Open AccessCoral Reefs: Damage Indicators. Case in Point: The French Overseas Departments & Territories (DOM-TOMs)
Author(s) -
Pascal Saffache
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
etudes caribéennes/études caribéennes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1961-859X
pISSN - 1779-0980
DOI - 10.4000/etudescaribeennes.274
Subject(s) - coral reef , coral , reef , oceanography , geography , fishery , geology , biology
Covering approximately 1.2 million km2 or 0.25% of the world maritime domain, coral reefs represent the greatest structures formed on the earth’s surface by living creatures. Although coral has existed for the past billion years, those which cover the seabed in the present day appeared in the Jurassic period (secondary era) and develop in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans (SCORE, 1998). Coral reefs support a broad range of marine biodiversity (one quarter of all fish caught..