Study says many coral species are threatened with extinction

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Nearly one-third of the small animals that make up the most massive and elaborate structures in coral reefs face an elevated risk of extinction from global warming and various local problems, an international group of scientists meeting in Fort Lauderdale reported. The Times’ Kenneth R. Weiss has the details on the endangered corals:

The worldwide assessment of more than 700 species of corals showed that 32.8% were threatened with extinction, especially those that formed large mounds or intricate branches resembling antlers.

Coral reefs provide hiding places and a habitat for 25% of all marine life and are a major source of food for the poor and of tourist revenue in tropical countries. Some of the threats are global, including elevated ocean temperatures that have stressed corals so much that they are ‘bleached’ bone-white. A massive bleaching brought on by warmer waters in the 1999 El Nino resulted in a vast decline of the world’s reefs.

Corals also face excessive and destructive fishing and polluted runoff that buries them under sediment or bathes them in nutrients that fuel out-of-control growth of algae and bacteria. Compounding the problem are various diseases that kill corals when they are under stress.