Abstract
Coral reefs on remote islands and atolls are less exposed to direct human stressors but are becoming increasingly vulnerable because of their development for geopolitical and military purposes. Here we document dredging and filling activities by countries in the South China Sea, where building new islands and channels on atolls is leading to considerable losses of, and perhaps irreversible damages to, unique coral reef ecosystems. Preventing similar damage across other reefs in the region necessitates the urgent development of cooperative management of disputed territories in the South China Sea. We suggest using the Antarctic Treaty as a positive precedent for such international cooperation.
Highlights
Coral reefs across the IndoPacific region in 2004 had average coral covers below 25% [21]
Hughes et al [20] documented, for instance, how coral cover in several offshore reefs in the region declined from above 80% in the early 1990s to below 6% by 1998 to 2001 but recovered to 30% on most reefs and up to 78% in some reefs by 2004–2008. Another important attribute of atolls in the South China Sea is the great diversity of species
For seven atolls recently reclaimed by China in the Spratly Islands, we extracted one cloud-free image for each 60-day period from February 2014 to May 2015
Summary
Hughes et al [20] documented, for instance, how coral cover in several offshore reefs in the region declined from above 80% in the early 1990s to below 6% by 1998 to 2001 (due to a mixture of El Niño and damaging fishing methods that make use of cyanine and explosives) but recovered to 30% on most reefs and up to 78% in some reefs by 2004–2008 Another important attribute of atolls in the South China Sea is the great diversity of species. For seven atolls recently reclaimed by China in the Spratly Islands (names provided, Table 1), we extracted one cloud-free image for each 60-day period from February 2014 to May 2015 In these images, only land above sea level is visible in the short-wave infrared band (i.e., Landsat band 6), while land above sea level and natural reef areas
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