Download Science and management of coral reefs: problems and prospects

Coral Reefs (1995) 14:17%181
Coral Reels
9 Springer-Verlag 1995
Perspective
Science and management of coral reefs:
problems and prospects
S. M. Wells
UNDP/GEF Coastal Zone Management Project, P.O. Box 1884,BelizeCity, Belize,Central America
Accepted: 27 June 1995
Introduction
The role of science in the management of natural resources
has been discussed in a number of recent publications
(Bernal and Holligan 1992; Ehrlich and Dailey 1993;
Healey and Hennessey 1994; Levin 1993; Ludwig et al.
1993; Williams 1994) and research priorities have been
hotly debated among reef scientists. Opinions span a
continuum of views between two extremes. On the one
hand, some scientists, such as Ludwig et al. (1993), have
suggested that research is of little relevance to people
dependent on scarce resources, particularly in crowded
developing countries, and that the main constraints to
successful management are political and socio-economic.
Conversely, as Wilkinson (1993) has pointed out, others
feel that more research is necessary before appropriate
strategies and policies can be fully developed and refined.
At the base of many of these opinions is the growing
concern among both scientists and managers that, despite
an increase in scientific knowledge, there appear to be
many more management failures than successes.
Part of the problem is the long-standing dichotomy
between pure (or academic) research and applied research,
a dichotomy that is not restricted to reef science (Harmon
1994). Increasingly, however, the boundaries between these
are blurred with pure research leading to the development
and testing of methods and hypotheses that are subsequently used by applied scientists to provide information
for management. Nevertheless, there may be a conflict
with the manager. The fundamental scientific principle
that no hypothesis is ever absolutely proven frequently
conflicts with the manager's need for clear and conclusive
results with which to justify his or her actions. Scientists
and managers tend to work at different confidence levels;
scientists require a confidence level of 95-99%, whereas
70-80% may be perfectly adequate for managers, given
financial and time constraints (Wilkinson 1993).
Despite these obstacles, few people would contest the
notion that many aspects of sound reef management are
based on research, whether applied or pure, and that
numerous existing research programmes have important
management applications for the future.
Scientific studies over the last few decades have identified the major factors that can induce change in coral
reefs (e.g. reviews by Hatcher et al. 1989; Grigg and
Dollar 1991; Richmond 1993; Sebens 1994). There is fairly
widespread consensus that the impacts causing greatest
degradation are human-induced activities that result in
nutrification, over-exploitation and sedimentation, as well
as ENSO warming events and storm-induced waves
(Ginsburg 1994). Studies on natural hazards, sea level
change and climate change on coral reefs, and the
development of techniques such as sclerochronology, have
been central in providing managers and policy makers
with an understanding of the geological history of reefs
and their responses over time (Buddemeier 1993), which is
essential to the development of appropriate management
strategies.
The current focus on integrated coastal zone management in the tropics has been in part stimulated by research
on the impacts of sediments (Rogers 1990), nutrients
(Tomascik and Sander 1985; Maragos et al. 1985), and
land-based sources of pollution on corals. Research on the
relationships between corals and their zooxanthellae, on
the role of nitrogen and phosphorus in calcification, and
on other aspects of coral growth and physiology (Kinsey
and Davies 1979; Belda et al. 1993) is fine-tuning this
knowledge. The technology necessary to halt many of
these impacts is now largely available as a result of such
findings, even if its use is often hampered by lack of trained
and experienced personnel and funding: examples include
engineering techniques that minimize run-offand siltation,
and sewage disposal methods that reduce nutrient enrichment, such as dry composting toilets and open ocean deep
outfalls.
Although the division between pure and applied
research is particularly evident in the field of fisheries
science, research on the nature and diversity of reef
resources has been instrumental in helping managers to
recognise that the traditional single species approach is not
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appropriate. Recent research has provided evidence that
marine sanctuaries in which fishing is prohibited can play
a major role in reef fisheries management (e.g. Polunin and
Roberts 1993; Russ et al. 1993; Watson and Ormond
1994). Demonstrations of the robust and dynamic nature
of some reef communities have helped to show that under
certain circumstances reef restoration may be feasible (e.g.
Guzman 1991; Clark and Edwards 1993), a concept that a
few years ago might not even have been considered.
Scientists have also been responsible for the development of surveying and monitoring methods that are being
applied in management programmes, and have led the
search for common methodologies that can be used on a
worldwide scale. The involvement of social scientists in
reef research has also led to greater attention being paid to
economic issues (e.g. Hodgson and Dixon 1988), and to
new approaches to reef management, such as community
participation (e.g. White et al. 1994). Perhaps of greatest
importance is the role that reef scientists have played and
continue to play in education and training, providing
future generations with the knowledge and skills to carry
out good management or appropriate research.
Current research priorities for management
Reef research priorities have been discussed at many
meetings, both scientific and management, in recent years
including those convened by the European Union (Davies
et al. 1992), the International Center for Living Aquatic
Resources Management (ICLARM) (Munro and Munro
1994), the 4th World Congress on National Parks and
Protected Areas (Wells 1994), the International Council of
Scientific Unions (ICSU) / Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) (Done et al. in press)
and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI 1995).
Jeremy Woodley's 1988 conclusion that "explanations lag
behind the events, and we are a long way from prediction
or control" is apposite. Both prediction and control are
essential for good management, and research directed at
providing the necessary knowledge is still a high priority.
Science can help to reduce uncertainty in the outcome of
management actions and improve the range and selection
of management approaches.
Increasing basic knowledge
Good management decisions require sound scientific data,
providing information on what to manage, for what purpose, and in what order or priority. The various regional
and international databases, such as ICLARM's ReefBase, are already revealing the extent to which baseline
information is lacking.
A ranking of priority sites for reef (and other habitat)
conservation has long been in demand by aid agencies and
conservation bodies, at national, regional and international levels, but efforts towards this have been hampered
by the poor information base. Internationally recognised
criteria have been drawn up for the selection of protected
areas, but using them objectively is often impossible
because of the lack of data on parameters such as diversity,
endemism, representativeness, or uniqueness. Reliable
estimates of species diversity in the marine environment
are not yet available, and the concept of prioritising 'hotspots' of high diversity, an approach used in the terrestrial
environment (e.g. Pressey et al. 1993), may not be suitable.
The reefs of South-east Asia have the highest species
diversity, but it would clearly not be appropriate to focus
all reef management efforts in this part of the world.
Part of the solution is further descriptive research to
determine the biota of reefs and their adjacent habitats.
Such information is basic to both pure and applied science
and it is unfortunate that taxonomic work and the preparation of inventories are currently often ranked low in the
hierarchy of research topics for funding and support.
Programmes such as Systematics Agenda 2000, which has
the ambitious objectives of discovering, describing and
classifying the world's species, have been proposed to
counteract this attitude. Further work is needed on the
interactions between reefs, mangroves and seagrasses,
how sediments are buffered, and the movements of organisms between these interlinked habitats. Integrated coastal
zone management is now a guiding principle, but a full
understanding of the dynamics and interlinkages within
the coastal zone is still lacking.
The current interest in biodiversity and its role in ecosystem function may also stimulate relevant studies. Great
geographical variety has been found in the structure of reef
communities, with steep gradients in species diversity both
latitudinally and longitudinally, but it is not clear how this
affects the functioning of reefs. Although species diversity
is much lower in, for example, French Polynesia and
Hawaii than in Southeast Asia and the West Pacific (even
to the extent of a total absence of certain taxa such as
crinoids), thriving reefs still exist. Similarly there is little
evidence that net calcification rates differ significantly on
reefs having widely different numbers of coral species; and
the relationship between productivity and biodiversity is
similarly poorly understood (Done et al. in press).
At the same time, loss of certain reef species, such as
those primarily responsible for calcification or controlling
algal cover, can have a major impact on reef health and
functioning. A greater understanding of these keystone
species, which include urchins, herbivores and certain
predators, is essential, so that management can be directed
towards safeguarding the critical ecological processes that
are necessary for the growth and health of reefs (Agardy
1994).
One process which is clearly crucial is dispersal and
recruitment of reef organisms. Very little is known about
source areas for larvae and whether some reefs act as
'stepping stones' for species dispersal. If reefs do not reseed themselves, larval dispersal needs to be tracked so
that reefs 'up-stream' can be identified and protected as
appropriate, and reefs down-stream can be considered in
the light of the fact that they may need replenishment from
elsewhere. Linked to this is the need for further research on
the population genetics of reef organisms to determine
their origins and the spatial boundaries of populations.
For example, recent work on giant clams suggests that
there may be three distinct genetic populations for each
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species within the Pacific and that conservation measures
will need to address each population (Benzie 1992). The
genetics of corals and their zooxanthellae has scarcely been
touched upon, but an understanding of this may be essential to interpreting the susceptibility of corals to bleaching
and a whole range of stressors. New molecular and genetic
techniques that are becoming increasingly available may
mean that rapid progress can be made on this front
(Buddemeier and Fautin 1993).
Management priorities for individual species are often
dictated by their economic importance, which has tended
to mean that most attention has been directed towards
those that are commercially valuable and that are, or at
least in past have been, abundant. However, further work
is also needed on the role of rare species which may not
appear to have ecological importance on the reef. Veron
(1992) and McAllister et al. (1994) have shown that many
coral and fish species may be 'rarer' and have more
localised distributions than previously thought, and
Carlton (1993) suggests that extinctions of rare species in
the marine environment can easily be over-looked.
Better evidence for environmental change
and its causes and consequences
Many uncertainties are involved in the interpretation of
the history of a reef and in the prediction o fits future. Data
showing how both natural events and human activities
affect the health of a reef is vital for the reef manager for
several reasons.
1. If the cause of change on a reef is not known, finding
the correct management solution is difficult. If changes are
due to 'natural events' the management approach will be
different from that used if the cause is human-induced and
can therefore be reversed by changing people's behaviour.
In practice, many changes are due to a combination of
factors which further complicates the management approach.
2. Environmental lmpact Assessments (EIAs), damage
mitigation and insurance cases increasingly require 'proof
that a reef has been or will be damaged through a certain
impact. EIAs, now a legal requirement before any development in many countries, need good science and accessible
data.
3. Good scientific data are important to convince policy
makers, funding agencies, and society in general that
management is necessary. If the observed changes are of
no particular consequence, either ecologically or economically, it may not be worth putting time and money into
management.
Finding the cause of change on a reef is often only possible
through longterm monitoring or ecological research
studies, such as the work carried out since the 1970s on the
Jamaican reefs by Hughes (1994). Hughes showed that
reef decline was the result of the combined impact of
overfishing (particularly of herbivorous fish), hurricane
damage and urchin disease. The management solution in
this case would be to increase populations of herbivorous
fish and/or urchins which would allow coral recruitment to
increase. This could be achieved by controlling overfishing, or through a more interventionist approach such
as restocking.
Certain types of impact are still poorly understood,
often because their effects are unpredictable. For example,
oil spills sometimes have serious longterm effects on coral
communities and reef growth (Guzman et al. 1994), but in
other cases there may not appear to be any significant
damage (Downing and Roberts 1993; Vogt, this issue). If
oil spill contingency planning is to be successful and costeffective, better knowledge of these issues is required.
Similarly the impacts of chemical pollution, heavy metals
and other such pollutants need further study.
A better understanding of how much use or disturbance
a reef can sustain before major changes occur would also
contribute to better management. The 'carrying capacity'
of a reef (and any other ecosystem) would seem to be a
useful concept but has proved difficult to measure; it is
generally easier to see where carrying capacity has been
exceeded, and a reef has declined beyond the limits of
acceptable change, than to identify the point where optimum use is being made. Studies on the physiological
tolerance to pollutants and sediments are urgently required for common species at different life stages. Also
needed is the development of methodologies for the assessment of reef 'health', such as the identification of appropriate bioindicators and bioassay procedures that will
assess sublethal effects. In particular, there is a need to
know how settlement and recruitment are affected by
pollutants. Such information will help show changes in
reef condition at a sufficiently early stage for managers to
take corrective action. It will provide information on the
long term dynamics of a reef and whether its regeneration
will occur in a time scale relevant to society (Brown and
Howard 1985).
Advocacy for better reef management still lacks good
information that will convince policy and decision makers.
It is now clear that although the main causes of damage to
reefs are relatively well known, information on the global
extent of reef degradation is still very poor (Ginsburg
1994). Broad scale rapid ecological assessments, combined
with monitoring programmes, are essential before such
information can be gathered. Ideally, assessments should
be more than snapshots in time but also take into account
the recent past history of a given reef (Grigg, this issue). If
the methods are appropriately designed, this type of
programme will go a long way towards answering
questions such as which reefs are still relatively
unimpacted and whether some reefs are more vulnerable
than others. Well-presented scientific documentation of
impacts, which predict the course events could take and
indicate methods of control, are also essential, DawsonShepherd et al. (1992; 1994) illustrate how this can be
achieved in the context of an evaluation of the impact of
coral mining in the Maldives.
Development of more science-based management
procedures and of methods to evaluate their effectiveness
Several aspects of reef management could benefit from
advice and input from scientists. For example, although
180
the scientific rationale for marine reserves is now being
studied (e.g. Polunin and Roberts 1993; Roberts and
Polunin 1993), many questions remain unanswered.
Information is still needed on optimum and minimum
sizes, shape, and location (particularly in relation to ocean
currents and the dispersal patterns of species) of protected
areas, on the effectiveness of core, buffer and other zoning
strategies, on seasonal or rotational harvesting closures,
and on the effectiveness of protected areas in promoting
the recovery of depleted reef resources and restoration of
habitat. This will require detailed studies on the population dynamics of species within the protected area,
including rates and direction of movement of different life
stages across the boundaries, as well as on human activities
within the area.
The high species diversity and spatial heterogeneity of
reef fisheries suggest that they require different management approaches from those used in other fisheries.
Research on reef fish is still largely concerned with
understanding qualitative patterns (such as the role of
recruitment in determining the distribution of a species),
rather than on obtaining quantitative information about
ecological processes that could be incorporated into stock
assessments and models. Furthermore, many fish ecologists have focused on the small, easily observed, less
mobile species such as damselfish, whose behaviour and
ecology often differ greatly from that of commercial
species (Medley et al. 1993). With the exceptions of a few
species such as spiny lobsters and giant clams, research
directed at understanding the impact of exploitation of
reef invertebrates is particularly sparse (Jamieson 1993).
For example, few data are available on which to base
strategies for coral harvesting and it is a controversial issue
as to what extent corals can be exploited and still fulfil their
ecological functions on a reef (Wells et al. 1994).
In addition to further work on reproductive biology,
population dynamics and genetics of commercially important species, a more manipulative and experimental
approach to fisheries research has also been advocated
(Medley et al. 1993). The concept of adaptive management, which has recently been promoted particularly in
the context of fisheries management (Ludwig et al. 1993;
Medley et al. 1993), provides a good framework in which
scientists and managers can work together. This requires
the setting up of management measures in such a way that
their efficacy can be objectively tested through experiment,
and the creation and maintenance of a feedback loop
between the scientist and the manager, so that measures
and goals can be revised according to new information
about environmental and social changes.
There are many instances of management actions providing natural 'experiments', or scientific research leading
to recommendations that could be tested in a management
setting. Greater advantage should be taken of these
opportunities. For example, work by Grigg et al. (1984) in
French Frigate Shoals suggested that, to achieve greater
yield, reefs could be harvested at lower levels in the food
chain, or that the top predators could be cropped to release
predator-pressure on selected prey. These recommendations have not been tested, although some studies show
that loss of certain predators on a reef may lead to
deleterious shifts in reef community resulting in loss of
productivity (Roberts in press).
Similarly, there are few scientific studies evaluating the
success of management measures. There is an important
role for researchers in testing different approaches and
techniques, particularly where there may be a choice between various options. Measurements of the 'success' of
particular management strategies would involve a number
of parameters such as changes in reef condition, reef
resource abundance and yields, and the income and
quality of life of people dependent on reefs. Such critical
appraisals would provide guidelines and feedback for
future management, and a better understanding of how
management affects the direction and processes of natural
change.
Conclusion
It should be recognised that many principles of reef
management do not need further research, as they involve
changing human behaviour and activities in order to
remove or reduce impacts on reefs. Much of the time of a
reef manager is taken up with social, economic and
political issues: the integration of reef management into
broad coastal zone management objectives; the development of community participation and co-management;
and the organisation of training and education pro-grammes
so that people in countries where reefs are located are able to
take responsibility for their sustainable management.
Perhaps the main obstacle to be overcome is poor
communication (Harmon 1994). Many reef scientists are
already strongly convinced of the need to communicate
their results and the implications of these for management
and conservation policy (Hatcher et al. 1989), but they
may however need to understand that reef managers are
not always able or willing to act on their advice because of
political, economic or social factors.
Pure research is increasingly being conducted within a
framework of goals identified as important to society.
Funding is invariably easier to obtain if it can be demonstrated that the research will have some ultimate benefit in
management terms, and much research is being commissioned because of the need for practical solutions. As the
complexity of management becomes more apparent and
managers themselves call for more scientific support and
advice, the role that science has to play in perceiving
and defining problems, understanding the mechanisms
involved and strategically assessing potential solutions,
becomes more central. Often, only a slight adjustment to a
project is required in order for data to be collected that is of
direct value to a reef manager. Partnerships built between
scientists and managers engaged in adaptive management
efforts may lead to more rapid progress in managing reefs
and may banish the 'science and management' dichotomy
once and for all.
Acknowledgements. I am very grateful to the following persons for
stimulating discussionson this topic and for helpfulcommentson the
manuscript: Barbara Brown,Rick Grigg, Peter Jones, CallumRoberts
and Phil Sollins.
181
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