The various ecological and economic benefits of tropical marine
seascapes and their biodiversity are under threat by a variety
of sources, including human development and climate change.
Globally, mangroves are being cleared at a quicker rate than
tropical rainforests, and tropical fisheries are significantly
over-fished. Overfishing of species that graze on algae and
seaweeds on the reef can disrupt the ecosystem’s overall balance
and prevent new corals from growing. Overfishing also removes
the adult grazing fish that are most attractive to larger
predator fish, and increases predation on juvenile fish before
they’ve had a chance to breed. Coral bleaching events—when
corals lose the symbiotic algae within their tissues that
provide them with much of their energy through photosynthesis--
have increased in recent years due to global climate change and
warming water temperatures. Scientists also acknowledge that the
limestone skeletons of corals will become weakened as seas
become more acidic, taking up more c