Microplastics as a threat to coral reef environments: Detection of phthalate esters in neuston and scleractinian corals from the Faafu Atoll, Maldives

Coral reef environments support high levels of marine biodiversity, they are important sites for coastal habitation and they provide a range of goods and ecosystem services such as nearshore fisheries, economic revenue from tourism and breeding sites for seabirds and turtles. Mapping is a fundamental activity that underpins our understanding of coral reef environments and helps to shape policies in resource management and conservation. This is particularly the case for quantifying the area of landcover types associated with reef environments, including coral patches, seagrasses and mangroves, but also for monitoring how these change over time and modelling how spatial patterns apparent on reefs are related to environmental drivers. Field techniques and aerial photography have historically played a crucial role in mapping coral reef environments, which has recently seen a transition toward the processing of satellite remote sensing images. This paper examines a series of maps produced of Low Isles, the most mapped island on the Great Barrier Reef, to review historical methods for mapping coral reefs because of the critical importance of understanding how past maps were made, which determines appropriate uses to which they can be put. Recent advances and future opportunities for the application of mapping technologies to coral reefs are also evaluated, including the use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) platforms for airborne surveys, delivery of information through web-based platforms and improvements in the quality of information for making and presenting maps. Maps have transformed the way we have responded to both historic and contemporary coral reef problems. This timely review communicates how maps, and the fast growing technologies that are employed to produce them, are central to our understanding of coral reef environments. Recent advances that may drive exciting new environmental management tools are identified.

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Spatial distribution of the upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea sp. within fringing coral reef environments of the Northern Red Sea: implications for its life cycle

Helgoland Marine Research ◽

10.1007/s10152-009-0181-8 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 64 (4) ◽

pp. 281-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Wolfgang Niggl ◽

Christian Wild

Keyword(s):

Spatial Distribution ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Coral Reef ◽

Red Sea ◽

Reef Environments ◽

Northern Red Sea

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Marine reserves: How effective as management strategies for Philippine, Indonesian and Malaysian coral reef environments?

Ocean Management ◽

10.1016/0302-184x(86)90019-3 ◽

1986 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 137-159 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Alan T. White

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

Marine Reserves ◽

Management Strategies ◽

Reef Environments

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Spatial and temporal variability of benthic primary production in upwelling-influenced Colombian Caribbean coral reefs

10.7287/peerj.preprints.258 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Corvin Eidens ◽

Elisa Bayraktarov ◽

Valeria Pizarro ◽

Thomas Wilke ◽

Christian Wild

Keyword(s):

Coral Reef ◽

Primary Production ◽

Temporal Variability ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Scleractinian Corals ◽

Primary Producers ◽

Temporal Differences ◽

Natural Park ◽

Specimen Area ◽

Algal Turfs

In Tayrona National Natural Park (Colombian Caribbean), abiotic factors such as light intensity, water temperature, and nutrient availability are subjected to high temporal variability due to seasonal coastal upwelling. These factors are major drivers controlling coral reef primary production. This offers the opportunity to assess the effects of abiotic factors on key coral reef ecosystem services in terms of productivity. We therefore quantified primary net (Pn) and gross production (Pg) of the dominant local primary producers (scleractinian corals, macroalgae, algal turfs, crustose coralline algae, and microphytobenthos) at a water current/wave-exposed (EXP) and -sheltered (SHE) site in an exemplary bay of Tayrona National Natural Park. A series of short-term incubations was conducted to quantify O2 fluxes of the different primary producers before and at the end of the upwelling event 2011/2012. At the level of the organism, scleractinian corals showed highest Pn and Pg rates before upwelling (16 and 19 mmol O2 m-2 specimen area h-1), and corals and algal turfs dominated the primary production at the end of upwelling (12 and 19 mmol O2 m-2 specimen area h-1, respectively). At the ecosystem level, corals contributed most to total Pn (EXP: 81 %; SHE: 65 %) and Pg (EXP: 78 %; SHE: 55 %) before the upwelling, while at the end of the upwelling, corals contributed most to Pn and Pg only at EXP (73 and 75 %) and macroalgae at SHE (52 and 46 %, respectively). Despite the significant spatial and temporal differences in individual productivity of investigated groups and their different contribution to reef productivity, no spatial or temporal differences in daily ecosystem Pn and Pg were detected (194 – 218 and 311 – 409 mmol O2 m-2 seafloor area d-1). Our findings therefore indicate that local autotrophic benthic reef communities are well adapted to pronounced fluctuations of environmental key parameters. This might lead to a higher resilience against climate change consequences and anthropogenic disturbances.

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