The Enchanted Braid: Coming to Terms with Nature on the Coral Reef

"There is a word for what Darwin and the rest of us have felt whenin the presence of the reef: 'awe.' Confronted with the reef, aweis the most appropriate response. It is probably in our nature. Itis also, apparently, in our nature to destroy that which we hold inawe." --from The Enchanted Braid

Of the myriad ecosystems populating the underwater world, coralreefs are by far the most complex. While their stunning beauty hasbeen extolled for centuries, the intricate workings of reefenvironments remained largely hidden from view. In fact, until theadvent of scuba diving just fifty years ago, corals have been amongthe last natural histories to be extensively explored. The highpassion with which scientists have greeted this particularinvestigation --beginning with the foundational theories of CharlesDarwin in 1842--is perhaps unprecedented, but hardly difficult tounderstand. A phenomenon of both awesome beauty and vitalimportance, the coral reef is home to the most diverse range ofspecies of any environment on the planet, including fish, shrimps,worms, snails, crabs, sea cucumbers, sea stars, urchins, anemones,and sea squirts.

The crux of reef life, scientists have discovered, lies in nature'smost intimate example of symbiosis: the mutually beneficialrelationship between the coral polyp and its "tenant," thezooxanthellate algae. Davidson's history begins with thisdeceptively diminutive hybrid, the engine behind the constructionof the limestone-based coral structure. Together, the threeelements comprise a unique zoophytalite (animal-plant-mineral)form, or an "enchanted braid."

Aided by an eight-page, full-color photographic insertdemonstrating the incredible intricacies of the reef and its uniqueinhabitants, The Enchanted Braid identifies the approximately240,000 square miles of coral reef on the planet today asindispensable not only to the livelihood of the oceans but also tohumans. The reef is, after all, the "soul of the sea," the spawningground for tens of thousands of marine species. As sources of food(many islands rely on reefs for all their protein), medicine(corals are used in bone grafts and to fight cancer and leukemia),and detailed insight into the history of climatic conditions, coralreefs are critically important to human life on Earth. However, ina world of oil tanker disasters, global warming, and dwindlingnatural resources, they are also in grave danger ofextinction.

Osha Gray Davidson's urgent clarion call to halt today's man-madedegradation of coral reefs is both alarming and persuasive,effectively underscored by the rich historical context of passagesfrom Darwin's captivating diary of his seminal work on reefs 150years ago. Like the coral reef, The Enchanted Braid is itself arare hybrid, a graceful combination of aesthetic appreciation,scientific inquiry, and environmental manifesto.