Degredation of Rocky Reefs (IMAGE)

University of California - San Diego

Degredation of Rocky Reefs

Caption

Rocky reefs can exhibit stages of human impact: (a) a healthy reef with a variety of species, in particular large top predators; (b) big fish removed through overfishing; (c) barren reefs emerge because populations of species such as sea urchin increase; and (d) reefs covered by sediments due to a lack of species that previously filtered and removed sediments, along with an influx of sediments coming from activities such as shrimp trawling.

Credit

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego

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