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Coral Reef: A Hot Spot of Marine Biodiversity

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Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Bioresources

Part of the book series: Sustainable Development and Biodiversity ((SDEB,volume 30))

Abstract

Coral reefs are the largest reservoirs of biodiversity on earth: they host 32 of 34 recognized phyla and approximately one third of all marine biodiversity. The center of global coral reef biodiversity is the “Coral Triangle” (CT), including eastern Indonesia and Malaysia, the Philippines, Timor-Lest e, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands. Coral reefs support human life and livelihoods and are important economically. Nearly 500 million people depend directly and indirectly on coral reefs for their livelihoods, food, and other resources. The current serious and further deteriorating status of coral reefs around the world is directly due to damaging stresses that arose during the Anthropocene effectively since the mid-eighteenth century, and particularly since 1950 when human pressures ramped up to destructive levels. The major threats include extractive activities, pollution, sedimentation, physical destruction, and the effects of anthropogenic action as well as climate change. It has been estimated that 33% of all reef-building corals could become extinct due to damage from local threats combined with climate change impacts. The Coral reefs are considered as fascinating hot spots of life in the ocean, which stabilize marine ecosystems as key underwater biodiversity hot spots. With the earth’s coral reefs being destroyed at an alarming rate, it is important to take action mainly by proper management and to restore these underwater biodiversity hot spots.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Farook College (Autonomous), Kozhikode, Kerala, India

    T. R. Sobha & P. Fahima

  2. Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode, Kerala, India

    C. P. Vibija

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  1. T. R. Sobha
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  2. C. P. Vibija
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  1. Department of Botany, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India

    Swapna Thacheril Sukumaran

  2. School of Biosciences, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India

    Keerthi T R

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Sobha, T.R., Vibija, C.P., Fahima, P. (2023). Coral Reef: A Hot Spot of Marine Biodiversity. In: Sukumaran, S.T., T R, K. (eds) Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Bioresources. Sustainable Development and Biodiversity, vol 30. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5841-0_8

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