Might imbalances in carbon content underlie episodes of reef tank crashes?
The economic value of coral reefs worldwide has been estimated at $375B/yr as a consequence of fishing, tourism, and coastal protection (Costanza, 1997). Unfortunately, in many areas of the world, the coral reefs are dying; for example, Caribbean reefs have suffered approximately an 80% loss in coral population over the past 30 years (Gardner, 2003). These interdependent facts have galvanized efforts amongst many areas of science to both identify the causative agents for the corals’ (= reef’s) demise and to pursue possibly ameliorative interventions. Many anthropogenic (= attributable to human activity) intrusions into the coral reef ecosystem have been recognized as contributing to the stress and even mortality of corals on tropical reefs, although naturally occurring stressors cannot be excluded either. All of this activity has brought into sharp focus the ecological significance of reef-building corals and their responses to changes in their environment. Many of the observations of
