CCMA Releases National Study of U.S. Coral Reef Ecosystems
New Report Makes Case for an Integrated Observing System
The nation's coral reef ecosystems continue to face numerous stressors from both natural and human sources including overfishing, disease, pollution and climate change according to a new national assessment of the condition of U.S. shallow coral reef ecosystems. The report, “The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005,” was authored by teams in 14 jurisdictions where the corals are found and was released today by NOAA.
“Healthy shallow coral reef ecosystems are a key factor for robust marine ecosystems and the economic well-being of many coastal communities,“ said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. “This report demonstrates the value of integrating monitoring efforts from local to regional and global scales and highlights the need to develop an integrated global earth observing system that would provide coastal managers the best possible information for ensuring the health of the world's coral reefs and other ocean ecosystems.”
Click here for the full fact sheet for “The State of Coral Reef Ecosystems of the United States and Pacific Freely Associated States: 2005.”
To download the entire report visit: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coralreef/coral_report_2005/