Decline and Recovery of Coral Reefs Linked to 700 Years of Human and Environmental Activities

ScienceDaily (Oct. 3, 2011) —

This photo shows Hawaiian chubs (Kyphosus species) and other reef fish swimming near the healthy Acropora cytherea species coral reefs found at French Frigate Shoals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. (Credit: Jamison Gove, JIMAR/NOAA CRED)

Changing human activities coupled with a dynamic environment over the past few centuries have caused fluctuating periods of decline and recovery of corals reefs in the Hawaiian Islands, according to a study sponsored in part by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University. Using the reefs and island societies as a model social-ecological system, a team of scientists reconstructed 700 years of human-environment interactions in two different regions of the Hawaiian archipelago to identify the key factors that contributed to degradation or recovery of coral reefs. Read the full article