Tsunami and reefs...

smithrc

My names Russell.... ....and I'm a
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Was just wondering how effected asia's reefs will have been by the recent problems.

Any one any idea?

:/
 
Compared to the human loss it might not seem important but just think what it could have done to the future of the reefs.
 
From my very limited knowledge I think it could actually be a positive for the reef in general.

In a mature reef, you end up with a few dominant species and a loss of biodiversity, due to competition, resource limitation, habitat utilization, mortality without recruitment, etc. An example would be when coral lavae cannot settle onto the reef and become established because all of the space is 'controled' by large colonies which do not allow (both chemically eg. sweeper tentacles and physically eg. by restricting light) new corals. When something like the tidal wave destroys the existing reef it opens up opportunites for new species to again have a chance, and the biodiversity is increased.

So in the short term this sort of event isnt good however it is essential to the long term survival of the reef.

This thread http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...25&pagenumber=2 discusses disturbances in depth in the context of out tanks. My above response was heavily copied from this :p .

ps. obviously my thoughts are with the people suffering the in area.
 
Looking at the reef trade as a whole... An aweful lot of trade was done in this region for the entire world. All the reef collectors lived on the coast line. I think you can safely say that there is NO coral or Fish industry in this region anymore or for the forseeable future. :/

This means that other areas will put up prices as corals will get hardre to aquire or even worse, corals will be banned altogether. I do not forsee the prices coming down or even holding for a long time.

I would be happy to pay more if this extra cahs was used to help those people that have suffered from this disaster but i fear it will simply be a way of making a fast and easy profit.

My thoughts also rest with those poor lives that were lost so trajically.
 
i hope that doesnt affect the fish too much bcuz i am really itchin to get my hands on some lionfish ( not literally of course) and am expecting to be able to get them over the summer if im lucky.
 
Coral reefs could take centuries to recover from tsunami
The tsunamis that hit southern Asia on Boxing Day may have caused so much damage to coral reefs that they could take centuries to recover, experts said today.

Fish populations and habitats in both reef and mangrove areas are thought to have suffered dramatically in the devastating tsunamis which have now killed well over 100,000 people.

Ketut Sarjana Putra, the director of Conservation International told ABC News that while mangroves have been affected, reefs took the brunt of the wave impacts:

"It will take a long time to recover. The coral reef system might be totally destroyed. It will take hundreds of years to grow back."

Besides the massive number of fish likely to have been either killed or displaced by the waves, it is also likely that coral reefs have been smashed to pieces.

With fewer adult corals present, it could take longer for them to reproduce, meaning that the reef takes many years to return to its previous state.

The levels of silt and organic matter that the tsunami have stirred up are also of concern to marine experts.

The Los Angeles Tribune reports that Staghorn Acropora on Phuket beach were seriously affected by the tsunami and dead corals could be seen piled up on the shoreline.

Previous tsunamis in the Pacific side of Indonesia in the early nineties saw reefs recover within a few years, but experts reckon the scale of the recent disaster could see recovery times of decades or centuries.

c/o pratical fishkeeping
 
... looks like its a bit more serious for the reef than I guessed.
 

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