The United States government is rolling back conservation policies in a way that demonstrably risks accelerating already at-risk coral reefs around its island territory Guam in the Pacific Ocean. Part of the issue is the way the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is defined. Researchers from the University of Tokyo, University of Guam, University of Technology Sydney and Cornell University strongly suggest broadening key species categories such that reefs are more generally protected. At present, overly specific terminology means anything outside key categories doesn't fall under the ESA and is therefore open to further human interference.

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Just looking at films and photos of them, or if you’re lucky enough, diving and seeing them in person, will show you just how broad these ecosystems are. But more than just looking pretty, reefs can protect coastlines and all manner of creatures, as well as provide a magnet for tourists who, when properly managed, can positively contribute economically to a region. However, various things threaten these surprisingly delicate ecosystems, such as climate change, pollution, heavy fishing, military activity and so on. In any case, human activities exacerbate dangers to reefs and accelerate their decline.

Conservation policies exist in various guises all over the world, but typically a country will have its own set of policies that can and will determine the fate of coral reefs within its territory. In particular, the U.S. has the ESA which ought to protect delicate ecosystems from further human activity. But, the researchers point out that it falls short in ways that are being exploited by powers that seek to put military and economic matters ahead of environmental protection.

“The United States government seems to be softening conservation policies in ways that allow companies and the military to avoid regulation,” said doctoral fellow Colin Anthony at the Department of Integrated Biosciences at the University of Tokyo. “Even if they weren’t doing this, a good policy to protect marine ecosystems is extremely difficult due to a high amount of undescribed biodiversity. This diversity is so unique and so sensitive to a changing environment that we don’t even know how to define and protect a species before it begins to disappear. Tropical coral reefs are a great example of this.”

Anthony and his team published a letter in the journal Science which aims to address this imbalance and inform policymakers to improve environmental protection. Their letter describes a trend in U.S. politics to expand exemptions for business and military projects which circumvent ESA protections. They also highlight that reef-building corals are disappearing faster than scientists can even document them, and this itself is because of what they call a conservation gap, where key policy documents list specific species for protection. But corals are difficult things to pigeonhole the way scientists like to do.

“Corals are extremely plastic, meaning that depending on their environment, the way they look can change as well. We also can’t get most corals to reproduce reliably, which limits our ability to classically evaluate species based on reproduction or compatibility, such as what people have traditionally done with land animals,” said Anthony. “For these two reasons, species identifications and descriptions rely on acquiring genetic material from the entire possible range of a species, often the whole Pacific Ocean. Then, scientists typically need to come up with a set of identifiable traits and ranges beyond just genetic information as, without it, it is difficult to identify that species. This last part is the most difficult and important for conservation policy.”

The letter aims to broaden official definitions such that corresponding protections are broadened as a result. Essentially, the researchers are hoping to push environmental policies to offer protections not for individual species but for an entire genus at a time. This idea can be applied to other kinds of ecosystems too.