Topic: Coral Reefs

Unlike coral reefs, which can protect wide swaths of the coast, mangroves protect the immediately adjacent shoreline.

The Belize Barrier Reef, the longest in the Western Hemisphere, shelters most of the windward coast of Belize.

The Reefs at Risk analysis produced a map-based indicator of potential threats to coral reefs.

Threatened Reefs:

Within the Reefs at Risk analysis, regional summary statistics were based on the regional groupings as presented in this map.

The development of a global system of marine protected areas (MPAs) lags far behind that of the terrestrial biosphere in both the extent and the effectiveness of its coverage.

An ideal assessment would examine conservation importance at both the species level (examining endemics and total species) and the ecosystem level (examining unique habitats).

As the map “Most areas with high reef fish species diversity are threatened . .

When corals undergo certain kinds of stress, much of the zooxanthellae – the symbiotic algae that provide coral polyps with nutrients – are expelled from the coral tissue.

The use of cyanide to stun and capture live coral reef fish began in the 1960s in the Philippines to supply the growing market for aquarium fish in Europe and North America, a market now worth more th

About 9 percent of the world’s mapped reefs are found in this region, most of which are located along the Central American coast and off the Caribbean islands.

Over 80 percent of the reefs in this region are at risk, and over half (56 percent) are at high risk.

The relative stability of St. Lucia’s shoreline was evaluated using the coastal protection framework developed by IMA and WRI.

The relative stability of Tobago’s shoreline was evaluated using the coastal protection framework developed by IMA and WRI.