Location of the Red Sea

For my project, I have chosen to focus on the regional scale of the coral reefs in the Red Sea. 

Source: http://www.coral-reef-info.com/red-sea-coral-reefs.html

The Red Sea is considered the northernmost tropical sea, lying between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by 8 nations, which include Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti (Olsen & Dinerstein, 1998). Geographically, the Red Sea lies at the northern tip of the Indian Ocean. This specific area is one of the hottest and driest on Earth. This leads to high levels of evaporation, making the Red Sea the one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world (Fishelson, 1972). These unique conditions allow for a high levels of biodiversity and endemism.

The Coral Reefs of the Red Sea

The coral reefs stretch along the coastline of the Red Sea, and consist of multiple types of coral reefs, including fringe reefs, atolls and pinnacles (Riegl and Piller, 1999) . However, in a new effort to map coral reefs along Saudi Arabia, scientists are observing structures and shapes that they “don’t even have name for” (Lovett, 2010). Thus, it seems that there is still much to study of the area.

Source: http://bikyamasr.com/15608/saving-egypts-coral-reefs/#!wp-prettyPhoto[g15608]/0/

The coral reefs of the Red Sea are a truly unique place in the world. It’s already been mentioned how the region is one of the hottest and driest. These conditions make for coral reefs that tend to have higher adaptability to these intense temperatures and salinity (Fishelson, 1972). Additionally, this ecosystem can have better adaptability to occasional turbidity, which is caused by dust storms from nearby arid deserts surrounding the Red Sea (Acker et al., 2008), as seen below.

Source: http://www.eosnap.com/duststorms/dust-storm-blows-sand-over-red-sea/

Besides the occasional dust storm, however, the coral reefs of the Red Sea enjoy quite clear water, which is important for reef development. This is due to the low river discharge and rain in the area, preventing much sediment erosion and runoff (Han & McCreary Jr., 2001). Additionally, the Red Sea is connected to the Indian Ocean only through the Strait of Bab el-Madeb, and thus, is protected from the stronger currents and tides (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011) . All these unique conditions have led to an area that has allowed coral reefs to thrive.

Source: Reaka et al. 2008

The flourishing of coral reefs in the Red Sea has resulted in very high levels of biodiversity and endemism. In several studies, the coral reefs in the Red Sea rank high on both species richness and endemic levels, when compared to other coral reefs as seen in the table above (Reaka et al., 2008). There are both species of coral and species of coral fish that are endemic, including species such as dottybacks and butterfly fish (Roberts et al., 1992). In fact, the biodiversity of the Red Sea is considered the second highest, with up to 17% of Red Sea fishes projected to be endemic to only that area (Roberts et al., 1992). With these high levels of biodiversity and endemism, this area has been designated as one of the Global 200 Ecoregions, and thus, is an extremely important ecosystem to preserve (Olson and Dinerstein, 1998).

Source: http://www.dive-the-world.com/reefs-and-parks-red-sea-formation-and-endemism.php

Today, the Red Sea's coral reefs are considered relatively healthy, with more than 50% live coral cover on average (Wielgus et al. 2004). Of course, human activity in the area has damaged its conditions over the years, but so far, it has remained fairly stable. However, today, it faces many uncertainties over its future, as human development is advancing and the world populations continue to grow.

The Relationship between Humans and the Coral Reefs

There are many benefits that the coral reefs offer humans living around the Red Sea. Particularly, the Red Sea and its coral reefs support several industries that people depend on for their economic livelihood. For example, the Red Sea serves as one of the major shipping routes for countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Israel, with the main commodity being transported being oil (Gladstone et al.,  1999). In 1996, over 100 million tons of oil was reported being transported from the Red Sea through the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb (World Bank, 1996). Other maritime activities that take place in the Red Sea include fishing and coral harvesting.

Tourism is also a very large industry in this area, playing a major role in increasing the economic status of the countries bordering the Red Sea. The unique conditions that exist in the region makes it a major attraction for tourists, and the popularity of the Red Sea continues to grow annually (Hawkins and Roberts, 1994). From the Red Sea itself, humans also benefit from from using it as a source of water. Due to the shortage of water in the area, there are many desalination plants set up along the coast of the Red Sea to convert salt water into fresh water (Hoepner and Lattemann, 2003). This water is then used to replenish neighboring towns and agriculture.  

Yet, while humans benefit from this ecosystem, the benefits are not easily returned. Often, these human activities damage the vulnerable coral reefs that live in this environment. For example, tourism may bring in a lot of money for the economy and area, but it also comes with a lot of negative impacts on the ecosystem. When too many people pollute the water or too many snorkelers and scuba divers adjust their equipment by standing on the reefs, serious damage can be done to the corals (Gray, 1997; Zakai and Chadwick-Furman, 2002). The graph below demonstrates how sites with higher uses of scuba divers and snorkelers tend to have greater numbers of loose and broken fragments.

Source: Zakai and Chadwick-Furman, 2002

In addition to tourism, coastal development projects of urban centers near the Red Sea can have devastating impacts as well. Besides the typical pollution problem, higher populations increase the demand for drinkable water, which results in desalination plants along the coast. These plants often pollute and can change the chemical composition of the Red Sea (Fishelson, 1973; Hoepner and Lattemann, 2003). Additional issues arise with the various maritime activities that takes place in the Red Sea, which includes not only fishing, but also coral harvesting, and industrial trade activity, can all lead to more water pollution, direct disruption of the ecosystem, and even oil spills, like the one that recently occured off the coast of Egypt in June 2010 (Abdellatif, 2010).

Source: http://seeker401.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/egypt-oil-spill-threatens-red-sea-marine-life/

Finally, a problem that almost every ecosystem faces is climate change. Average global temperatures are rising rapidly due to human activity and thus, sea surface temperatures are also rising. In some cases, the rising temperatures may be too warm for certain marine species (Hoegh-Guldberg, 1999). Additionally, since the ocean is known as a carbon sink, absorption of carbon dioxide can lead to a change in chemical composition of the ocean, also disturbing the marine ecosystem (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). Coral reefs serve as a perfect example of species sensitive to these global changes, because they are sensitive to temperature and chemical changes in the ocean. This can change the growth rates of coral, and even lead to coral bleaching (Cantin et al., 2010). 

Source: Cantin et al., 2010

The graph above illustrates how an increase in ocean temperatures results in a decrease or slowing of coral growth in the central Red Sea. If temperatures continue to increase, the growth of flourishing coral reefs in the Red Sea may come to a halt.

 

Protected Areas for the Coral Reefs of the Red Sea

The growing popularity of the Red Sea has led to an increase in human usage of its resources and with rapid deterioration of the ecosystem. In response to this trend, the government has created marine protected areas (MPAs) where the ecosystem can be preserved. These MPAs are particularly important not only to coral reefs, but also other marine species in the area, such as sea turtles (Gladestone, 2000). 

Ras Mohammed National Park in Egypt; Source: http://www.101worldtravel.com/2010/09/21/ras-mohammed-national-park/

Of all the countries around the Red Sea, Egypt has a particularly strong conservation program, with over 35,000 squared kilometers of protected area (Pilcher and Abou Zaid, 2000). Egypt's government has done this mainly to protect the specific region from SCUBA divers and the threat of anchor and flipper damage (Pilcher and Abou Zaid, 2000). In addition to efforts by individual countries, there has also been cases where countries have worked together with the common goal of protecting the area. For example, the Red Sea Marine Peace Park was founded in 1994 by the governments of Jordan and Israel to preserve and protect the area's coral reefs (Portman, 2007).

While MPAs are important, their implementations have not always been the most successful due to a lack of funding or other resources (Gladestone, 2000). Thus, these MPAs require more government attention and public awareness .

The Future of the Coral Reefs

Right now, the coral reefs of the Red Sea are fairly healthy and less endangered compared to other ecosystems. However, the future does look bright for this particular ecosystem if we continue with business as usual.  Therefore, changes must be made to help this vulnerable ecosystem's future. Specifically with the Red Sea, it is important to keep in mind that this is a regional ecosystem, so no one country can be responsible for its future. International agreements are extremely important for the conservation efforts here.

With issues like tourism and maritime activity, stricter regulations must be implemented and enforced by regional governments. Additionally, the tourism industry should strive to shape itself using the ideals of ecotourism. Also, public education can go a long way in increasing overall awareness. Coastal development projects must also be better planned to ensure that the area can grow sustainably. Particularly with desalination plants, choosing the least vulnerable areas is a good option.


Finally, climate change is an issue that requires global cooperation in order to prevent future damages. Individuals taking action to become more “environmentally friendly” by doing such things as recycling and conserving energy is an example of how small scale actions can lead to big scale changes.

Source: http://www.seos-project.eu/modules/coralreefs/coralreefs-c04-p01.html

As you can tell from the picture above, between 1998 and 2006, there was a significant rise in occurrences of coral bleaching. While the corals of the Red Sea don't appear to be suffering from particularly high rates, the fact that it is occurring in corals that are so well adapted to extreme conditions is a telling sign. So although these coral reefs are not the most endangered, it is obvious that a threat still exists there, with the livelihood of the corals reefs in the Red Sea and the organisms that call it home very much at risk. Especially with the high levels of biodiversity and endemism there, the Red Sea and its coral reefs deserve our attention and conservation efforts.

References

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