So how many species do
you think inhabit the Earth’s coral reefs? Nancy Knowlton,
a leading coral reef ecologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography,
says a “best guess” puts the number at somewhere between
one million and nine million. And therein lies the problem, we
can only guess. The reefs, which have been called the “rainforests
of the sea,” are much less explored than their terrestrial
counterparts. And yet they are among the Earth’s most threatened
and fragile environments.  To address our gaps in knowledge
and investigate various threats to reef health, Knowlton and colleagues
have launched an unprecedented
global census called CReefs. The new project is one of 17 programs
in the Census of Marine Life, a global network of researchers
in more than 70 nations engaged in a 10-year initiative
to assess and explain the diversity, distribution and abundance
of life in the oceans.
In addition to traditional taxonomy, CReefs scientists will use
new DNA technologies to speed up their ability to detect new
species in samples of reef rock, sediments and water. The results
will
not only help researchers evaluate species numbers, but also
will provide key information for reef management. 
Contributors to
Making Waves: Mario Aguilera, '89, Jessica Demian, Marnette Federis,
'06, Rex Graham, Raymond Hardie and Kim McDonald.
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