The Wicked Problem of China's Disappearing Coral Reefs
The Wicked Problem of China's Disappearing Coral Reefs
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01957.x
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发表时间：
2013-04-01
影响因子：
6.3
通讯作者：
Young, Matthew A. L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Hughes, Terry P.;Huang, Hui;Young, Matthew A. L.
我们研究了中国珊瑚礁科学的发展以及珊瑚礁管理的政策、机构和治理框架，以突出保护珊瑚礁的邪恶问题，同时促进人类发展和国家建设。中国和该地区的其他主权国家正在经历前所未有的经济扩张、人口快速增长、大规模移民、广泛的沿海开发和栖息地丧失。我们分析了大量关于中国珊瑚礁状况和南中国海争议领土的零散文献。我们发现，在过去的30年里，沿着中国大陆和邻近海南岛的沿海边缘礁的珊瑚丰度至少下降了80%。在南海6个国家声称拥有主权的近海环礁和群岛上，珊瑚覆盖率在过去1015年内从平均>60%下降到约20%。气候变化对这些珊瑚礁的影响远远小于沿海开发、污染、过度捕捞和破坏性捕捞做法。具有讽刺意味的是，这些珊瑚礁状况的普遍下降是在中国的研究和珊瑚礁管理能力迅速扩大的同时发生的。在珊瑚的损失变得不可逆转之前，中国沿海珊瑚礁的治理可以通过以下方式得到改善：提高公众对生态系统服务下降的认识，为珊瑚礁科学家和管理人员的培训提供财政支持，改善对珊瑚礁动态和状况的监测，以更好地为政策制定提供信息，以及执行现有的保护珊瑚礁的法规。在南中国海，迫切需要改变政策和法律的框架，完善治理结构，以及邻国之间的合作，以发展有争议的近海珊瑚礁的合作管理。
We examined the development of coral reef science and the policies, institutions, and governance frameworks for management of coral reefs in China in order to highlight the wicked problem of preserving reefs while simultaneously promoting human development and nation building. China and other sovereign states in the region are experiencing unprecedented economic expansion, rapid population growth, mass migration, widespread coastal development, and loss of habitat. We analyzed a large, fragmented literature on the condition of coral reefs in China and the disputed territories of the South China Sea. We found that coral abundance has declined by at least 80% over the past 30 years on coastal fringing reefs along the Chinese mainland and adjoining Hainan Island. On offshore atolls and archipelagos claimed by 6 countries in the South China Sea, coral cover has declined from an average of >60% to around 20% within the past 1015 years. Climate change has affected these reefs far less than coastal development, pollution, overfishing, and destructive fishing practices. Ironically, these widespread declines in the condition of reefs are unfolding as China's research and reef-management capacity are rapidly expanding. Before the loss of corals becomes irreversible, governance of China's coastal reefs could be improved by increasing public awareness of declining ecosystem services, by providing financial support for training of reef scientists and managers, by improving monitoring of coral reef dynamics and condition to better inform policy development, and by enforcing existing regulations that could protect coral reefs. In the South China Sea, changes in policy and legal frameworks, refinement of governance structures, and cooperation among neighboring countries are urgently needed to develop cooperative management of contested offshore reefs.