• Overfishing and pollution have driven massive and accelerating decreases in abundance of coral reef species and have caused global changes in reef ecosystems over the last two centuries. If these trends continue, coral reefs will decline further, resulting in the loss of biodiversity and economic value (8, 9, 14).
• Outbreaks of coral bleaching have greatly increased in frequency and magnitude over the past 30 years, and are tightly linked to increases in temperature. A similar increase has occurred in coral disease (7, 8, 9).
• Projected increases in carbon dioxide and temperature over the next 50 years exceed the conditions under which coral reefs have flourished over the past half million years (10, 11, 14, 16).
• The accelerating rate of environmental change diminishes the evolutionary capacity of many coral species to adapt (6, 8).
• Global warming is not an all-or-none scenario for coral reefs. Reefs will change rather than disappear entirely. The challenge is to work out how, why, and what the consequences will be in relation to the other problems faced by coral reefs (1, 3, 6, 7, 8, 16).
• Current management strategies need to be vigorously implemented and complemented by strong policy decisions to reduce the rate of global warming. International and national integration of reef management strategies is an urgent priority (2, 5, 13).
• Marine protected areas are currently the best management tool for preserving coral reefs, especially for extractive activities such as fishing. To be effective, 30 - 50% of the available reef area should be no-take (no fishing) for long-term protection of coral reefs and their services (2, 3, 9, 17).
• No-take reserves are a powerful tool, but they can only work if combined with effective management of surrounding areas. This requires a strong focus on supporting reef resilience, which involves reducing pollution, protecting food webs and managing key functional groups (such as herbivores) as insurance for sustainability (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13).
• Coral reefs are the global canaries, as they are already showing rapid responses to climate change at the global scale. Scientists, managers and policy makers can use reefs to examine the effectiveness of international attempts to understand and respond to the impact of global warming (1, 7, 11).
• The maintenance of reef structures requires that rates of reef growth balance rates of erosion. Future changes in ocean chemistry due to higher carbon dioxide may cause dissolution or weakening of the limestone that makes reefs (1, 3, 10, 14,16).
• Coral reefs support social and economic development and therefore need to be sustained. To achieve this goal there is a clear need to reduce the rate of global warming (5, 17).

Signatories:

1. Dr. David Bellwood (Fish Ecologist), Director Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity, James CookUniversity, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 4781 4447. Email: David.bellwood@jcu.edu.au

2. Dr. Margaret Card (Environmental Manager). Environmental Protection Agency, Townsville, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 47225201. Email: Margaret.card@epa.qld.gov.au

3. Dr. Sean R. Connolly (Ecological Modeller & Marine Ecologist), James Cook University,AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 4781 4242. Email: sean.connolly@jcu.edu.au

4. Dr. Patty Debenham (Marine Science Communicator), SeaWeb, California, USA. Ph: 1 415 771 5757. Email: pdebenham@seaweb.org

5. Prof. Carl Folke (Ecological Economist), Swedish Academy of Sciences/Stockholm University, SWEDEN. Ph: 46 8 164 248. Email: calle@system.ecology.su.se

6. Prof. Rick Grosberg (Evolutionary Ecologist), University of California, Davis, USA. Ph. 1 530 752 1114. E-mail: rkgrosberg@ucdavis.edu

7. Prof. Ove Hoegh-Guldberg (Coral Physiologist/Ecologist), University of Queensland, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 3365 4333. Email: oveh@uq.edu.au

8. Prof. Terry Hughes (Coral Ecologist), James Cook University, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 4781 4222. Email: terry.hughes@jcu.edu.au

9. Prof. Jeremy Jackson (Ecologist and Geologist), Scripps Institution of Oceanography, USA. Ph: 1 619 822 2432. Email: jbjackson@ucsd.edu

10. Dr. Joanie Kleypas (Geologist/Ocean Chemist), National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA. Ph: 1 303 497 1316. Email: kleypas@ncar.ucar.edu

11. Dr. Janice M. Lough (Climatologist), Australian Institute of Marine Science, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 4753 4248. Email: j.lough@aims.gov.au

12. Dr. Paul Marshall (Marine Park Manager), Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 7 4750 0771. Email: p.marshall@gbrmpa.gov.au

13. Dr. Magnus Nyström (Ecosystems Ecologist), Stockholm University, SWEDEN. Ph: 46 8 16 17 47. Email: magnusn@system.ecology.su.se

14. Dr. John Pandolfi (Coral Reef Paleontologist), Smithsonian Institution, USA. Ph: 1 202 357 2406. Email: Pandolfi.John@nmnh.si.edu

15. Dr. Peter Pockley (Science Writer & Broadcaster), NSW, AUSTRALIA. Ph: 61 (0) 2 9660 6363. Email: scicomm@ozemail.com.au

16. Dr. Brian Rosen (Coral Paleontologist/Biogeographer), The Natural History Museum, UK. Ph: 44 20 7942 5584. Email: B.Rosen@nhm.ac.uk

17. Prof. Joan Roughgarden (Ecological Theoretician and Marine Biologist), Stanford University, USA. Ph: 1 650 723-3648. Email: rough@pangea.stanford.edu

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