Australia vows to reverse Great Barrier Reef's coral decline - CNN [fornadablog.blogspot.com]

Australia vows to reverse Great Barrier Reef's coral decline - CNN [fornadablog.blogspot.com]

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[fornadablog.blogspot.com], Australia vows to reverse Great Barrier Reef's coral decline - CNN

The image shows damage inflicted on Beaver Reef, part of the Great Barrier Reef, by the crown-of-thorns starfish, a species native to Australia which feeds on coral.

A report out Tuesday revealed that half of the coral coverage on the Great Barrier Reef had disappeared over the past 27 years due to a combination of factors: cyclones, the crown-of-thorns starfish and coral bleaching.

Coral bleaching -- seen here at Halfway Island -- occurs when the water becomes too warm. It's expected to increase in coming years due to global warming.

Crown-of-thorns starfish thrive in nutrient-rich water which runs off agricultural land along the Queensland coast. A government program aims to eliminate all chemical and fertilizer run-off near the reef by 2020.

The image shows MacDonald reef before damage inflicted by a cyclone. Strong winds whip waves which smash the coral in shallow areas, particularly towards the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef.

MacDonald reef after cyclone damage. "An area that has been exposed to the eye of the cyclone can look like a rubble zone shortly after it's passed over. It can be really quite devastating," said Jamie Oliver, a research director with AIMS.

The problem on the Great Barrier Reef, the report says, is that it's facing other threats that are hindering its ability to recover from cyclones, most notably the rampant starfish.

According to researchers at James Cook University, there have been three major outbreaks of COTS since the 1960s and it's believed the start of another one is under way.

A flooded sugar cane field just outside of Innisfail, North Queensland after Tropical Cyclone Larry cross the coast on March 22, 2006. Cyclones not only smash reefs but increase run-off from agricultural areas.

Sugar cane fields are seen submerged near Bundaberg in Queensland on December 30, 2010 after entire towns were inundated by the worst deluges in decades.

• Australian environment minister says report rings alarm bell for Great Barrier Reef
• Report says half the reef's coral coverage has disappeared in the last 27 years
• Factors blamed include cyclones, coral bleaching and the crown-of-thorns starfish
• Starfish outbreaks hinder reef's ability to recover from cyclones

(CNN) -- Australia's environment minister has conceded that years of neglect have contributed to a devastating drop in coral coverage on the Great Barrier Reef along the country's north eastern coast.

A report out Tuesday sounded what Tony Burke referred to as an "alarm bell" on the state of the reef, designated as a World Heritage Area and home up to 3,000 individual reefs and thousands of species of fish and mollusk.

"There's no doubt there's been a level of neglect for decades which if it had been dealt with otherwise we'd be in a much better situation now," Burke told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The report, by the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) and the University of Wollongong, revealed that the reef had lost half its coral cover in the last 27 years.

Bringing life back to coral reefs

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the report warned that if current trends continue, that coverage could half again by 2022.

Great Barrier Reef goes virtual

"Without intervention, the GBR may lose the biodiversity and ecological integrity for which it was listed as a World Heritage Area," it said.

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Researchers say most of the damage was wrought in recent years by a succession of powerful cyclones. Waves crash down shallow reefs, dislodging pieces of coral that smash against others as they're thrown around by wind-whipped waters.

Bringing life back to coral reefs

"An area that has been exposed to the eye of the cyclone can look like a rubble zone shortly after it's passed over. It can be really quite devastating," said Jamie Oliver, a research director with AIMS.

"It's been clearly shown from a number of studies that reefs that have been damaged by cyclones and other conditions can make a reasonably good recovery after 10 to 20 years," he said. "The reef has the ability to regenerate from these impacts; we just need to make sure all the conditions are right for that to happen."

The problem on the Great Barrier Reef, the report says, is that it's facing other threats that are hindering its ability to recover. Run-off from agricultural industry along the Queensland coast has created fertile conditions for the crown-of-thorns starfish, or COTS. While the report attributed 48% of the coral loss to cyclones, 42% was blamed on the starfish, a native species which feeds on coral. Another 10% was attributed to coral bleaching, which occurs when water becomes too warm.

"The recent frequency and intensity of mass coral bleaching are of major concern and are directly attributable to rising atmospheric greenhouse gases. To date, the GBR has lost fewer corals to bleaching and diseases than many other regions in the world, but bleaching mortality will almost certainly increase in the GBR, given the upward trend in temperatures," the report warned.

"We can't change the weather so storms and bleaching are something that will take a much more concerted action at an international level, however we may be able to do something about crown-of-thorns, either through direct action on the outbreaking populations or by doing things like improving water quality, which has been shown to have a link to causing outbreaks in the first place," Oliver said.

According to researchers at James Cook University, there have been three major outbreaks of COTS since the 1960s and it's believed the start of another one is under way.

"If the current wave moves in a similar way we can expect starfish populations to progress throughout the central GBR over the next 10 years or so," wrote Jon Brodie, a senior principal research officer at JCU on Jamie Oliver, AIMS