Malaysian Journal of Science 32 (SCS Sp Issue) : 197-214 (2013)
Coral Reef Conservation and Restoration in Mainland China Zheng Xin-Qing1*, Li Yuan-Chao2, Lin Rong-Cheng1*, Lan Wen-Lu3, Du Jian-Guo1, Yang XiaoZhou1,4, Niu Wen-Tao1, Shi Xiao-Feng1, Huang Ding-Yong1 1
Third Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China, Hainan Marine Development Plan and Design Institute, Haikou 570100, P. R. China, 3 Marine Environmental Monitoring Center of Guangxi, Beihai, 536000, P. R. China, 4 Department of Biology, Xiamen Universiy, Xiamen 361005, P. R. China; 2
*
[email protected] (Corresponding author)
ABSTRACTS The coral reefs of China, which belong to the Indo-Pacific region, mainly distributes along the southeast coasts and around the islands in the South China Sea. Totally there are 80 genera and subgenera, and more than 700 species recorded for Hexacorallia, indicating extraordinarily high levels of diversity. The distribution of the coral reefs starts from the Coral Reef Delta Region, extending west to the Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, north across the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait, and finally reaching the Diaoyu Islands in the northeast areas of Taiwan due to the influence of the north Pacific Kuroshio current. The distribution covers large-scale areas and is obviously dependent on seawater temperature. Due to strong anthropogenic disturbance, such as overfishing, pollution and coastal engineering, the number of hermatypic corals has significantly decreased and the covering rates of coral reefs have also declined sharply in the past five decades. The historical data shows that the dominant species have changed from branching Acropora to massive species like Porites lutea, Galaxea fascicularis and Favia speciosa, indicating the reef ecosystems have been greatly affected by human activities. With the sustained and rapid development of China's social economy in the past 30 years, the coral reefs have undergone severe damages. Recently, efforts have been made to conserve and restore of coral reefs which include: (1) the formulation of laws and regulations in protecting the coral reef resources;, (2) the establishment of Coral ReefNatural Reserve; (3) the restoration of impaired coral reef ecosystem by ex-situ conservation, transplantation,and coral larvae breeding and releasing;and (4) the development of the coral farming and breeding technique. (Keywords: hermatypic coral, geographic distribution, protection, coral reef)
INTRODUCTION
corals distribute in the areas from Zengmu Reef in the South China Sea (SCS) to Southern Taiwan.
Species composition and geographic distribution of the reef-building corals in China Brief introduction of coral reefs in China
The coral reefs in China are located in the Indo-Pacific region, which mainly distribute along the coasts of Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Hainan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the islands in the South China Sea (Figure 2). There are 900 km2 of coral reefs distributed in mainland China, 700 km2 inTaiwan, and 5700 km2 in the Nansha and XishaIslands. China ranks the eighth in terms of coral reef coverage in 22 countries. The coverage is smaller than Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, France, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Maldives[2-3].
Coral reefs generally distribute in tropical and subtropical areas due to the strict requirements for water quality such as temperature. There are two distinct regions (Fig. 1), the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic-Caribbean region. The Indo-Pacific region is the largest areas where 78% of the total global coral reefs are located. There are 86 genera and more than 1000 species in India-Pacific region and 26 genera and 68 species in Atlantic-Caribbean region [1].The South China Sea has an area of about 3,500,000 km², two thirds of which are located in the tropical and subtropical zone and is very suitable for the growth and development of corals.Extremely rich reef-building
The first study on coral reefs in China dates back to the 1890s. Bassett-Smith[4] investigated the reefbuilding corals in Tizard Banks in the South China Sea and recorded more than 100 species of corals. During
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Figure 1.
Coral reef distribution in the world (from http://www.reefbase.org).
1930s-1940s, Kawaguchi Koga et al. [5] had studied Taiwan's coral reefs. Ma[6] also has found 72 species of corals in Taiwan, the Dongsha Islands and Hainan Island. A more extensive investigation was conducted in the 1860s. Zou[7] investigated the coral reef resources in shallow waters along the coasts of Hainan, Guangdong, and Guangxi. The most comprehensive coral reef survey was conducted in Xisha Islands (1973 and 1974-1978), in northeast of the South China Sea (1979-1983), the Zengmu Reef (1984-1986), and the Nansha Islands (1987)[1, 8-10]. Zou et al. [9] reported 28 genera from the Nansha Islands; Nie[11] reported 23 genera and 51 species of corals in the Nansha Islands. Since 1990, Dai, Fang, and Wu (Taiwan) carried out the investigation in the Taiping Island and DongshaIslands of South China Sea [8, 12-14]. As mentioned above, China’s coral reefs belong to India-Pacific region. There are extremely high levels of diversity of Hexacorallia, comprising of 80 genera and subgenera, and more than 700 species. There are 45 genera and 179 species in the South China Sea[9], accounting for 56% of the genera and 26% of the species in the India-Pacific region, respectively. There are 58 genera and 230 species in Taiwan, and 13 families[15], 34 genera and 2 subgenera, 110 species and 5 subspeciesin the Hainan Island, respectively[7]. Twelve families, 33 genera and 113 species and subspecies have been recorded in the XishaIslands[10].There are 34 genera and 101 species in the Dongsha Islands [13], 19
genera and 46 species in the Huangyan Island [9] and 21 genera and 45 species along the coasts of southern China (Guangdong coastal zone and tidal flat resource investigation teams, 1987). According to the surveys, we summarize the reported genera and species of hermatypic corals in China as below (Table 1 and Table 2).
Geographic distribution of reef-building corals in China China’s coral reefs start from the Coral reef Delta Region, extending west to the Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, north across the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. Due to the influence of the north Pacific Kuroshio current, the north boundary of fringing reefs can reach the Diaoyu Islands located in the offshore areas of the northeastern Taiwan[16]. The number of hermatypic corals decreases from the South to the North, and the coral reefs become increasingly thin (Table 3) [9, 17]. Most of the hermatypic corals are less distributed in the South than in the north of China. The genera such as Psammocora, Acropora, Montipora, Goniopora, Porites, Favia are commonly found around the islands in the South China Sea, the Hainan Island, and the coasts of Guang’xi and Guangdong provinces. Pocillopora, Pachyseris, Fungia, Polyphyllia, and Echinopora
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Figure 2.
Table 1.
Distribution of coral reefs in China and its adjacent sea (red zone).
Total number of genera and species of reef-building corals in different regions in China
Region
The number of genera and species
Guangdong, Guangxi Province
21 genera, 45 species
Dongshan, Fujian province
8 genera, 8 species
Hongkong
21 genera, 49 species
Taiwan
58 genera, 230 species
Hainan Island
34 genera, 110 species
Xisha Islands
38 genera, 127 species
Dongsha Islands (Tongsha)
34 genera, 101 species
Taiping Island
56 genera, 163 species
Huangyan Island
19 genera, 46 species
Nansha Islands
50 genera, 200 species
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Species
South China Sea
Hainan Island
Guangdong/ Guangxi
Acropora palifera
+
Acropora illepora
+
+
Acropora yacinthus
+
+
Acropora corymbosa
+
+
+
Acropora formosa
+
+
+
Acropora humilis
+
+
+
Acropora abrotanoides
+
+
Acropora valida
+
+
Acropora pulchra
+
+
Acropora lutkeni
Hongkong
+
+
+ + +
+
+ +
+ +
+
Acropora brueggemanni
+
+
Acropora robusta
+
+
Acropora nasuta
+
+
Acropora cerealis
+
+
Acropora selago
+
+
Acropora haimei
+
+
+
Acropora horrida
+
Acropora echinata
+
Acropora rosaria
+
Acropora granulosa
+
Acropora tenella
+
Acropora aduncata
+
Acropora cytherea
+
+
+
+
Acropora tumida
+
+
Acropora pruinosa
+
+
+
Montipora circumvallata
+
+
+
Montipora truncata
+
+
Montipora solanderi
+ +
+
Montipora stellata
+
Montipora fragilis
+
Montipora aenigmatica
+
+
Montipora monasteriata
+
+
Montipora turgescens
+
+
+ +
+
Montipora efforescene
Montipora hispida
Dongshan in Fujian
+
Acropora florida
Montipora foliosa
Taiwan
+
+
Montipora venosa
+
200
+
Malaysian Journal of Science 32 (SCS Sp Issue) : 197-214 (2013)
Montipora gaimardi
+
Montipora foveaolata
+
Montipora danae
+
Pavona decussata
+
+
+
Pavona frondifera
+
+
+
Pavona cactus
+
+
Pavona minuta
+
Pavona varians
+
+ +
Turbinaria undata
+
+
Turbinaria peltata
+
+
Turbinaria stellulata
+
Turbinaria elegans
+ +
Turbinaria crater
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
Turbinaria foliosa
+
Turbinaria frondens
+
Turbinaria titizimaensis
+
Turbinaria irregularis
+
Cyphastrea serailia
+
Cyphastrea zhongjianensis
+
Diploastra heliopora
+
+
Turbinaria mesenterina Turbinaria mantonae
+ +
+
Turbinaria agaricia
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
Plesiatrea curta
+
Plesiatrea versipora
+
Favites abdita
+
+
Favites pentagona
+
+
Favites halicora
+
Favites flexuosa
+
Hydnophora rigida
+
+
Hydnophora exesa
+
+
Hydnophora contignatio
+
+
+ +
+
Hydnophora microconos
+
+
Merulina amplicata
+
+
Merulina scabricula
+ +
+
+
Scapophyllia cylindrica
+
+
Caulastrea furcata
+
+
Favia stelligera
+
Favia matthaii
+
+
Favia palauensis
+
+
Favia speciosa
+
+
+
+ +
201
+
+
+
Malaysian Journal of Science 32 (SCS Sp Issue) : 197-214 (2013)
Favia favus
+
+
+
Favia rotumana
+
+
+
Goniastrea pectinata
+
+
Goniastrea aspera
+
+
Goniastrea retiformis
+
+
Goniastrea yamanarii
+ +
+
Goniastrea yamanarii
+
+
Acrhelia horrescens
+
+
+
Cycloseris syslolites
+
Diaseris fragilis
+
Heliofungia actiniformis
+
Fungia echinata
+
+
+
Fungia scutaria
+
Fungia sp.
+
+
+
+
+
Fungia paumotensis Fungia repanda
+
Fungia danai
+
Leptoria phrygia
+
Platygyra crosslandi
+ + +
+
Platygyra daedalea
+
+
+
+
Platygyra sinensis
+
+
+
+
Leptastrea bottae
+
Leptastrea purpurrea
+
+
+
+
Leptastrea transversa
+
Acanthastrea echinata
+
+
Lobophyllia hemprichii
+
+
Lobophyllia corymbosa
+
+
Symphyllia nobilis
+
+
+
Symphyllia agaricia
+
+
+
Symphyllia radians
+
+
+
Symphyllia gigantea
+
+
+
Alveopora polyformis
+
Alveopora excelse
+
Alveopora irregularis
+
Galaxea fascicoularis
+
+
+
Galaxea asteata
+
+
+
Pocillopora verrucosa
+
+
Pocillopora meandrina
+
Pocillopora eydouxi
+
+
Pocillopora damicornis
+
+
Coeloseris mayeri
+
+ + +
+
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Porites lutea
+
+
Porites pukoensis
+
+
Porites (Synaraea)rus
+
+
Porites andrewsi
+
+
Porites nigrescens
+
+
Porites matthaii
+
+
Porites lichen
+
+
+
+
Porites compressa
+
Goniopora duofaciata
+
+
Goniopora stutchburyi
+
Goniopora gracilis
+
Goniopora minor
+
Psammocora profundacella
+
+
Psammocora nierstraszi
+
Psammocora contigua
+
+
+
+
Psammocora haimeana
+
Psammocora surferficialis Pectinia lactuca
+
+ +
+
+
+
Cyphastrea serailia Echinopora horrida
+
Echinopora gemmacea
+
Echinopora lamellose
+
Echinophyllia aspera
+ +
Echinophyllia orpheensis
+
Oxypora lacera
+
Euphyllia glabrascens
+
+
Euphyllia fimbriata
+
+
+
+
+ +
Podabacia crustacea Leptoseris scabra
+
Leptoseris mycetoseroides
+
Leptoseris papyracea
+
Leptoseris gardineri
+
+
Pachyseris involuta
+
Pachyseris speciosa
+
+
Pachyseris rugosa
+
+
Plerogyra sinuosa
+
+
Seriatopora hystrix Coscinaraea exesa
+
Coscinaraea columna
+
+
Pseudosiderstrea tayamai
+
Lithophyllon edwardsi
+
203
+
+
Malaysian Journal of Science 32 (SCS Sp Issue) : 197-214 (2013)
Podsbscis crustacea
+
+
Halomitra pileus
+
Sandalitha robusta
+
+
+
Polyphyllia talpina
+
+
+
Herpolitha limax
+
+
are rarely observed in the coasts of Guangdong and Guang’xi, while Seriatopora, Acrheliaand Coeloseris are only distributed around the islands in the South China Sea. However, a small number of hematypic corals decreases from the North to the South of China. For example, Turbinaria irregularis and Turbinaria crater were recorded around the islands in the South China Sea. 5 species (Turbinariaagaricia, Turbinaria crater,Turbinaria mantonae, Turbinaria peltata and Turbinaria undata) were recorded in the Hainan Island and 11 species in the coasts of Guangdong and Guangxi (Turbinaria peltata, Turbinaria undata, Turbinaria stellulata, Turbinaria elegans, Turbinaria agaricia, Turbinaria mesenterina, Turbinaria foliosa, Turbinaria crater, Turbinaria frondens, Turbinaria titizimaensis and Turbinaria irregularis), respectively. The distribution of hermatypic corals is closely related to seawater temperature, with higher diversity observed in the islands of the SCS when compared to the coasts of Hainan Island, Guangxi, and Guangdong. The distribution pattern is was suggested to be largely due to the dispersion of the coral larvae from SCS to the coasts of the Hainan Island, Guangdong and Guang’xi province by warm currents. It is considered that the islands of SCS are one of the Indo-Pacific Biotacenters, while Dongshan in Fujian province is the northern edge of China’s reef-building coral distribution.
Status of reef-building corals The latest survey on China’s coral reefs is a marine survey and evaluation of the offshore of China conducted in 2005-2006, by the Huang’s team from the South China Sea Institute of Oceanography, Chinese Academy of Science (CAS).Huang’s team investigated the coral reef ecosystems from southern mainland China to Xisha Islands. A total of 192 species of hermatypic corals belonging to 12 families and 42 genera* were identified
in the survey, 18 species more than the finding by Zou[8]. Eight dominant species of hermatypic corals, including Galaxea fascicoularis, Porite lutea, Favites abdit, Acropora millepora, Pocillopora verrucosa, Montipora efforescene, Favia speciosa, Goniastrea sp. were recorded in Huang’s survey.These were largely massive corals, which are more tolerant to environmental changes compared to branching corals. The historical data show that the number of coral species in China declines significantly due to anthropogenic disturbances and pollution. For example, Zhao et al. [18] studied the evolution and its environmental significance of coral diversity on Luhuitou fringing reefs and found a significant decline of fringing reefs. Corals had higher biodiversity between the 1950s and 1960s, but their number and coverage decreases in the following 50 years.The decline largely attributes to human impacts. Overfishing and destructive fishing, as well as using reef rocks for building materials, result in the largescale damage. The coverage of live corals has been remarkably decreasing. Zhao et al. [18]pointed that the coral communities in Luhuitou and Sanya were once flourish in the past, with coverage of as high as 80%-90% in the 1960s. However, the coverage decreased to 60% between 1978 and 1983. The number further reduced to 35% in 1990, 23% in 2002, and 20% in 2004 (Fig. 3A), indicating considerable degradation. Liang et al. [19] also found the degradation of coral reefs at the Weizhou Island, Guangxi province. The dominant corals Acropora has changed; the coral communities have also changed from the complex multi-components in the past to the simple mono-ones. Overfishing is considered to be one of the major factors leading to the degradation. Xuwen County in Guangdong province distributes only a large-scale coral reef in Mainland China. Similarly, the coverage of coral reefs has gradually declined in the past 10 years, from 30%-40% in 2002 to less than 7% in 2008 (Fig. 3B) [20].
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Table 3.
Species number and dominant species of scleractinian coral in China (cited from the latest investigation report on the evaluation and restoration technique of repaired coral reef ecosystem, 2010.11).
Type of coral reefs
Investigated area
Species number
Dongshan, Fujian
3
Turbinaria peltata and Cyphastrea serailia
23.71
25
Acropora, Poriteslutea and Goniastrea
22.56
Weizhou Island, Guangxi
14
Pavona decussate, Acropora millepora and Porites lutea
21.04
Xuwen, Guangdong
24
Favites abdita, Platygyra daedalea, Montipora turgescens, Goniopora gracilis and Favias peciosa
20.31
Northwest Hainan
51
Porites lutea, Galaxea fascicoularis and Montipora
19.83
Northeast Hainan
68
Galaxea fascicoulari, Montipora and Acropora pulchra
19.12
Eastern Hainan
68
Galaxea fascicoularis, Acropora millepora, Acropora nasuta, Acropora cytherea and Porite slutea
18.34
Sanya, Hainan
65
Galaxea fascicoulari, Montipora efforescene and Acropora millepora
18.22
Wuzhizhou Island, Hainan
41
Acropora pulchra and Acropora cytherea
18.32
178
Acropora millepora, Acropora gemmifera and Porites lutea
16.95
Scleractinian coral community in subtropic zone Daya Bay, Guangdong North edge of China’s Scleractinian coral community
Fringing reef
Atolls
Xisha Islands
Factors leading to the degradation of coral reefs in China
Live coral cover (%)
Coral reef is an ecosystem with high productivity and biodiversity, but it is also very fragile and susceptible to
Figure 3.
Latitude /°N
Dominant species
environmental changes. The degradation of coral reefs in China is mainly attributed to strong anthropogenic disturbance including improper fishing activities, marine pollution,the sedimentation from dredging and coastal engineering, instead of global climate changes.
A
B
The dynamics of live coral covers on Luhuitou fringing reef, Sanya, Hainan province (A: modified from Zhao et al. (2010)) and Xuwen coral reef, Guangdong, province (B: modified from Fu et al. (2009))
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Overfishing and destructive fishing Over-fishing and improper fishing are the most important factors leading to the coral reef degradation in China. Lan[21] reported that 50%~60% of coral reefs in the SCS have been damaged by the fishing activities using explosives and poisons. Fishing with explosives is extremely destructive to coral reefs, and 50% ~ 80% of the affected corals may die [22]. Fu’s survey found that hermatypic corals have been suffering from a different degree of damages such as alarge scale destruction of Acropora reefs in the SCS[22]. The rare ornamental shells such as Tridacna gigas, Cassis cornuta, Cymatium femorale have disappeared in recent years. Cypraea tigris, Lambis lambis and L.chiragra, are at the risk of extinction [23]. Species extinction causes not only the loss of species biological resources, but also the change of community structure and the function of ecological system, which results in the loss of ecological balance and ecological disaster. For example, the Crown of Thorns Starfish (Acanthaster planci) bloom due to decrease of its natural predator C. femorale by overfishing has led to a massive mortality of hermatypic corals in the SCS.
Coral mining Reef mining for building materials has a long history for the residents in southern China. Some cement factories used the coral reefs as raw materials in the past. Coral reefs areused to build walls (Figure 4). It leads to the damage of coral habitats, reducing of fish numbers and coastal erosion.
Marine pollution China’s coastal social and economic development is posing threats to marine environment. Few coastal and urban cities have enough sewage treatment capacity, leading to high concentrations of nutrients discharged into coastal areas. It causes eutrophication and leads to the bloom of harmful algae or nuisance macroalgae like Ulva, Enteromorpha, etc. These macroalgae blooms compete with corals for space, thus inhibiting the coral growth, survival and reproduction, and finally leads to the coral reef degradation [22]. The rapid development of mariculture in China in recent years also has significant impacts on the growth of corals. The shrimp ponds in Hainan constantly discharge waste water rich in organic matters into coastal areas, which is a big threat to coastal coral reefs. Even farms
with the best management practice may have about 30% feed waste. Soluble nitrogen, phosphate and other nutrients from residual feed, feces fermentation and dirt soil have not been processed, and have been discharged into the coastal areas. In addition, breeding of coral fish, shellfish, and lobsters produces serious damage to coral reef communities. For example, the lobster aquaculture needs to obtain seeds from coral reefs. Benthic invertebrates such as starfish and mollusks in coral reefs are harvested as lobster bait, resulting in the degradation of the population structure of coral reefs as well as ecological balance of coral reef ecosystems[21-22].
Sedimentation Human activities in coastal areas such as estate building development, have led to a large quantity of particulate matter discharged into the coastal waters. Sediments have become an important limiting factor affecting the development of coral reefs and the distribution of reef organisms (Figure 5). Unprecedented development along the tropical shorelines in Chinain the past 30 years has caused severe degradation of coral reefs primarily due to the increase of sedimentation from dredging activities and terrestrial runoffs. Fu et al. [20, 24] reported that concentrations of the suspended particulate matterwere 18-72 mg/L in the waters of Wenchang, Hainan province. We also found high concentrations of suspended particulate matter in the waters of Luhuitou and Dongshan Bay. Corals are very sensitive to the sediments. POM in water may reduce light intensity essential for photosynthesis and coral polyps maybe smothered at high turbidities[25-26]. The particulate matter attached on the surface of corals may cause the suffocation and death of corals, reduce its growth and affect the settlement of the larvae or egg. Excessive sediments can adversely affect the structure and function of the coral reef ecosystem by altering both physical and biological processes. Heavy sedimentation areas is usually associated with fewer coral species, less live coral, lower coral growth rates[27-30], higher abundance of branching forms[28, 31], reduced coral recruitment[26, 32-33], decreased calcification[27], decreased net productivity of corals[34], and slower reef accretion rates[25].
Trade for ornamental corals and tropical fish Corals and tropical fish have the very high ornamental value, thus have been massively exploited and exported
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to Japan, United States, and Europe. Although a lot of countries have set up laws to ban the mining of corals, but currently the high profits of coral trading make it very difficult to effectively prohibit the illegal mining. It is also difficult to protect coral reef resources in the South China Sea [21].Ever since the enforcement of
Figure 4.
laws for coral reef protection in Hainan province, illegal coral mining activities have significantly declined. However, the huge market demands for handicraft, tropical ornamental fish,coral skeleton and living corals in mainland China stimulates mining coral reefs, and illegal trade on coral skeleton and living corals.
Raw material collected to build house wall.
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Figure 5.
Reef-building corals (Favia sp.) affected by sediments in Dongshan, Fujian Province, China.
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The protection of coral reef resources in China
Relevant researches on coral reef restoration
To establish coral reef natural reserve is an effective way to protect coral reef habitats and diversity in China.
Coastal coral reef ecosystem restoration and reconstruction is a remedial measure to counteract the coral destruction and recession. Ecological damages of coral reefs caused by development are irreversible if the ecosystem function has not been restored. Ecological degradation caused by natural damages can naturally recover, but it will take along time to restore. For example, after studying the status and dynamics of reef-building corals in Luhuitou fringing reefs, Yuet al. [35] pointed out that the coral community in the fringing reefs was in aninitial recover stage after a serious damage. Based on the established secondary succession model (hermatypic coral successive order: Porites→Favia→Acropora), the coral communities need to take 60~100 years to reach subclimax and climax community[35]. Although ecological system
The State Council has approved to establish five National Marine Nature Reserves in 1990 (Table 4). The most famous one is the Sanya nature reserve, which was established in 1989, and has been upgraded to a national marine nature reserve since 1990. It is located in Luhuitou and Dadonghai waters, including the waters of Yalong bay, Sanya bay, the Yezhu islands and the Daimao island, with an area up to 6 000 km2. So far, there are 10 established national and local marine nature reserves involving in coral reefs (Table 3). It is recently reported that there are also plans for establishing coral reef nature reserves in the Xisha Islands, the South China Sea Islands, the Pingzhou Island, and Hong Kong.
Table 4.
Coral natural reserves in China (cited from Fu et al.[20]).
Natural reserve
Location
Year established
Protected area
Level
Protected objects
Sanya coral reefs
Sanya in Hainan
1990
8500
Nation
Coral reefs and its ecosystem
Linqiangshi Island
Zhanzhou in Hainan
1992
131
Province
Coral reefs and marine ecosystem
Lingao corner
Lingao in Hainan
1986
3467
County
Coral reefs and its ecosystem
Lingao coral reefs
Lingao in Hainan
1986
32400
Province
Coral reefs and Pinctada maxima
Wenchang Eucheuma
Wenchang in Hainan
1983
6500
Province
Eucheuma, Gelidium and corals, etc.
Tonggu mountain
Wenchang in Hainan
1988
4400
Province
Macaque and its habitat, coral reefs
Dazhou island marine ecosystem
Wangning in Hainan
1986
7000
Nation
Swifts and its habitat, islands and marine ecosystem
Xuwen coral reefs
Xuwen in Guangdong
1999
14739
County
Coral reefs and its ecosystem
2003
Province
2007
Nation
Miaowan corals
Zhuhai in Guangdong
2006
2436
Municipal
Coral reefs, its creatures and its ecological environment
Dongshan coral reefs
Dongshan in Fujian
1997
11070
Province
Hermatypic corals and its environment
Weizhou Island
Beihai in Guangxi
2009
Municipal
Coral reefs ecosystem
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will naturally recover when the environmental pressure reduces or disappears, this process is extremely slow. Therefore, it is important to implement artificial restoration and reconstruction to acceleratenatural recovery process. The study on the protection of coral reef sources and the restoration of coral reef ecosystem in China was started in the 1990s. Chen et al. [36] conducted the first study on the development and recovery of coral reef resource in China. They conducted a transplantation experiment in Sanya and found high growth.More than half of transplant corals showed axial or horizontal growth.The Institute of South China Sea of Oceanography, CAS, transplanted coral colonies from asexual reproduction. Survival rate of transplanted corals reached as high as 95% one year after the transplantation. It has been reported thatin 2004, South China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, conducted exsitu conservation of corals. Chen Hong, from Hainan Institute of Tropical Marine Organism and Disease (HITMOD) studied the transplantation and reproduction of hermatypic corals since 1990s. With the support of the program “biodiversity management in southern China” from global environmental funds provided by UNDPChina government, Chen Hong asexually transplanted about 4000 colonies of hermatypic corals from the Zhonglian dock in Sanya Bay to Jixin and Mangzhou island 6~10 kilometers away. The transplant coral colonies grew 4~6 cm and closely cohered together with reefs on the substrate after 20 months. Calcium algae, invertebrates like sea anemone and reef fishes started to appear. Recently, Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA, is undertaking an important cooperation progress with other institutes and universities. This task of the project is developing the restoration technique of repaired coral reef ecosystem. Recently, larvae breeding and release by coral sexual reproduction technology have made some important progress. Li et al. [37] analyzed the oocyte development of Acropora pulchra in Sanya, Hainan. Huang et al. [38]collected eggs of Montipora turgescens and Acropora robusta in Luhuitou Sanya between the end of March and mid-April, and studied embryonic and larval development of both corals. The authors found an interesting phenomenon: zygotes of M. turgescens had fulvous zooxanthellae when they werespawned. However, zygotes of A. robusta did not have zooxanthella and took free-living zooxanthellae
from seawater during their development. A local newspaper in Hainan introduced the studies on the sexual reproduction of hermatypic corals by Chen Hong. Chen collected the coral eggs from the field in the coral spawning seasons and incubated them in the laboratory. The hatched larvae attached the artificially produced coral core. When corals grew 5~10 cm, they would be fastened on the reefs with long steel nail for the rehabilitation of coral reefs.
OUR RESEARCH Recently, our teams led by Lin Rong-Cheng, a senior researcher from The Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA, China, is trying to carry out indoor coral breeding and study sexual reproduction technology for the conservation and the use of restoration China’s offshore coral reef ecosystem (Figure 6).We are establishing a platform of large-scale coral breeding for the conservation of endangered species and the coral studies, i.e., physiological ecology (Dr. Xin-qingZheng), pathology (Dr. Dang-Yun Ou), molecular evolution and phylogenetics (Dr. Xiao-feng Shi). Now our teams are undertaking the Marine Public Welfare Scientific Research Project of China. With the support of this project, we will establish an evaluation system for the restoration of coral reef system, and integrate the techniques of coral reef restoration to provide the key techniques and administration for the restoration of coral reefs, including the coral habitation recovering, the artificial cultivation of corals, coral transplanting, disease prevention and control, and the techniques of underwater restoration (Figure 7). Nowadays we have set up a demonstration area of coral reef restoration, constructed a system of monitoring and effectiveness evaluating. This work will be a good practice and guidance for ecological coastal coral reef restoration in mainland China.
BRIEF SUMMARIES The distribution of the coral reefs starts from the Coral Reef Delta Region, extending west to the Weizhou Island in the Beibu Gulf, north across the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait. Geographical distribution is obviously related to seawater temperature. Species number of hermatypic corals has been gradually decreasing, and the coverage of coral reefs has significantly declined in the past 50 years due to strong anthropogenic disturbance. The species composition
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Pocillopora sp.
Trachyphyllia sp.
Galaxea sp.
Acropora sp.
Favia speciosa
Euphyllia paranchora
Turbinaria pletata
Cyphastrea serailia
Goniopora sp.
Figure 6.
Some species of corals cultivated in our aquariums
Figure 7.
Artificial reef for the use of coral reef restoration (photos from Hainan Marine Development Plan and Design Institute, Haikou, China)
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has changed from susceptible branching Acropora to massive species. To counteract the decline of coral reef resources and degradation of coastal ecological environment, China has taken measures to protect the coral reefs including enforcement of laws and regulations to protect the coral reef resources, establishing a number of national or provincial Coral Reef Marine Natural Reserves, rehabilitating impaired coral reef ecosystem by ex-situ conservation,artificial transplantation,and coral larvae breeding and releasing; and developing the coral farming and breeding techniques.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Foundation: Basic Science Research Fund of the Third Institute of Oceanography, SOA (Grant no. TIO 2011033); Marine Public Welfare Scientific Research Project of China (Grant no.201105012)
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