Coral Health Depends On Ecosystem Management

Coral reefs suffer when the lands above them are disturbed, finds new research by scientists from Hawaii to Australia. Clearcut logging, farming and development lead to erosion and runoff that kills corals, making it just as important to manage the land above reefs as it is to protect them from overfishing, the scientists confirmed. Over six years, the researchers studied the connection between watersheds and adjacent coral reefs on three Micronesian islands - Palau, Guam and Pohnpei. The "Watersheds and Coral Reefs" study published in the current issue of "BioScience" magazine describes how multiple threats to reefs combine with lethal results. "It is clear that sustaining our coral reefs depends on how well we manage human impacts from the mountains to the sea," said Willy Kostka, a co-author of the study and director of the Micronesia Conservation Trust...