ABSTRACT
Jamaican coral reefs are undergoing accelerating deterioration wherever human activity physically disturbs reefs, degrades water quality, or overharvests key species (Goreau 1992). Many reefs no longer function as vital ecosystems: the coral-dominated wave-resistant upward-growing structures are turning into benthic ecosystems with a minor component of isolated corals. These ecosystems are coral communities rather than coral reefs, because biodiversity is severely degraded and the reef structure, being bioeroded faster than it grows, is less able to protect shorelines, keep up with rising sea level, or provide shelter and food for the many other organisms that live between corals. Degraded reefs have fleshy algae dominant over calcareous algae and can no longer provide beach sand to replenish that lost to erosion after damaged reef crests allow increased wave energy to reach the shore.
