The coral reefs of a Samoan island in the remote southwest Pacific are in a surprisingly poor condition, highlighting the far-reaching impacts of climate change.
KAUST marine scientists joined colleagues on the research schooner Tara to examine the impacts of climate change on coral reefs surrounding Upolu, an island just 74 kilometers long and 24 kilometers wide, home to about 135,000 Samoans.
Small island populations largely rely on healthy coral reef systems for their livelihoods, but the status of these reefs in remote parts of the world is poorly documented. “Investigating coral reefs in remote locations can teach us about global and local impacts on these ecosystems,” says molecular biologist Maren Ziegler.
Ziegler was chief scientist on board the Tara Pacific Expedition toward the end of 2016 when researchers surveyed 124 sites over 83 kilometers of Upolu’s coastal coral reefs. “Despite the distance from large urban centers, live coral cover was extremely low,” says Ziegler. Live coral covered less than one percent of half the sites surveyed and below 10 percent at 78 percent of the study sites on the reefs.
