Marine Ecosystems

Coral reefs are located mainly by the coasts in places such as Indonesia, Australia, Africa and USA. There is a big concentration in southeast Asia and north Australia. There is also a high concentration in the Caribbean.What are coral reefs?Reefs are massive deposits of calcium carbonate (CaC03). There are 3 types of coral reefs; Fringing reefs - occur adjacent to a land mass and are separated from it by a narrow lagoon eg. St Lucia, Tobago Barrier reefs - larger, separated from adjacent land by deeper, larger lagoon eg. Great Barrier Reef Atolls - ring shaped reefs which enclose a lagoon rising out of very deep water far from land eg. Maldives Why are coral reefs valuable? Home to 25% of all known marine fish Protects shorelines from erosion Supply food to local communities Fishing Sources of medicine Aquarium trade Shells/black corals used for jewellery Source of lime for cement Ideal habitats for scientific research Tourism - in 2000, 150 million people visited coral reefs Factors threatening coral reefs: Development Natural disasters Poulltion - oil spills Global warming - increased sea level rise - coral can't survive Temperature change Ocean acidification - acidic sea dissolves reef Tourism Overfishing Population increases Mining

Palau's Coral Reef:Where is Palau and how does it use its coral reefs? North Pacific North of Papua New Guinea Scuba diving and tourism 13,000 residents Supports 500 species of coral and 2000 species of fish How are Palau's coral reefs being threatened and what are the impacts? Temperature rise Mangroves prevent sediment getting into reef and killing coral - lots of mangroves being cut down Tourists diving with jellyfish - kills jellyfish that are important for ecosystems Overfishing - dynamite fishing - catches fish that are too small to eat and then left to die Tourists - take parts of coral reef as souvenirs Road building - cutting down mangroves - heavy rain washing sediment into reefs, killing reefs Climate - coral bleaching

Protected Area Network:The scheme compliments the goals of the Micronesia Challenge that aims to have each country within Micronesia conserve 30% of near shore environments and 20% of terrestrial environments by 2020Green Fee - $15 fee collected from visitors to Palau on departure from airport. Fee is used for management of PAN sites5 PAN sites:Terrestrial; Ngardok Nature Reserve Mesekelat Conservation Area (Ngchesar) Ngerbekuu Nature Reserve and Ngemai Conservation Area Marine; Ebill Conservation Area Helen Reef Atoll Watershed Management:Since the bleaching event of 1998, greater awareness of ecosystem connectivity has developed. Creation of Babeldaob Watershed Alliance merged interests of communities, governments, agencies, conservation practitioners and traditional leaders to protect watershed areas. Outcomes include establishment of 4 new terrestrial protected areas and completion of several community level land management plans - managing rivers flowing into the sea (pollution)