Urban coral reefs: Degradation and resilience of hard coral assemblages in coastal cities of East and Southeast Asia

Authors

Eliza C. Heery, National University of Singapore
Bert W. Hoeksema, Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Nicola K. Browne, Curtin University
James D. Reimer, University of the Ryukyus
Put O. Ang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Danwei Huang, National University of Singapore
Daniel A. Friess, National University of Singapore
Loke Ming Chou, National University of Singapore
Lynette H. L. Loke, National University of Singapore
Poonam Saksena-Taylor, National University of Singapore
Nadia Alsagoff, National University of Singapore
Thamasak Yeemin, Ramkhamhaeng University
Makamas Sutthacheep, Ramkhamhaeng University
Si Tuan Vo, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology
Arthur R. Bos, The American University in Cairo AUC
Girley S. Gumanao, Davao del Norte State College
Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Zarinah Waheed, Universiti Malaysia Sabah
David J. W. Lane, National University of Singapore
Ofri Johan, Research Institute for Ornamental Fish Culture
Andreas Kunzmann, Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT)
Jamaluddin Jompa, Hasanuddin University
Suharsono, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI)
Daisuke Taira, National University of Singapore
Andrew G. Bauman, National University of SingaporeFollow
Peter A. Todd, National University of Singapore

ORCID

0000-0001-9260-2153

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Marine Pollution Bulletin

ISSN

0025-326X

Publication Date

10-2018

Keywords

Pollution, Reef compression, Reef restoration, Urban ecology, Urbanization

Abstract

Given predicted increases in urbanization in tropical and subtropical regions, understanding the processes shaping urban coral reefs may be essential for anticipating future conservation challenges. We used a case study approach to identify unifying patterns of urban coral reefs and clarify the effects of urbanization on hard coral assemblages. Data were compiled from 11 cities throughout East and Southeast Asia, with particular focus on Singapore, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Naha (Okinawa). Our review highlights several key characteristics of urban coral reefs, including “reef compression” (a decline in bathymetric range with increasing turbidity and decreasing water clarity over time and relative to shore), dominance by domed coral growth forms and low reef complexity, variable city-specific inshore-offshore gradients, early declines in coral cover with recent fluctuating periods of acute impacts and rapid recovery, and colonization of urban infrastructure by hard corals. We present hypotheses for urban reef community dynamics and discuss potential of ecological engineering for corals in urban areas.

DOI

10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.07.041

Volume

135

First Page

654

Last Page

681

Comments

This review was supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister's Office, Singapore under its Marine Science Research and Development Programme (Award No. MSRDP-05). Research by Bert Hoeksema was financed by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO, grants W77-96, W84-354). We are grateful to Tomofumi Nagata (Okinawa Environment Science Center Foundation Inc) and Japanese Ministry of Environment (2004-2017) Monitoring Site 1000 for coral reefs for providing data for this review.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

NSUWorks Citation

Eliza C. Heery, Bert W. Hoeksema, Nicola K. Browne, James D. Reimer, Put O. Ang, Danwei Huang, Daniel A. Friess, Loke Ming Chou, Lynette H. L. Loke, Poonam Saksena-Taylor, Nadia Alsagoff, Thamasak Yeemin, Makamas Sutthacheep, Si Tuan Vo, Arthur R. Bos, Girley S. Gumanao, Muhammad Ali Syed Hussein, Zarinah Waheed, David J. W. Lane, Ofri Johan, Andreas Kunzmann, Jamaluddin Jompa, Suharsono, Daisuke Taira, Andrew G. Bauman, and Peter A. Todd. 2018. Urban coral reefs: Degradation and resilience of hard coral assemblages in coastal cities of East and Southeast Asia .Marine Pollution Bulletin : 654 -681. https://nsuworks.nova.edu/occ_facarticles/1303.