Bush to create world?s biggest ocean preserve
- Thread starter jroczniak
- Start date
RichConley
Attack of the Killer Cute
I wonder if they'll do as good of a job as NOAA has done with the reefs in the Keys.....
NateHanson
Non-member
Sounds like a good move! (although gail norton will probably claim it as an increase in wetland acreage! 
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Jim Tansey
Well-Known Member
Hope he jumps in it.
Jim
Jim
Greg Hiller
BRS Moderator
Of course it is a good thing. But one thing to keep in mind. This reserve actually does very little to preserve much in the way of highly diverse coral reef. If you've even looked at a topographical map of species and genera diversity of coral, you would see that the most diverse area of the world is around the Philippines and Indonesia. The further out you get from there, the less 'interesting' the reefs become. The Pacific ocean between Hawaii, and say...Fiji is in a sense a giant desert. The number of genera of coral about the Philippines is about 90. By the time you reach the Hawaiian Islands you are down to a much lower number, I think it may be as low as 10 genera. There might be more diversity in the Hawaiian islands further to the west (those that are in the newly created preserve), but some of these islands are also further north, in cooler water, which also leads in general to less diversity. If you've ever been diving in Hawaii, you know what I mean, while there are a lot of cool fish, the corals are pretty much the same thing over and over.
Kiah
Non-member
I agree Greg, but unfortunately the rest is not in the USA.
The really neat thing though about the Hawaiian islands is that they are the most isloated land mass on the earth. The impact of this is less diversity. However the fish and coral that were able to survive to reach Hawaii developed under slightly different conditions (cooler waters) than other tropical species, the gene pool was limited and the animals evolved in a different way so while the species are limited in number compared to other tropical reef areas about 25% are found no where else in the world.
The really neat thing though about the Hawaiian islands is that they are the most isloated land mass on the earth. The impact of this is less diversity. However the fish and coral that were able to survive to reach Hawaii developed under slightly different conditions (cooler waters) than other tropical species, the gene pool was limited and the animals evolved in a different way so while the species are limited in number compared to other tropical reef areas about 25% are found no where else in the world.
