The research question explored herein is how to coral reefs function and what are their responses to environmental stressors such as increasing ocean temperatures and acidification. A related question is what, if anything, can be done to protect coral reefs from harmful environmental effects.
The function of coral reefs as described by Bellwood, Hughes, Folke, and Nystrom (2004) is to provide an ecosystem in which a wide variety of fish and flora live, feed, breed, and interact with each other. These ecosystems have been characterized by Bellwood, et al (2004) as vital to the maintenance of many different species. Coral, like fish, play multiple functional roles and support several different reef processes. They add to what Jackson (1997) characterized as a species-rich ecosystem that is vital for many different life forms. Essentially, reefs as discussed by Dean (2008), are integral to the complex ecology of ocean areas.
There is a growing body of evidence that a number of environmental stressors such as increased ocean temperatures, acidification, human activity, and even ecotourism are contributing to the stability of these ecosystems. Lyman (2006) stated that global warming has been instrumental in introducing new and highly damaging diseases in certain reefs such as those found in the Caribbean where other stresses include degraded water quality, nutrient runoff from agriculture human poaching, and boating accidents. Most significantly, the process of coral bleaching in which warm month increases in ocean temperatures lead to the loss of color in coral species contributes to their fragility and contributes for much of the decline in coral population (Lyman, 2006).
The reefs are also vulnerable, according to Hoegh-Guldberg, Mumby, Hooten, Steneck, Greenfield, and Gomez, et al (2007), to substantial increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration which is expected to reach 500 parts per million by 2...