Ayooshi Mitra, Amity University Kolkata
Over the past 20 years or more, there has been a lot of damage done to the corals, due to the warming of seas which led to bleaching (a process where corals lose their algal partners that are required for their survival). Corals have also been attacked due to the acidification of the oceans, oil spills, pollution, and other human activities, which generally harms their ability to build hard frames.
A recent study on corals has brought forward billions of colonies across the Pacific Ocean. Based on satellite data, headcounts, and informed estimates, the study proposes that there might not be an immediate threat of extinction of many species and with the help of the census, the conservationists and policymakers might be able to make better decisions on the protection of coral reefs.
In places such as the Caribbean, the numbers have fallen to such an extent, that currently, the extent of coral reefs is half than what used to be in the 1870s. it is even being said that coral reefs might be gone by 2100. In the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), about one-third of the 6000 known species of the world are on the Red List of threatened species.
The latest coral census covers a 10,000-kilometer stretch of ocean between Indonesia and French Polynesia. To determine the extent of coral reef habitat, the researchers used satellite images and maps of coral habitats. They also contained data on the coral cover on 900 reefs. The researchers calculated that each coral species has more than 100 million colonies based on these figures. About 60 species were counted in the billions. The world’s population of humans is outnumbered by eight species (7.8 billion). Even the rarest species numbered in the millions. These figures add up to about a half-billion corals, roughly equal to the number of birds on the planet and the number of trees in the Amazon.
The findings shed new light on existing conservation strategies. Even though the IUCN has classified 80 of the 318 species studied as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, 12 of those 80 have estimated populations exceeding one billion. The researchers hope that their research prompts a reconsideration of what declining abundance means for global extinction risk.
Also read:Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) technology is on the rise
Source: Pennisi E, (2021), “A half-trillion corals live in just one ocean. Does that mean they are safe?”, Science, doi:http://10.1126/science.abh3779
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