OF THE 33 animal phyla (or major divisions of the animal kingdom), 32 can be
found in the sea. Although the oceans constitute 71 per cent of the Earth鈥檚
surface, less than 0.2 per cent of this oceanic area harbours about a quarter of
all marine species. The coral reef, to put it melodramatically, is the soul of
the ocean, where the ocean is the mother of all life.
Add to such an assertion the ineffable awe that overcomes so many first-time
explorers of coral reefs (causing snorkellers to hyperventilate and otherwise
dispassionate scientists like Charles Darwin and zoologist John Stanley Gardiner
to eulogise). Then there are the environmental threats from people: global
warming (attributed to coral 鈥渂leaching鈥�), sediment and nutrient loading
(nourishing phytoplankton screening out light), and destructive fishing
practices. Yes, all the ingredients of a highly emotive ecological study are
here.
Fortunately, Osha Gray Davidson鈥檚 The Enchanted Braid(John Wiley,
拢19.99/$24.95, ISBN 047117727X) refrains from the usual
gloom-mongering by introducing these ecosystems in the wider context of their
evolutionary history. Coral reefs are testimonies to survival鈥攖hey climb
on top of each other, hugging the sea surface thousands of years after the
islands they once fringed have submerged, their ancestors survived numerous
worldwide extinction events. Although Davidson鈥檚 鈥渘atural history for the
layperson鈥� employs as much sentiment as science, it engages the general reader
without yielding to oversimplification.
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