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The Evolutionary Diversity and Ecological Complexity of Coral Reefs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2017

Nancy Knowlton  and
Jeremy Jackson
Nancy Knowlton
Affiliation:
Department of Invertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 20013 Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093
Jeremy Jackson
Affiliation:
Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Panama, Republic of Panama
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Abstract

Coral reefs are the most biodiverse marine ecosystems on the planet, with at least one quarter of all marine species associated with reefs today. This diversity, which remains very poorly understood, is nevertheless extraordinary when one considers the small proportion of ocean area that is occupied by coral reefs. Networks of competitive and trophic linkages are also exceptionally complex and dense. Reefs have a long fossil record, although extensive reef building comes and goes. In the present, coral reefs sometimes respond dramatically to disturbances, and collapses are not always followed by recoveries. Today, much of this failure to recover appears to stem from the fact that most reefs are chronically stressed by human activities, judging by observations of recovery at exceptional locations where local human activity is minimal. How long reefs can continue to bounce back in the face of warming and acidification remains an open question. Another big uncertainty is how much loss of biodiversity will occur with the inevitable degradation of coral reefs that will continue in most places for the foreseeable future.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Paleontological Society Papers , Volume 17: Corals and Reefs: Crises, Collapse and Change , October 2011 , pp. 111 - 120
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 by The Paleontological Society 

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