,healthy fish populations and greaterspecies diversity.

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Convict Surgeonfish (Acanthurus triostegus), Guam.Photo by Stephen Smith

ABOVE: A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas),listed as Threatened over most of its range andEndangered in Florida and Mexico, swimming overa bed of Porites rus coral in Apra Harbor, Guam.Photo by Stephen Smith

Integrated Natural ResourceManagementNaval facilities with significant naturalresources prepare INRMPs to coordi-nate the facility’s military and naturalresource land use requirements. Forfacilities adjacent to reef systems,INRMPs include steps to evaluate andprotect the reefs. Onshore protectivemeasures include stormwater manage-ment, erosion control and low-inputlandscape maintenance. Offshoremeasures include boating andanchoring guidelines, installation ofpermanent mooring buoys to avoidanchoring damage, adding channelmarkers and additional measures toavoid ship and boat groundings.

Naval Facility Practices &Community ServiceIt is Navy policy to protect coral reefsfrom routine actions and to prevent

water pollution.These policies arecarried forwardthrough the array ofenvironmental plan-ning, resourcemanagement and

pollution prevention standardsapplied at Navy facilities and at sea.Coral reef protection guidelines forvessels and installations includemanaging waste disposal from shoreand vessels. Ballast water dischargerestrictions help limit the introductionof invasive species to the near-shoreenvironment. As part of communityservice efforts, Navy and MarineCorps personnel regularly participatein efforts to remove reef-threateningdebris as well as to eradicate invasivespecies, both on land and off shore.The Navy also helps to install shallowwater marker and mooring buoys toprevent propeller and anchor damageto reef communities. This year, newprograms are being developed toeducate base personnel and familiesabout reef ecology and how to avoidnegative effects in reef ecosystemsfrom morale welfare and recreational

activities such as scuba diving, snor-keling, and fishing.

The Navy will use IYOR 2008 to noteaccomplishments, work with naturalresource managers to complete reefsurveys, provide opportunities forCommanders to incorporate reefconservation in routine training activ-ities, expand education on reefprotection for Navy personnel, andseek new opportunities to coordinatewith other agencies to advanceresearch and increase enforcement ofreef protections.

On shore and at sea, on duty or off,Navy personnel will do their part toprotect coral reefs. �

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Spectacled Parrotfish (Scarus perspicillatus).Photo by the U.S. Department of Interior

Lorri SchwartzNaval Facilities Engineering Command202-685-9332DSN: 325-9332 lorri.schwartz@navy.mil

C O N T A C T

Navy personnel participate in coastal clean up events.Navy Media Lighthouse photo