Shipwrecks 'destroying' natural coral reefs
Wednesday, 20 Aug 2008 08:36
Shipwrecks can lead to the destruction of native coral reefs
Science In Focus
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Shipwrecks on coral reefs can lead to the invasion of "unwanted species" and the destruction of all the native coral, a new report has said.
The report published in the journal PLoS ONE today suggests that the removal of these manmade structures is key to keeping the world's reefs healthy.
In many of the planet's oceans, coral reef health is declining and in the past their overgrowth by foreign species such as algae has been attributed to environmental degradation.
Research at the Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in the central Pacific, however, found that the wrecking of a 100ft vessel in 1991 has lead to the rapid growth of Rhodactis howesii, a species rare to the area.
The infestation has now begun to reach "catastrophic proportions", according to the report's lead author Dr Thierry Work.
"Why this phenomenon is occurring remains a mystery," said Dr Work.
He suggested that iron leaching from the ship and mooring buoy chains combined with other environmental factors may somehow be promoting the growth of Rhodactis.
"Given the ability of Rhodactis to rapidly reproduce and completely smother reefs, managers are now facing the possibility that even with removal of the ship, sheer reproductive capacity of R. howesii may continue to fuel its spread along the western reef shelf of Palmyra," Dr Work admitted.