Don't strain your voice, speak in a conversational way that will be comfortable for you and give us your views. STATEMENTS OF DR. DEBORAH SANTAVY, RESEARCH MICROBIOLOGIST, U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY, GULF BREEZE LABORATORY, GULF BREEZE, FL; DR. JAMES HAROLD HUDSON, REGIONAL BIOLOGIST, NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, KEY LARGO, FL; R. TUCKER SCULLY, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF OCEANS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, DC; WALTER C. JAAP, ASSOCIATE RESEARCH SCIENTIST, FLORIDA MARINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, ST. PETERSBURG, FL Dr. SANTAVY. Mr. Chairman, and members of the subcommittee, I thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today. The changing profiles of coral reef communities are evidence of the global decline in the quality of the world's oceans. Strong concerns are being voiced through symposia and workshops which report that the quality of coral reef environments is declining at unprecedented rates. However, at present, the data needed to confirm, quantify, and explain this trend on a scientific basis are lacking. Coral reef ecosystems, and neighboring mangrove and seagrass environments, are ecologically important and their loss or decline could result in irreversible changes that may permanently alter coastal oceanic processes. Coral reef communities are comprised of hard and soft corals, and populations of diverse assemblages of invertebrates, fish, algae, and benthic organisms. All of these organisms are necessary to maintain the ecological balance of the reef, and the disruption of certain components could permanently alter the entire ecosystem and result in eventual loss of the reef. Over the last decade, the coverage of hard corals in reef environments has been declining. Alarming increases in the incidence of coral diseases, physiological disorders, necroses, bleaching, and tumors has been recorded. These disorders have also be observed in other species of organisms on coral reefs. Declines in overall coral coverage, reduction in new recruitment, decline in reproductive capability, increases in incidence of diseased individuals, and decline in coral reef community populations have been documented in numerous geographic locations. Effects of global climate change and increased anthropogenic stresses induced by increased development in coastal regions are difficult to distinguish and often compounded. While there exists a great deal of knowledge regarding descriptive ecology for coral reef ecosystems, little data exists for interpreting natural disease processes and climatic and anthropogenicinduced stresses. The identification of potential causes and effects of habitat loss and species decline Mr. SCHEUER. Dr. Santavy, just a moment. Dennis Hertel had a very good idea. When the folks testify, come up here so you are facing the audience; would you like to do that? We can hear better and the audience can hear something. Dr. SANTAVY. Okay, I will come up and start from the beginning. The changing profiles of coral reef communities are evidence of the global decline in the quality of the world's oceans. Strong concerns are being voiced through symposia and workshops which report that the quality of coral reef environments is declining at unprecedented rates. However, at present, the data needed to confirm, quantify, and explain this trend on a scientific basis are lacking. Coral reef ecosystems and neighboring mangrove and seagrass environments are ecologically important, and their loss or decline could result in irreversible changes that may permanently alter coastal oceanic processes. Coral reef communities are comprised of hard and soft corals, populations of diverse assemblages of invertebrates, fish, algae, and benthic invertebrates. All of these organisms are necessary to maintain the ecological balance of the reef, and the disruption of certain components may permanently alter the entire ecosystem and result in eventual loss of the reef. Over the last decade, coverage of hard corals in reef environments has been declining. Alarming increases in the incidence of coral diseases, physiological disorders, bleaching, tumors, and necroses has been reported. These disorders have also been observed in other species of organisms on the coral reefs. Declines in overall coral coverage, reduction in new recruitment, decline in productive capability, increases in instances of diseased individuals, and decline in community populations has been documented in numerous geographic locations. Effects of global climate change and increased anthropogenic stresses induced by increased development in coastal reefs are difficult to distinguish and are often compounded. While there exists a great deal of knowledge regarding descriptive technology of the coral reef ecosystems, little data exists for interpreting natural disease processes and climatic and anthropogenic-induced stresses. The identification of potential causes and effects of habitat loss and species decline would involve sustained ecological research for long-term monitoring. The scientific community should integrate sustained ecological research with hypothesis-driven studies and international cooperation to effectively study and manage resources, as these systems are not closed within political boundaries. The agency has set many criteria for environmental concerns in different environments; for example, setting acceptable limits of pollutants. Unfortunately, simply applying these standards to coral reef environments may be inappropriate. Therefore, new, acceptable standards, levels of acceptable pollutants, and testing systems for coral reef echo systems may need to be considered in cooperation with qualified experts. This concludes my testimony. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss my views on research necessary to understand the issue of coral reef ecosystem decline. Thank you. [The prepared statement of Dr. Santavy follows:] TESTIMONY OF DEBORAH SANTAVY, PhD. GULF BREEZE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY SUBCOMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE, SPACE, AND TECHNOLOGY SUBCOMMITTEE ON OCEANOGRAPHY, GREAT LAKES COMMITTEE ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES APRIL 23, 1992 Thank you Mr. Chairman for the opportunity to testify before you today. My remarks are formulated as a result of my educational background and experience in coral reefs and the need to better understand the role these reefs play in estuarine and oceanic processes. The changing profiles of coral reef communities today represent one of the principal examples raised as evidence of the global decline in the quality of the world's oceans. Strong concerns are being voiced through several symposia and workshops which report that the environmental quality of coral reef ecosystems is declining at unprecedented rates (e.g., Workshop on Coral Bleaching, Diseases of Marine Organisms, 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, American Zoological Society). However, at present the data needed to confirm, quantify, or explain this trend on a definitive scientific basis are lacking. Coral reef ecosystems, and neighboring mangrove and seagrass environments, are ecologically important 2 ecosystems and their loss or decline could result in irreversible changes that would permanently alter coastal oceanic processes. Coral reef ecosystems are major contributors to subtropical and tropical marine coastal and oceanic processes. The hard corals, or scleractinia, sustain the architectural structure for reefs and provide habitats for many organisms at all trophic levels. However, hard coral populations define only one important component of the coral reef ecosystem. Coral reef communities are comprised of hard and soft corals, and populations of diverse assemblages of invertebrates, fish, algae, and benthic organisms. All of these organisms are necessary to maintain the ecological balance of the coral reef environment, and the disruption or loss of certain components of the community may permanently alter the entire ecosystem. Over the last decade the coverage of hard corals in reef environments has been declining at an unprecedented rate. Decline of both total coverage and species diversity is reported to occur at rapid rates. Alarming increases in the incidence of coral diseases, physiological disorders, necroses, bleaching, and neoplasms (tumors) has been reported from the United States and its territories, including the Florida Keys; Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. These disorders have been observed in the hard corals, but many other species of organisms in the coral reef ecosystem are vulnerable as well. Perhaps the most visible and dramatic example involves worldwide reports of coral bleaching (loss of obligate symbiotic algae) which, in some cases, has led to mass mortalities of corals and extensive habitat deterioration. The bleachings can - 3 represent severe stress resulting in death and degradation of the coral communities. Scientific observation supports the overall consensus of the scientific community that the 'health' or physiological state of the organisms comprising coral reefs is declining at an unprecedented rate in many places worldwide. Declines in overall coral coverage, reduction in new recruitment, decline in reproductive capability, increase in incidence of diseased individuals, and decline in reef community populations have been documented in numerous geographic locations over varying sampling periods. With the loss of key components of reef ecosystems or changes in environmental quality, such as water quality, increases in other types of organisms, for example fleshy algae, are often observed in concert with the decline in a typical coral reef community profile. Reports of vast tracts of dead reefs overgrown with algae have shown that the recovery of reef destruction has threshold effects: once the algal turf is established on dead coral reefs, the coral reef ecosystem usually does not recover. Perturbations disrupt the ability of the ecosystem to recover. It is unclear what all the causes are, but many experts believe that man-induced stresses, in concert with other variables, are responsible. Synergistic effects of global climate change and increased anthropogenic stresses resulting from increased development in coastal regions, for example in the Florida Keys, are difficult to discern and often compound the problem. While there is a great deal of knowledge regarding "descriptive" ecology |