Confronting the coral reef crisis

D. R. Bellwood1, T. P. Hughes1,2, C. Folke3,4 & M. Nystrom3

The worldwide decline of coral reefs calls for an urgent reassessment of current management practices. Confronting large-scale crises requires a major scaling-up of management efforts based on an improved understanding of the ecological processes that underlie reef resilience. Managing for improved resilience, incorporating the role of human activity in shaping ecosystems, provides a basis for coping with uncertainty, future changes and ecological surprises. Here we review the ecological roles of critical functional groups (for both corals and reef fishes) that are fundamental to understanding resilience and avoiding phase shifts from coral dominance to less desirable, degraded ecosystems. We identify striking biogeographic differences in the species richness and composition of functional groups, which highlight the vulnerability of Caribbean reef ecosystems. These findings have profound implications for restoration of degraded reefs, management of fisheries, and the focus on marine protected areas and biodiversity hotspots as priorities for conservation.

Recommendations:

We conclude with four major recommendations for managing human activities in coral reef ecosystems. 

First, the rate of establishment and size of NTAs, as a tool for resilience management, needs to be hugely increased. In Australia, the expansion of NTAs in 2004 from 5% to 33% of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, with a parallel focus on improving water quality, provides a good model.  In the United States, in comparison, there are more modest plans to increase NTAs to incorporate 20% of reefs by 2010, a clear case of too little, too late. Currently, these two affluent nations are responsible for over two-thirds of the world’s coral reef Protected Areas. Elsewhere, developing countries are faced with a serious lack of resources, which limits the number, size and efficacy of NTAs and increases the likelihood of ‘paper parks’. International efforts in support of marine parks for promoting resilience need to be substantially expanded. 

Second, the focus on NTAs and hotspots must not be allowed to detract from the provision of improved management measures for the vast majority of reefs that are heavily affected by people. Unless we can achieve regional-scale active management of critical functional groups to support reef resilience, any small-scale successes within NTAs or by individual countries may be unable to stem the decline of reef systems as a whole. 

Third, reef management needs to be more inclusive, proactive and responsive. Governance systems should support ownership and empowerment of users as stewards of reef resilience, provide incentives for herbivore protection before—not after—stocks collapse, and implement flexible restrictions (for example, to enhance the protection of critical broodstocks during the vulnerable spawning period).

Fourth, markets for reef resources must be reformed to incorporate economic incentives that prevent exploitation of species in critical functional groups. Such action is unlikely to emerge from uninformed human preferences. Markets for reef resources urgently need to be framed by norms and rules (institutions), operating from local to global scales, that secure coral reef resilience and thereby promote a greater diversity of options for economic development. 

Developing new metrics for stewardship of coral reef resilience is vital for coping with uncertainty and surprise in a biosphere increasingly shaped by human action. In this context the focus, both within and outside NTAs, should shift from conservation of species to active management of critical functional groups that support important processes and sustain ecosystem services. Current aspirations towards sustaining fisheries need to fundamentally change their metrics from stock assessments to capturing the ecosystem performance and resilience that support long-term fisheries production. 

Ecosystem metrics for monitoring the status of coral reefs need to move beyond coral cover and counts of targeted species to include functional groups, functional redundancy and response diversity. In all of these endeavours, we are faced with a critical lack of knowledge. Our ability to continue to exploit coral reef resources will depend on an effective combination of science-based management, public support and political will. Clearly, successful management of coral reef ecosystems will also require courage, creativity and a willingness to move beyond traditional metrics, models and perceptions.

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