Reef invader: the crown of thorns starfish.Corals reefs are dying at an unprecedented rate, due in large part a brightly colored predatory invader. New studies by researchers at the Australian Research Council The Australian Research Council (ARC) is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University Situated in the tropical gardens of the campus, the halls of residence provide students with modern social and sporting facilities as well as the opportunity to choose between catered or self-catered accommodation. found that coral mortality is accelerating faster than at any point during the last 11,000 years. Reefs across the Indo-Pacific region are especially at risk. Along with bleaching and disease, the alien species known as the crown of thorns crown of thorns Christ thus ridiculed as king of Jews. [N.T.: Matthew 27:29; Mark 15:17; John 19:2–5] See : Mockery starfish is having a devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. impact on the Great Barrier Reef Great Barrier Reef, largest complex of coral reef in the world, c.1,250 mi (2,000 km) long, in the Coral Sea, forming a natural breakwater for the coast of Queensland, NE Australia. and other important coral formations. The starfish feeds off reefs by eating coral polyps Polyps A tumor with a small flap that attaches itself to the wall of various vascular organs such as the nose, uterus and rectum. Polyps bleed easily, and if they are suspected to be cancerous they should be surgically removed. and can wreak havoc on ecosystems. Just one specimen can consume 64 square feet of reef each year. Charles Birkeland, one of the world's foremost experts on the crown of thorns, has written that the animal "has been of greater concern for [reef] management ... than any other species of marine organism." Both Australia and Okinawa, Japan, which house some of the richest marine ecosystems on Earth, have been beset by crown of thorn infestations. Ecologists have rallied around removal efforts. But getting the predators out of the ocean is far from the main issue for reefs, says Robert Bolland, a marine biologist working at the University of Maryland's Okinawa campus. The outbreaks are "primarily a function of man's activity on land," he says, and to really assess the problem requires a broader perspective. Erosion and sediment runoff from agriculture chokes reefs. The crown of thorns has difficulty latching onto healthy reefs because active coral polyps are able to eat the starfish while they are still in larval larval 1. pertaining to larvae. 2. larvate. larval migrans see cutaneous and visceral larva migrans. form. Recent damage to reefs in the region has undermined reef health and resistance to infestation infestation /in·fes·ta·tion/ (-fes-ta´shun) parasitic attack or subsistence on the skin and/or its appendages, as by insects, mites, or ticks; sometimes used to denote parasitic invasion of the organs and tissues, as by helminths. . Bolland contends that simply concentrating on plucking the crown of thorns out of the water shifts the focus away from development's substantial role in the problem. Rates of recovery differ. After a major starfish outbreak in the 1970s, the Great Barrier Reef was able to bounce back well over the course of a few decades due to comprehensive management efforts. Other reefs still suffer, though, and Bolland is skeptical that Okinawa's weakened coral stands will rejuvenate any time soon. "In my lifetime, I'll never see live corals out here like I did 15 years ago," he says. CONTACT: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, (011)61-7-4781-4000, www.coralcoe.org.au. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion