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Save reefs to rescue all ecosystems

An approach that tackles the underlying causes of coral-reef decline could be applied to other habitats, argue Tiffany H. Morrison, Terry P. Hughes and colleagues.
  1. Tiffany H. Morrison

    1. Tiffany H. Morrison is professor of environmental governance at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, Australia.

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  2. Terry P. Hughes

    1. Terry P. Hughes is director and professor of biology at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, Townsville, Australia.

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  3. W. Neil Adger

    1. W. Neil Adger is professor of human geography at the University of Exeter, UK.

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  4. Katrina Brown

    1. Katrina Brown is professor of social science at the University of Exeter, UK.

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  5. Jon Barnett

    1. Jon Barnett is professor of global environmental change at the University of Melbourne, Australia.

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  6. Maria Carmen Lemos

    1. Maria Carmen Lemos is professor of environment and sustainability at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

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Turtle swimming over bleached coral, Heron Island, Australia.

A green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) swims over corals bleached by anthropogenic global heating. Credit: The Ocean Agency/XL Catlin Seaview Survey

All the coral reefs in the world could be gone by 2070 if global heating continues on its current path1,2. Since 1998, heatwaves have bleached or killed corals in more than 90% of reefs listed as World Heritage sites worldwide (including in the Galapagos Islands, Hawaii and Australia)2 (see ‘Under pressure’). In the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest reef system, half of the corals died in 2016 and 2017 alone3.

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Nature 573, 333-336 (2019)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02737-8

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