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Coral Reef Ecosystems
Recent NCCOS Coral News
June 28, 2007: View results of deep–sea coral and sponge research at Olympic Coast National Marine SanctuaryU.S. coral reef ecosystems cover less than one percent of the earth’s surface (approximately 23,000 square miles), yet are among the most diverse and productive communities on Earth. They enhance biological diversity, fisheries, tourism, maritime and cultural heritage, and protect shorelines from storm damage. Stressed by human activities and extreme events, coral reefs are in decline worldwide. Excess nutrients and sediments, overfishing, coastal development, and increased coral bleaching threaten nearly 60 percent of the world’s reefs and the resources they support.
NCCOS is working to understand these problems and evaluate possible solutions by developing tools to effectively manage the uses of coral reef ecosystems. NCCOS data and models help coastal managers predict the impacts of alternative management decisions regarding marine protected areas, fishing regulations, recreation use, pollutants, and coastal development.
NCCOS also performs inventories, develops maps, and monitors coral reef ecosystems using computer and remote sensing technologies that inexpensively map coral reef ecosystems with increased speed and accuracy. Using these emerging technologies, NCCOS leads federal efforts to map U.S. coral reefs by 2010.
NCCOS administers the Hawaii Coral Reef Initiative, the National Coral Reef Institute, and the Caribbean Coral Reef Institute to examine threats to coral reefs including overfishing, sedimentation, urban runoff, eutrophication, algae blooms and introduced species.
Coral Reef Regional Ecosystem Studies, a new regional, long–term, ecosystem–level research program developed by NCCOS and the U.S. Department of the Interior, examines interactions between land–based activities and coral health. There are two CRES locations in the Caribbean and Micronesia.
Additionally, NCCOS organizes and coordinates U.S. scientific resources and assets to focus specifically on coral health issues. NCCOS scientists are developing diagnostic capabilities and determining biomolecular mechanisms of coral bleaching. This research will allow managers to forecast bleaching events and mitigate conditions that threaten coral health.
NCCOS is working with its partners within NOAA, other federal agencies, states, territories, commonwealths, universities, industry, and non–profit organizations to create coordinated long–term national programs to inventory species, assess conditions, monitor trends, and predict changes in US coral reef ecosystems. These programs provide decision-makers with key information to respond to changing environmental conditions.
More information
- Deep–sea Coral Research at Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary
- NOAA’s Coral Reef Ecosystem Research Plan for 2007-2011
- Applying Science to Manage and Protect Coral Reef Ecosystems (Fact Sheet)
- The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005: Second in a series of reports
- The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United Stated and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2002: First in a series of reports.
- NOAA First-Ever Biennial Report Addresses Condition of Coral Reefs
- Coral Reef Ecosystems of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands: Interim Results Emphasizing the 2000 Surveys (Report)
- National Center for Caribbean Coral Reef Research
To look up NCCOS projects about Coral Reefs, use the NCCOS Project Explorer (opens in a new window).
Related Topics
- Coral Reef Institute Partnerships
- NCCOS Reef Research Projects
- Other related information
- ReefFish database
- NOAA releases detailed maps of Coral Reefs in American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Press Release)
Download the Maps (from CCMA’s Biogeography website)
