Article Title:
Nutrient enrichment on coral reefs: Is it a major cause of coral reef decline?
Authors:
Szmant, A.M.
Journal:
Estuaries, August 2002, Volume 25, Issue 4, pp 743–766.
https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02804903
Yet another article for those who look at nutrients and algae as something to avoid, eliminate and be worried about.
Only going to sample one quote as this is a review article and it’s VERY comprehensive…too many quotes to take, so I’ll leave it all for reading aside from this:
Coral reefs are degrading worldwide at an alarming rate. Nutrient over-enrichment is considered a major cause of this decline because degraded coral reefs generally exhibit a shift from high coral cover (low algal cover) to low coral cover with an accompanying high cover and biomass of fleshy algae. Support for such claims is equivocal at best.
In a nutshell, there’s no concrete evidence that nutrients harm reefs – only localized evidence where other factors are at work. Nutrients alone are not the problem.
Now go read the article!
Reef Success 