Causes of Coral Reef Degradation

Abstract

the long-term decline of coral reef ecosys-tems ” (15 Aug., p. 955), J. M. Pandolfi et al. advocate a novel interpretation of the timing and causes of the worldwide decline of reef-building corals. Expanding on an earlier paper (1), they conclude that corals have been in decline for centuries and that overfishing was the leading cause. They consider the recent impacts of coral disease and bleaching to be ancillary effects and argue that reef ecosystems will not survive without immediate, draconian protection from fishing. Curiously, a Review by T. P. Hughes et al. in the same issue (“Climate change, human impacts, and the resilienc