Book Review
A Reef in Time: The Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End
John E. N. Veron. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 2008, ix + 276 pages. Price
AUD $50.00. ISBN 9780674026797.
Imagine yourself in a small boat, heading east from Cape Tribulation, Queensland. The sea
is placid, the water a deep dark blue green, the sun shining. Your map suggests you should
be approaching Undine Reef, but there is no sign of anything ahead, just calm, open water.
You check your compass bearings. Suddenly the sea changes colour to a brilliant light azure
– you have arrived! Excited, you anchor the boat over sand beside the coral and slip into the
water. There are fish everywhere, many tiny, brilliantly coloured – other larger fish keep a
respectful distance. Turtles too. The coral, like the small fish, seems to possess endless
shapes and shades of colour, shining in the dappled sunlight of the clear shallow water.
Swimming along the edge of the reef, the coral disappears into mysterious depth. A large
grouper swims slowly towards you, up the reef face. This mottled creature weighs a good
deal more than you do. He gets too close, so you nudge him back, gently but somewhat
nervously. Two small reef sharks pass by, apparently undisturbed by your presence… This
was my introduction to the Great Barrier Reef, in 1974.
Now imagine a visit to the same place in the year 2074. The once beautiful, colourful,
intricate, awe-inspiring reef is just a pile of sand and rubble encrusted with algae. A few
small fish move amongst what is left of Undine Reef. Could this be the same place? Indeed it
is… But worse is to come. Imagine that this devastation extends, not just to the whole of the
Great Barrier Reef, but to virtually all coral reefs across the entire planet. Now imagine that,
on the time-scale of human civilization, this devastation is irreversible.
This is the frightening image which lies within ‘Charlie’ Veron’s book: A Reef in Time: the
Great Barrier Reef from Beginning to End.
Could things really be this bad? Unfortunately they could.
John Veron (former Chief Scientist at the Australian Institute of Marine Science) is one of the
great coral biologists of the world. “For most of my life I have been absorbed by corals: their
taxonomy, biogeography, and evolution, and when given the chance, their palaeontology,
ecology and genetics and well.” It is this broad and long-standing interest in the wider
setting (especially in time) that sets Veron apart from most other reef ecologists.
The purpose of Veron’s book is to alert a wide audience to the likely effects of human
disruption of the Earth’s carbon cycle – a complex subject which spans the work of many
scientific disciplines. To do this Veron has written in a style which is both personal and, to a
great extent, un-encumbered by the language (perhaps the jargon) of specialist disciplines.
However, as the book surveys the history of coral and coral-associated organisms, it covers
a length of time, and a breath of information which is complex and can be confusing. This is
not a book for those wishing for a simple explanation – for there is no simple explanation.
To keep the book relatively short (still nearly 300 pages) and readable, Veron has used
chapter endnotes to reference information presented, and to add related detail. While he had
no option with this approach, as a scientist I did find frustration in the many areas where
interesting or controversial information was presented without source references.
Veron explains that reef building depends on the existence of four main elements: corals,
coralline algae, marine herbivores, and favourable ocean chemistry. The first reefs appeared
in the Ordovician period (at the start of the Palaeozoic era) 490 million years ago (mya),
although major reef building did not occur until just before the start of the Devonian period,
410 mya. Since that time planet Earth has experienced 5 major mass extinctions, and 27
major regional extinctions. Corals, like most other forms of life, where devastated by the
mass extinction events, in fact annihilated by one of them. To a considerable extent,
organisms responsible for reef building re-evolved rather than re-colonised after each mass
extinction event.
Following each mass extinction event, reef building did not re-commence for some millions
of years. Why? In exploring the reasons for the events, and for the long ‘reef gaps’ in the
fossil record following the events, Veron argues the case that changes to ocean chemistry
during and following the events were largely, perhaps primarily responsible. While this
argument is controversial (the causes and consequences of mass extinction events is still
hotly debated) Veron has, to my mind, presented a powerful case. Importantly, the changes
he describes can happen again.
For the duration of the existence of Homo sapiens, (~ 100,000 years) but more specifically
for the duration of recorded human civilization (~ 10,000 years) the physical environment of
planet Earth has been benign to life forms, both terrestrial and marine. As animals with lifespans of less than 100 years, the fact that Earth has not always been so benign tends to
escape our notice and our interest. We have come to believe that we, humans, not only own
the planet but can manage the planet for our own interests. However, if we are forced to look
back in time, as Veron does, it is soon clear that this complacency has no foundation in fact,
and our attitude of ownership is dangerous in the extreme.
History has shown that humans are remarkably good at adapting to crises rather than
predicting them. While long-sighted individuals throughout history have provided warnings of
various calamities, almost inevitably collective action is not taken until serious damage is
already evident. The challenge that Veron highlights is that, to save the planet’s coral reefs
(and more) action must be taken before damage becomes evident. By the time damage is
evident, the time lags of the carbon cycle will mean that there is no turning back –
devastation will follow no matter what action, however extreme, can be taken. And what is at
stake goes far beyond the world’s coral reefs.
In his final chapter Veron concludes: “ If we as individuals want to preserve any degree of
ecological stability, we must be vocal in bringing about government action. Time is critical:
the point of no return – the tipping point – is probably within a decade.”
C. JONATHAN NEVILL
School of Government, Faculty of Arts, University of Tasmania
Churchill Avenue, Hobart 7005, Tasmania, Australia.
Email: jonathan.nevill@gmail.com
Phone: 0422 926 515.
August 2, 2008. Text 1032 words.