Case Study- Red Sea Coral Reef

The Red Sea Coral Reef is the second largest in the world in terms of length, at 1900km long and has an area of 438,000km2. The only coral reef that is longer is the Great Barrier Reef. The Red Sea is located in between Africa and Asia, and is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean. Corals in the Red Sea are aged up to 5000 years old. The majority of the coral forms around the shoreline.

The Red Sea Coral Reef

The dominant coral genera are Porites and Acropra. These are both types of stony corals, covering hundreds of species.  Acropora in particular is well suited to reef building as it is very good at taking up calcium carbonate from the water. The coral reefs in the Red Sea are some of the most robust in the entire world. They have a high tolerance to temperature and salinity. The fact that it is resistant to higher temperatures is particularly important due to predicted increases in ocean temperatures. In 2011, the temperature of the Red Sea had increased by 0.7 degrees since 1994. With temperatures set to rise at a faster rate, the durability of these corals will be invaluable.

An example of Porite Coral

The largest portions of the coral reefs can be found in the northern area of the Red Sea, near Egypt and Saudi Arabia. There are smaller amounts of coral to the south of the Red Sea due to the influx of material from the Indian Ocean. There is also a larger amount of mixing due to higher wind speeds, which will mean that coral reefs struggle to develop. This is because more sediment prevents the production of calcium carbonate, which is needed to secure the base for coral reefs.

 As far as the world is concerned, the Red Sea coral reefs are doing pretty well. The amount of coral cover ranges from 50-85% depending on the site being examined. However, not everything is rosy at the Red Sea. There has been significant damage done due to overfishing, and major damage done by irresponsible diving, driven by tourism. The Ras Mohammed National park was established off the coast of Egypt in 1983 to help combat the degradation of the reefs. More parks like this will be needed to created to help ensure the reefs safety.

Sources

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

2.http://www.natureasia.com/en/nmiddleeast/article/10.1038/nmiddleeast.2011.119