As a follow up to my earlier post on the impacts of biofuels on the oceans, I want to point out a new story which further undermines the importance of protecting biodiversity as a means to protect functioning ecosystems.
Australian scientists have found that:
A healthy fish population could be the key to ensuring coral reefs survive the impacts of climate change, pollution, overfishing and other threats.
Pollution from runoff (including fertilizers from industrial biofuel projects) causes the increased growth of plants, such as kelp and algae, which can prevent the regrowth of coral when these plants overrun areas of dead coral.
Certain reef fish species, such as parrotfish and rabbitfish, play a key role as “lawnmowers” consuming the excess plant species and providing the space for coral to regenerate.
This information underscores the importance of marine protected areas that can allow fish populations to grow which would then have the ripple effect of enabling greater resiliency of coral reef systems to the increasing threats of both climate change and pollution.
