December 11, 2024

Biruk Fantu 

10th Grade

Williamsville East High School

Over the last 50 years, all the way back to the 1970s, Florida’s Coral Reef has lost almost 98% of the staghorn and elkhorn coral that used to densely pack the quickly fading coral reef. The IUCN Red List of Endangered Species has listed these two species as “Critically Endangered”, which is one step away from “Extinct in the Wild”. If nothing is done to stop these rapid changes to continental America’s largest coral reef system, irreversible damage could be caused to more than 40 species of coral and the millions of plants and animals that depend on the coral.

Many various factors play a role in the differences that occur in coral populations, but the especially concerning rate at which the Florida Coral Reef has been changing can be most directly correlated to climate change. To function properly, coral requires a specific range of temperatures. Most corals already exist closer to the upper limit of this range, so a minor increase in temperature can have drastic consequences. As a result of the many human-related actions emitting greenhouse gasses into our atmosphere, this temperature change can be achieved relatively quickly, with scientists estimating that by the end of the 21st century, the average temperature will have increased by 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Although this may seem like a very minuscule difference at first, it is quite the opposite, as coral helps to serve as an example. 

Due to the temperature becoming outside the acceptable range, the coral will begin to bleach, a process in which the symbiosis relationship between coral and the algae living on them starts to break apart. In healthy conditions, the coral depends on the algae for nutrients, while the algae rely on the coral for shelter and protection. However, upon exiting the acceptable temperature range, the algae leave, seeking more ideal conditions, resulting in the coral losing the colorful tint from the algae and becoming white and pale (hence the name coral bleaching). This leaves the coral without a reliable energy source, on top of the decreased metabolic rate as enzymes within the coral will also begin to denature from the irregular temperature. Bleached coral is still considered living, and can therefore recover as long as it is brought back to regular conditions within due time. Otherwise, death is almost certain for prolonged bleached coral.

The rapid death of coral poses massive dangers to various aspects of our world. Even though coral reefs only occupy about 1% of the marine environment, they serve as shelter for more than a quarter of the marine species living in these waters. If coral death were to continue at the pace it is now, the extinction of many different marine species would quickly follow in its path. Coral reefs also affect the economy of nearby coastline cities that depend on the reefs for the tourism that gets brought in and the fishing industry, which generates up to $375 billion every year, a number that would continue to take big hits as coral continues dying.

The Coral Restoration Foundation (CRF) was founded by Ken Nedimyer in 2007 to combat these problems. When observing staghorn recruits that had grown on his live rock nurseries(a method of coral restoration), Nedyimer was inspired to make an effort to save the ecosystem that was home to many corals similar to the staghorn. Today, the CRF has expanded tremendously and has worked to restore a collective 17,500 square miles of the Florida Coral Reef.

The CRF makes use of the asexual reproduction of coral known as fragmentation, to create large coral nurseries to grow coral in. Coral reproduces in fragmentation through branches breaking off the coral that can attach themselves to the ocean floor and grow into new coral themselves. This process can be exploited by scientists by intentionally breaking small pieces of existing coral and attaching them to “Coral Trees,” a design using PVC to create essentially a rack that the pieces of coral can hang on and develop until adulthood. Once it is deemed that the coral has matured fully, they are removed from the “Coral Trees” and relocated to a designated site within the Florida Coral Reef where they live just as normal coral, and the process can be repeated all over again.

The CRF offers various ways for people to get involved in their restoration efforts. On their website there are options to volunteer for the CRF or make a donation. By practicing environment-friendly routines such as investing in renewable energy to even just spending five minutes less in the shower, you can help contribute to saving our planet, and make it a better place for people now and in the future.