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Nutrient over-enrichment ofSouth Florida’s coral reefs: how science and management failed to protect a national treasure
| Title: | Nutrient over-enrichment ofSouth Florida’s coral reefs: how science and management failed to protect a national treasure. |
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| Name(s): | Lapointe, Brian E. | |
| Type of Resource: | text | |
| Genre: | Article | |
| Date Issued: | 2001 | |
| Publisher: | Environment Canada, Atlantic Region | |
| Place of Publication: | Dartmouth, Nova Scotia | |
| Physical Form: | ||
| Extent: | 9 p. | |
| Language(s): | English | |
| Identifier: | FA00007356 (IID) | |
| Note(s): |
The Florida Keys are the most popular SCUBA diving and snorkeling destination in the
world. The primary attraction is the 220-mile long Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the only living coral
reef ecosystem within the continental United States, which attracts some 2.5 million tourists a year.
Coral reefs are among the most productive and diverse ecosystems in the world and, as such, are
comparable to their terrestrial counterparts-- tropical rainforests. Coral reefs grow as a thin veneer
of living coral tissue on the outside of the hermatypic (reef-forming) skeleton and accrete massive
limestone formations over geologic time. Coral reefs have evolved over hundreds of millions of
years in tropical and subtropical waters that typically have very low concentrations of dissolved
inorganic nutrients. Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 1404 This manuscript is an author version with the final publication available and may be cited as: Lapointe, B. E. (2001). Nutrient over-enrichment of South Florida’s coral reefs: how science and management failed to protect a national treasure. In T. Chopin & P. G. Wells (Eds.), Opportunities and challenges for protecting, restoring and enhancing coastal habitats in the Bay of Fundy: proceedings of the 4th Bay of Fundy Science Workshop (pp. 9-16). Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: Environment Canada, Atlantic Region. |
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| Subject(s): |
Coral reef ecology--Florida--Florida Keys Eutrophication |
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| Persistent Link to This Record: | http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FA00007356 | |
| Host Institution: | FAU |
