The Mesoamerican Barrier Reef By: Natasha Grech

FACTS It is under extreme threat The Mesoamerican reef spans over 900 kilometers It is home to over 65 species of stony coral and over 500 species of fish The reef gives protection from storms and costal erosion Costal societies depend on it for economic support, such as the tourism industry and fishing It is under extreme threat

SO WHAT ARE THE SEVERE THREATS TO THE CORAL OF THE MESOAMERICAN REEF AND WHAT CAN BE DONE TO SAVE THIS GIANT HABITAT?

Global warming Global Warming: “an increase in the earth's average atmospheric temperature that causes corresponding changes in climate and that may result from the greenhouse effect.” – Dictionary.com Global warming also causes more severe storms and a rise in water temperatures in oceans around the world This can be a major threat to the Mesoamerican barrier reef because higher water temperatures cause coral bleaching

What is Coral Bleaching? Coral bleaching: “Coral bleaching results when the symbiotic zooxanthellae (single-celled algae) are released from the original host coral organism due to stress” -Sciencedaily.com It is basically the loss of algae (zooxanthellae) that exists with the coral and provides it with food Without these essential zooxanthellae, the coral becomes a bleached or white colour because they are what provide the coral with much of their colour This occurs when ocean temperatures rise 2 – 3 degrees F in a shorter amount of time, because of global warming Once the coral expels the zooxanthellae, it will start to die from lack of nourishment if high temperatures continue

Impacts of Coral Bleaching Coral bleaching threatens all the organisms that depend on the reef: Species that use corals as a habitat and food (fish, mammoth whale shark, endangered salt water crocodile) Local communities that depend on the reef for food, income, and tourist businesses As well as, it weakens the reef, meaning less shoreline protection from storms and erosion Other impacts of coral bleaching are; a loss of coral islands, a decline in species diversity and changes in the overall reef communities

Fishing More aggressive fishing methods such as overfishing and cyanide fishing can harm coral reefs Fishermen use dynamite and inject cyanide into water because this is a simpler method of catching fish, but also severely damages coral A less obvious harmful fishing method is overfishing

Overfishing Overfishing: To much fishing resulting in the depletion of certain species in an area This can effect the reefs species biodiversity and ecological balance It causes a disruption in the natural underwater food chain. Taking one part out will effect all the other species as well In the Mesoamerican barrier reef, overfishing is depleting populations of lobster, conch, and finfish A possible solution for this is stricter control of fishing regulations in off-seasons and illegal fishing

Conservation - WWF Has worked with the Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras governments since the mid-1980’s to create marine reserves, protect and preserve the Mesoamerican reef system WWF has also implemented several public awareness campaigns Sea turtle conservation, fisheries management and marine protected areas WWF is researching the impact of climate change, altered rainfall and coral bleaching Has implemented the Mesoamerican Reef’s Marine Protected Areas Program Helps to protect the region’s resources for wildlife and local communities WWF collaborates with local fishermen to wipe out destructive fishing practices and implement sustainable ones

WWF – The Lobster Expedition One of the current conservation measures WWF is implementing is the Lobster Expedition This is to prevent the overfishing of lobsters – one of the most serious threats is the catch of juvenile lobsters which are illegal to catch under Honduran law WWF and Darden Restaurants worked together to test a more environmentally friendly lobster trap that lets the juvenile lobsters escape but catch the ones used in restaurants They conducted an experiment of 5 different fishing boats with 7 different trap designs The lobster trap they tested and perfected is now required for all lobster fishermen

References "The Atlantic Ocean's largest coral reef." WWF. Web. 7 July 2011. <www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/mesoamericanreef/ >. "WWF - Mesoamerican Reef - Surveying climate change impacts on Central America's coral reefs." World Wildlife Fund - Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/mesoamericanreef/surveyingclimatechangeimpacts.html> "Coral Reefs: Bleaching Impacts." Reef Resilience: Building Resilience into Coral Reef Conservation. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.reefresilience.org/Toolkit_Coral/C2c0_BleachImpacts.html> "Global warming | Define Global warming at Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Find the Meanings and Definitions of Words at Dictionary.com. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/global+warming> "Coral bleaching." Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/coral_bleaching.htm> "Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority :: What is Coral Bleaching." Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority :: Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/key_issues/climate_change/climate_change_and_the_great_barrier_reef/what_is_coral_bleaching> "Coral Reefs." Exploring the Environment. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/coralreef/CRanthro.html> "WWF - Mesoamerican Reef > The Lobster Expedition - The Lobster Expedition - Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras." World Wildlife Fund - Wildlife Conservation, Endangered Species Conservation. Web. 7 July 2011. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/mesoamericanreef/lobsterexpedition1.html>