Overview

"Coral reefs are one of the most biologically diverse habitats in the world, host to an extraordinary variety of marine plants and animals. They are also one of the world's most fragile and endangered ecosystems. The growth of mass tourism, combined with the boom in popularity of scuba diving, has brought these spectacular ecosystems to public attention across the planet. Coral reefs provide essential fish habitat, support endangered and threatened species, and harbour protected marine mammals and turtles. They are a significant source of food, provide income and employment through tourism and marine recreation, and offer countless other benefits to humans, including supplying compounds for pharmaceuticals. Yet coral reefs around the world are rapidly being degraded by a number of human activities, such as overfishing, coastal development, and the introduction of sewage, fertilizer, and sediment. ""World Atlas of Coral Reefs"" provides the first detailed and definitive account of the current state of our planet's coral reefs. With its authoritative information, maps, and detailed descriptive texts and images by experts, this full-colour volume should be a valuable resource for anyone"

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9780520232556

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Reviews

The authors have applied the best in contemporary marine science and cartography to a dauntingly difficult project, and the result is a credit to the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. The World Atlas of Coral Reefs is a good example of the value to environmental policymakers of combining the accurate description of a valued resource with a sound understanding of the natural and anthropogenic forces which may alter and, at times, threaten it. -- Times Literary Supplement

Author Information

Mark D. Spalding is Senior Programme Officer of UNEP-WCMC's Marine and Coastal Programme. Corinna Ravilious is a geographic information systems technical officer at UNEP-WCMC, and Edmund P. Green is head of UNEP-WCMC's Marine and Coastal Programme.

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