Status of coral reefs in east and north Asia

Abstract

East and North Asian countries comprising mainland China. Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea. lie to the north of the coral triangle of highest marine diversity. However, these reef have been under heavy pressur of anthropogenic and natural disturbances. The coral communities and coral reefs in the mainland China are unprecedentedly degraded over the last 30 to 50 years caused by mariculture, over fishing, eutrophication, sdimentation, sewage pollution, and outbreaks of crown of thorns starfish. A grounding of a large barge was occurred in Tung Ping Chau Marine Park in Hong Kong during a storm in August 2006. It caused significant damage to the A Ye Wan core area in the marine park. The abundance of fish and invertebrate indicators at most of the sites was very low during the Reef check survey in Taiwan in 2009.ural disturbances. The coral communities and coral reefs in the mainland China are unprecedentedly degraded over the last 30 to 50 years caused by mariculture, over fishing, eutrophication, sdimentation, sewage pollution, and outbreaks of crown of thorns starfish. A grounding of a large barge was occurred in Tung Ping Chau Marine Park in Hong Kong during a storm in August 2006. It caused significant damage to the A Ye Wan core area in the marine park. The abundance of fish and invertebrate indicators at most of the sites was very low during the Reef check survey in Taiwan in 2009.