Acehnese reefs in the wake of the Asian tsunami.
The Sumatra-Andanaman tsunami was one of the greatest natural disasters in recorded human history. Here, we show that on the northwest coast of Aceh, Indonesia, where the tsunami was most ferocious, the damage to corals, although occasionally spectacular, was surprisingly limited. We detected no change in shallow coral assemblages between March 2003 and March 2005, with the exception of one site smothered by sediment. Direct tsunami damage was dependent on habitat and largely restricted to corals growing in unconsolidated substrata, a feature unique to tsunami disturbance. Reef condition, however, varied widely within the region and was clearly correlated with human impacts prior to the tsunami. Where fishing has been controlled, coral cover was high. In contrast, reefs exposed to destructive fishing had low coral cover and high algal cover, a phase shift the tsunami may exacerbate with an influx of sediments and nutrients. Healthy reefs did not mitigate the damage on land. Inundation distance was largely determined by wave height and coastal topography. We conclude that although chronic human misuse has been much more destructive to reefs in Aceh than this rare natural disturbance, human modification of the reef did not contribute to the magnitude of damage on land.
Baird
Andrew H
AH
Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity, School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland 4811, Australia. andrew.baird@jcu.edu.au
Campbell
Stuart J
SJ
Anggoro
Aji W
AW
Ardiwijaya
Rizya L
RL
Fadli
Nur
N
Herdiana
Yudi
Y
Kartawijaya
Tasrif
T
Mahyiddin
Dodent
D
Mukminin
Ahmad
A
Pardede
Shinta T
ST
Pratchett
Morgan S
MS
Rudi
Edi
E
Siregar
Achis M
AM
D000818:Animals; D037421:Anthozoa / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D004190:Disasters; D017753:Ecosystem; D019156:Indian Ocean; D007214:Indonesia; D011157:Population Dynamics; D014872:Water Movements