following the 1883 eruption of Krakatau. Coral Reefs, doi:
10.1007/s00338-010-0609-2.
Tjia, 1996. Sea level changes in the tectonically stable Malay-Thai
peninsula. Quaternary International, 31, 95–101.
Tomascik, T., van Woesik, R., and Mah, A. J., 1996. Rapid colonisation of a recent lava flow following a volcanic eruption, Banda
Islands, Indonesia. Coral Reefs, 15, 69–175.
Tomascik, T., Mah, A. J., Nontji, A., and Moosa, M. K., 1997.
The Ecology of Indonesian Seas. Hong Kong: Periplus, 2 vols.,
1388 pp.
Turak, E., and DeVantier, L. M., 2003. Reef-building corals of
Bunaken National Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia: rapid ecological assessment of biodiversity and status. Final Report to
the International Ocean Institute Regional Centre for Australia
& the Western Pacific.
Verstappen, H. Th., 1997. The effect of climatic change on southeast
Asian geomorphology. Journal of Quaternary Science, 12, 413–
418.
Wallace, C. C., and Wolstenholme, J., 1998. Revision of the coral
genus Acropora (Scleractinia: Astrocoeniina: Acroporidae) in
Indonesia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123,
199–384.
Cross-references
Coral Reef, Definition
Corals: Environmental Controls on Growth
Earthquakes and Emergence or Submergence of Coral Reefs
East Indies Triangle of Biodiversity
Plate Tectonics
Tethys Ocean
Tropical Cyclone/Hurricane
Tsunami
Volcanic Disturbances and Coral Reefs
INFRASTRUCTURE AND REEF ISLANDS
Michael R. Gourlay
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Definitions
Infrastructure: Structures and facilities required to support
human activities.
Reef Islands: (1) The portions of modern coral reefs permanently above high tide level – includes atoll islands
(motus), coral cays, low wooded islands, mangrove
islands. (2) Continental islands or raised ancient reefs
completely or mostly surrounded by modern coral reefs
or located within a coral reef region. These islands may
have sedimentary margins which have formed or behave
in similar ways to the various reef islands listed in definition (1).
Introduction
Reef islands have been occupied by humans for many
centuries, requiring the provision of various forms of
infrastructure to support their communities. Groups of
permanent settlements with similar cultural identity may
form independent island nations, such as the Maldives in
the Indian Ocean (Figure 1), Kiribati, and other island
nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Other regional
groups of reef islands form parts of larger nations as in
Indonesia, the Philippines or the Torres Strait Islands, the
latter being politically part of Australia.
In other cases, human occupation was or is transient as
infrastructure is set up to support some form of extractive
industry such as guano mining for agricultural purposes,
beche-de-mer fishing, or turtle canning. Tourism is
a more recent and possibly less transient use of reef islands
(Hopley et al., 2007).
Reefs and reef islands have been and continue to be
used as platforms for structures and facilities needed as
navigation aids and for communications and weather
forecasting.
Reef islands (definition (1)) are inherently unstable and
change their size, shape, elevation and location in
response to short-term changes in wind, wave and current
patterns and to long-term changes in sea levels. Their low
elevation makes them particularly threatened by rising sea
levels associated with climate change (see Chapters Climate Change: Impact of Sea Level Rise on Reef Flat Zonation and Productivity; Climate Change: Impact on Coral
Reef Coasts).
Infrastructure for reef island communities
Inhabited reef islands require most types of basic infrastructure associated with coastal communities, including
the provision of transport or access to the island, shelter
in appropriate buildings, water supply, waste disposal
(sewage and refuse disposal), electric power, communications, roads, and sea defence. Provision of much of this
infrastructure involves changing the natural environment.
Some activities, such as reclamations to enlarge islands for
resort and other development that may be permitted in
island nations, e.g., the Maldives (Bodge and Howard,
2007), are not allowed in conservation regions, e.g., Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Transport to and from an island requires:
– Appropriate mooring and/or harbor facilities for modern vessels, involving dredging of entrance channels
and harbor basins through the reefs surrounding islands
(Figure 2).
– Airfields and helipads constructed in lagoons or on
reefs and islands (Figure 3).
Dredging harbor basins in reefs inevitably releases the silt
and mud trapped in the cavities of the reef substrate
(Figure 4) and, if this process is uncontrolled, significant
damage may occur to the reef environment in the vicinity
of the harbor works (Gourlay and Jell, 1993). Growth of
corals may be inhibited by light reduction in turbid water
or by smothering by deposited sediments. Artificial
entrance channels to both dredged basins and atoll lagoons
can concentrate and/or increase tidal flows on/off the reef
or in/out of the lagoon with consequent long term changes
to the reef or lagoon environment (Figure 2) (Maragos,
1993; Gourlay, 1995; Gourlay and Hacker, 2008). In some
INFRASTRUCTURE AND REEF ISLANDS
601
10.1007/s00338-010-0609-2.
Tjia, 1996. Sea level changes in the tectonically stable Malay-Thai
peninsula. Quaternary International, 31, 95–101.
Tomascik, T., van Woesik, R., and Mah, A. J., 1996. Rapid colonisation of a recent lava flow following a volcanic eruption, Banda
Islands, Indonesia. Coral Reefs, 15, 69–175.
Tomascik, T., Mah, A. J., Nontji, A., and Moosa, M. K., 1997.
The Ecology of Indonesian Seas. Hong Kong: Periplus, 2 vols.,
1388 pp.
Turak, E., and DeVantier, L. M., 2003. Reef-building corals of
Bunaken National Park, North Sulawesi, Indonesia: rapid ecological assessment of biodiversity and status. Final Report to
the International Ocean Institute Regional Centre for Australia
& the Western Pacific.
Verstappen, H. Th., 1997. The effect of climatic change on southeast
Asian geomorphology. Journal of Quaternary Science, 12, 413–
418.
Wallace, C. C., and Wolstenholme, J., 1998. Revision of the coral
genus Acropora (Scleractinia: Astrocoeniina: Acroporidae) in
Indonesia. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 123,
199–384.
Cross-references
Coral Reef, Definition
Corals: Environmental Controls on Growth
Earthquakes and Emergence or Submergence of Coral Reefs
East Indies Triangle of Biodiversity
Plate Tectonics
Tethys Ocean
Tropical Cyclone/Hurricane
Tsunami
Volcanic Disturbances and Coral Reefs
INFRASTRUCTURE AND REEF ISLANDS
Michael R. Gourlay
The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
Definitions
Infrastructure: Structures and facilities required to support
human activities.
Reef Islands: (1) The portions of modern coral reefs permanently above high tide level – includes atoll islands
(motus), coral cays, low wooded islands, mangrove
islands. (2) Continental islands or raised ancient reefs
completely or mostly surrounded by modern coral reefs
or located within a coral reef region. These islands may
have sedimentary margins which have formed or behave
in similar ways to the various reef islands listed in definition (1).
Introduction
Reef islands have been occupied by humans for many
centuries, requiring the provision of various forms of
infrastructure to support their communities. Groups of
permanent settlements with similar cultural identity may
form independent island nations, such as the Maldives in
the Indian Ocean (Figure 1), Kiribati, and other island
nations in the Pacific and the Caribbean. Other regional
groups of reef islands form parts of larger nations as in
Indonesia, the Philippines or the Torres Strait Islands, the
latter being politically part of Australia.
In other cases, human occupation was or is transient as
infrastructure is set up to support some form of extractive
industry such as guano mining for agricultural purposes,
beche-de-mer fishing, or turtle canning. Tourism is
a more recent and possibly less transient use of reef islands
(Hopley et al., 2007).
Reefs and reef islands have been and continue to be
used as platforms for structures and facilities needed as
navigation aids and for communications and weather
forecasting.
Reef islands (definition (1)) are inherently unstable and
change their size, shape, elevation and location in
response to short-term changes in wind, wave and current
patterns and to long-term changes in sea levels. Their low
elevation makes them particularly threatened by rising sea
levels associated with climate change (see Chapters Climate Change: Impact of Sea Level Rise on Reef Flat Zonation and Productivity; Climate Change: Impact on Coral
Reef Coasts).
Infrastructure for reef island communities
Inhabited reef islands require most types of basic infrastructure associated with coastal communities, including
the provision of transport or access to the island, shelter
in appropriate buildings, water supply, waste disposal
(sewage and refuse disposal), electric power, communications, roads, and sea defence. Provision of much of this
infrastructure involves changing the natural environment.
Some activities, such as reclamations to enlarge islands for
resort and other development that may be permitted in
island nations, e.g., the Maldives (Bodge and Howard,
2007), are not allowed in conservation regions, e.g., Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Transport to and from an island requires:
– Appropriate mooring and/or harbor facilities for modern vessels, involving dredging of entrance channels
and harbor basins through the reefs surrounding islands
(Figure 2).
– Airfields and helipads constructed in lagoons or on
reefs and islands (Figure 3).
Dredging harbor basins in reefs inevitably releases the silt
and mud trapped in the cavities of the reef substrate
(Figure 4) and, if this process is uncontrolled, significant
damage may occur to the reef environment in the vicinity
of the harbor works (Gourlay and Jell, 1993). Growth of
corals may be inhibited by light reduction in turbid water
or by smothering by deposited sediments. Artificial
entrance channels to both dredged basins and atoll lagoons
can concentrate and/or increase tidal flows on/off the reef
or in/out of the lagoon with consequent long term changes
to the reef or lagoon environment (Figure 2) (Maragos,
1993; Gourlay, 1995; Gourlay and Hacker, 2008). In some
INFRASTRUCTURE AND REEF ISLANDS
601