Japanese Coral Reefs Still at Risk: Increased Damage by Bleaching and Predatory Starfish

The Ministry of the Environment of Japan has published a report entitled "Coral Reefs of Japan" in English on the current state of the country's coral reefs and efforts to conserve them.

The report was published on the occasion of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium in 2004 in Okinawa Prefecture, with the aim introducing people in Japan and overseas to Japanese coral reefs. Researchers from the Japanese Coral Reef Society and others helped the ministry compile the report.

The report shows that Japanese coral reefs have not yet recovered from extensive damage caused by a worldwide coral bleaching event in 1998. Bleaching occurs when coral loses its zooxanthellae, single-celled plants that convert sunlight into energy for the coral, due to dramatic environmental changes. The report suggests that rising ocean temperatures resulting from global warming are a major factor in the bleaching.

Since the damage in 1998, frequent coral bleaching events and damage caused by the rapidly-proliferating crown-of-thorns starfish feeding on coral have decreased the size of coral communities and decimated coral ecosystems. Coral coverage--the percentage estimated visually of total area that live coral covers a substrate, excluding mud and the sandy bottom--is also low: a survey conducted by Okinawa Prefecture in 2003 revealed that coral coverage exceeded 25 percent at only two sites out of 80 surveyed around Okinawa Island.

The ministry has also produced a Japanese version of the "Coral Reefs of Japan" and is distributing it to municipalities near coral communities, aiming to raise the public awareness of coral conservation and promote local conservation efforts.




Posted: 2004/11/22 11:53:19 AM
Japanese version