World Bank has produced a memorandum titled "Tropical Forest and Wetland Voting Standards." Similar guidelines for projects affecting the marine environment, particularly coral reefs, were drafted but never implemented. This should be done and it should serve as an example for other countries who are voting significant shares of the multilateral development banks. In summary, coral reef research, as has been stated by all of you on the panel and my colleagues more eloquently than I, should be supported because of the need for management and conservation of these fragile systems, but most of all perhaps because they can help us to understand the dynamic functioning of the natural world upon which we as human society depend. It is fitting that the U.S. should lead this effort, but it is critical that our plans be international in scope and involve research, management and economics. Thank you very much. [The prepared statement of Dr. Ogden follows:] TESTIMONY ON RESEARCH AND MONITORING NEEDS FOR CORAL REEF ECOSYSTEMS Presented to the Subcommittee on Environment, Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Oceanography, Great Lakes and Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries By: John C. Ogden, Director 830 First Street South St. Petersburg Florida 33701 USA On behalf of: American Institute of Biological Sciences Washington DC 20001-4521 USA and International Society for Reef Studies E.P.H.E., Universite de Perpignan 23 April 1992 Key Largo Sheraton Hotel Testimony of Dr. John C. Ogden, Florida Institute of Oceanography, Key Largo Sheraton Hotel, 23 April 1992. Coral reefs, with tropical forests, are among the most biologically diverse communities on earth and serve humankind with opportunities for science and commerce. For many nations they are among the most important natural resources, holding the key to future economic development. There is a world-wide perception that coral reefs are in decline and that the causes are related to natural resource exploitation and the accumulating stresses emanating from steadily increasing coastal human populations. Our future understanding of coral reefs requires research programs that are large enough in geographic and time scale to encompass the range of natural variation of these communities upon which human impacts are superimposed. Just as corals and coral reefs have served as sensitive indicators of past environmental conditions, coral reefs may be the first biotic communities to respond to future climate changes. We have an obligation to apply the best available scientific information to immediate efforts to conserve coral reefs while setting up research programs that will help to adjust and improve our management of them in the future. It is fitting that these hearings are taking place in the Florida Keys, the site of newest and largest marine sanctuary in the U.S. and among only three with significant coral reef resources. The effort to develop its research and management plan, involving unprecedented coordination and integration of Federal, State, and private agencies, will guide the protection of coral reefs elsewhere in the U.S. and its territories. In addition, these efforts are taking place on a international stage which the world is watching to find if a wealthy and powerful nation can exert the political will and apply its capabilities in science and technology to preserve coral reefs for sustainable use. Below I have outlined several critical features of coral reefs and two broad approaches to research and conservation that may help to guide the efforts of the Congress to understand and preserve these beautiful and sensitive ecosystems. II. Coral reefs are only one element of a complex mosaic of ecosystems, including forested land margins, mangroves, and seagrasses, that interact in an interdependent "tropical seascape." Research is needed that addresses the seascape as a whole. Coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves exist in a dynamic equilibrium influenced by contact with land (Figure 1). Sediments and nutrients carried by freshwater runoff are first filtered out by coastal forests, then by mangrove wetlands, and finally by seagrass beds. The existence of coral reefs is directly dependent upon the buffering capacity of the shoreward coastal ecosystems. Coral reefs, in turn, buffer the influence of the open ocean on the land. In addition to these physical interactions, the systems Testimony of Dr. John C. Ogden, Florida Institute of Oceanography, Key Largo Sheraton Hotel, 23 April 1992. are linked biologically by daily migrations of organisms from one system to another, by the use of seagrasses and mangroves as "nurseries" for reef-dwelling adult organisms such as fishes and lobsters, and by particulate and dissolved material used as food. Figure 1: Schematic representation of interactions between the principal coastal ecosystems of the Caribbean (after Ogden 1987). Ironically, deforestation of tropical watersheds also destroys coral reefs, clouding the clear waters with sediment, cutting reefs off from essential sunlight, and delivering excesses of land-based nutrients from soils, sewage and agriculture which pollute coral reefs. Preservation of coastal forest margins as a buffer is particularly critical (Figure 2). Figure 2: The average coral cover on the reefs around Ishigaki Island, Ryukyus, Japan illustrating the enhancement of coral cover on nearshore coral reefs when forested land margins are maintained (after Kuhlmann 1988). Testimony of Dr. John C. Ogden, Florida Institute of Oceanography, Key Largo Sheraton Hotel, 23 April 1992. III. Coral reef ecosystem research and monitoring programs should be international, long-term, and regional in geographic scale in order to discriminate between natural cycles of change and human impact. Research should be based at existing institutions and apply the best available technology in automated environmental monitoring and remote sensing. The impacts on coral reefs of a rapidly expanding human population are superimposed upon natural phenomena such as hurricanes (Kjerfve et al., 1986; Woodley et al., 1981), cold and hot weather events, diseases (Gladfelter 1982), mass mortalities (Lessios et al., 1984) and population explosions. Distinguishing the effect of human impacts from natural events can be difficult, but is critical to our understanding of coral reef function and eventual management. There is also evidence of synergistic interactions between the two. For example, when corals bleached throughout the Caribbean, there was speculation that corals under stress from terrestrial sediment input showed a greater tendency to bleach. Other sublethal stresses may be similarly magnified by natural impacts. Population growth rate is increasing rapidly, and lands are being cleared and developed at an ever-increasing rate. Therefore, damage and destruction of coastal habitats, as well as urbanization and pollution are expected to reduce the quality of coastal waters, while in many areas fisheries production is already approaching maximal levels or is over-exploited. We lack long-term information about even the most basic physical parameters, such as seawater temperature. Although elevated water temperature is most suspected as the cause of the coral bleaching which first attracted attention in 1987 (Williams et al., 1987), no continuous records of temperatures could be found in the Caribbean and only a few in Florida with the exception of sea surface temperatures from the NOAA SST satellite, which are of limited use in the coastal zone. With the increased concern about global warming and the effects of sea level rise on coastal ecosystems (Buddemeier and Smith 1988), the need for basic environmental monitoring has become acute. We have an opportunity to apply our technology in automated monitoring and remote sensing to discover long-term patterns of environmental variation and their impact on coral reefs. Sub-regions of the global oceans, such as the Caribbean Sea, interconnected by ocean currents have a relatively uniform marine biota living under a variety of environmental conditions. Research should be aimed at regional comparative studies of a wide variety of coral reefs sites where the ecosystem structure differs and the magnitude of human impact varies. In this way it should be possible to identify general principles of ecosystem function and interaction, make predictions about other coastal areas, and institute scientifically-based management plans. |