The Enchanted Braid: Coming to Terms with Nature on the Coral Reef by Osha Gray Davidson

by Osha Gray Davidson

"There is a word for what Darwin and the rest of us have felt whenin the presence of the '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 BraidOf 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 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.

Genres: Nonfiction

Hardcover

First published April 13, 1998

About the author

Osha Gray Davidson is a writer who focuses on energy, the environment and other social and human rights issues. He was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and grew up in Iowa, studying at the University of Iowa.

Osha Gray Davidson is an award-winning author of six books of non-fiction and more than a hundred articles on a range of topics. He covered the environment for Rolling Stone magazine and blogged on renewable energy at Forbes.com. His freelance work has also appeared in InsideClimate News, Grist, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Salon, Mother Jones and other publications. Davidson co-wrote the screenplay for the IMAX documentary Coral Reef Adventure and his photographs have appeared in Rolling Stone, InsideClimate News, Forbes.com, and elsewhere.

His Rolling Stone article about Lori Piestewa, the first Native American woman to die in combat fighting for the United States, was nominated for a National Magazine Award for feature writing. He was a finalist for both the Natural World Book Award (UK) and the Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism. Coral Reef Adventure was the highest grossing documentary film of 2003 and was voted Best Picture of 2003 by the Giant Screen Theatre Association. He is a member of the Society of Environmental Journalists and a Fellow at the University of Iowa Center for Human Rights.

Davidson lives in Phoenix, Arizona, where he publishes the blog The Phoenix Sun, about renewable energy.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Reviews

[Rachel Gunderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The natural history of the coral reef and its beauty is expressed by many scientists and the author Osha Davidson as well as the relationship between humans and the impact it has on the environment. "There is a word for what Darwin and the rest of us have felt when in the presence of the reef: 'awe.' Confronted with the reef, awe is the most appropriate response. It is probably in our nature. It is also, apparently, in our nature to destroy that which we hold in awe." (Davidson 11). Davidson descriptively talks about the beauty and essence of the coral reefs and the different species of animals he saw up first hand at the Great Barrier Reef and his snorkeling days in the keys. There are thousands of different species in the ocean and the coral reef is home to one quarter of the all marine species, while the global ocean only represents one percent of the coral reefs. There are very good points and facts Davidson makes on why we need coral reefs and how humans are killing it off. The most complex ecosystem in the world is coral reefs and is explained to understand it better, such as the animal, vegetable, mineral rely on each to keep the system going. Details about how coral polyp works and how its limestone structure can help human life in medicine and how it protects itself is explained by Davidson and Darwin also starts his theory about the coral reef formation with the history of coral. The coral shares history not just of what its material is or how old it is but also is a source to insight detail of history of climate conditions. Davidson explains how Charles Darwin’s theory about coral reef comes together. While Charles Darwin is on his journey around the world he saw coral reefs and he studied it came up with the hypothesis that the three types of reefs, the atolls, the barrier and the fringing reefs were really of one kind only viewed at different stages of development. Following Charles Darwin’s theory about Coral, Davidson explains the how coral is different from a reef and how it is a reef builder and the detail of its structure. The area on earth where the sun gives off the most solar energy is the tropics or on the equator, which is where a lot of the coral reefs are located. Coral reefs adapt and take advantage of the intense light as well as the giant triangle straddling the equator from the Philippines to the island of Sumatra to Papa New Guinea. This area is the most important region on earth, because it is the planetary center of biodiversity, Davidson explains. He also does a very good job at explaining the reef life as a large city, called “zonation,” comparing it such as reefs have neighborhoods too and how no two cities are alike, just like no two reefs are alike. A very important concept Davidson brings up is the sea grass, mangrove, and coral reef important connection to the ecosystem, they all protect and help feed the other to keep them alive otherwise the ecosystem would fall and they would all die. Davidson emphasizes how different species whether it be fish or shrimp or sea grass, they all rely on each other to continue the ecosystem and keep their world alive. Continuing on different species, Davidson got to see green sea turtles lay their eggs first hand and he explains the beautiful process, but he also explains how they will die off. The great part about the book is the way Davidson adds the scholarly information, but also the fun and beautiful events that happen in nature that make you smile and want to take your kids to see the same beauty he talks about, such as the cleaning station that the fish go through. The scholar, Davidson does a spectacular job at making biology and chemistry fun to read about and he uses examples first hand to explain concepts such as how fish reproduce: most reef fish can change from one sex to another, and explains the process of that in a easy to understand way. A good amount of the book Davidson shares with the reader how humans and nature interact, mainly on coral reefs. “About ten percent of the world’s coral reefs have already been degraded beyond recovery and another thirty percent are likely to decline significantly within the next twenty years” (Davidson 11). This quote is true, coral reefs are being degraded beyond recovery and it is getting worse because of humans, Davidson talked about the city Jakarta and how the President wanted to modernize the city. By modernizing the city he threw out bikes and added lots of scooters, which in turn adds more carbon monoxide and lead into the air, helping with global warming. It’s not just the cars that are killing the environment it is also the poor living conditions in countries let their sewage wastes go into the ocean as well as overfishing causes the coral reef to die off, which in turn is the shelter for reef species so they die off as well. As Davidson travels the world to different coral reefs he ends up on a small island in Asia where they catch there food blast fishing: they throw dynamite or make bottle bombs and throw them in into the water and it kills fish. The blasting destroys reef framework leaving big crates in the reef. Right near by Hong Kong catch rare reef fish in nets and sell them at fancy restaurants, it is considered a delicately. Another way people try to catch fish is chemically with cyanide. In Asia and Latin America shrimp farming is practiced and that kills of mangrove trees breaking the sea-grass, coral reef, mangrove ecosystem. The scholar, Davidson explains that these different ways of fishing are also affecting the human’s lives. Blasting fish causes the snorkelers to get the bends and become paralyzed as well as lose limbs from the bottle bombs and cyanide fishing, the fisherman usually get health problems or die from the chemical. These dangerous ways of fishing are usually practiced in countries that are economically low and need food just to survive. Since these coral reefs are being destroyed Davidson talked about how scientists wanted to see counterbalance the devastation of the destroyed coral reefs and help them grow back so these countries to fish again without destroying the reef. As Davidson continues on the human impact, he brings up how rivers can cause the coral reefs to be destroyed by what is being carried in the river to the ocean, such as an increasing load of sediments, agricultural chemicals, nutrient’s, and other pollutants. Streams and Rivers collect a lot of agriculture and urbanization problems aside from sewage to help destroy coral reefs. While Davidson was checking out what pollutants were in rivers and streams he decided to take a trip in the rainforest since the coral reef is referred to as the rainforest of the sea, because of all the different species. These human impacts on the environment cause global warming as Davidson puts it we have two oceans, the ocean and the atmosphere. One of the most dramatic examples of this two ocean relationship is the Indonesian Low, a convergence of oceanic and atmospheric conditions. This condition then changes temperature and pressure in the ocean and even just a few degrees change in temperature can cause the coral reefs to bleach and slowly degrade. I learned a lot about coral reefs, the science behind it and the beauty of it and that is what Davidson wants the reader to get out of his book. He makes you feel like you’re actually snorkeling right next to him looking at the fish or on the beach helping that green sea turtle go back to the ocean. He also deeply talks about how humans impact the environment around them by staying alive or just for the economy needs and wants. He talks about how global warming affects the coral reefs. He makes you really about not just coral reefs, but about all of the environment that we are slowly destroying, and how if we just learn a little bit of information about our own environment we could find another way to live without harming the environment as much. I personally really enjoyed reading this book, it made me remember those days snorkeling in Hawaii and seeing all the beautiful fish and the sea turtles. The author makes me see the impact humans have on the environment and how it affects the humans as well.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy this book and it sits prominently in the portion of my library dedicated to environmental science and ecology. Of course, I am biased, since I provided images for the book.

[Mark Everglade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure how accurate the stats are here so many years later but the books relationship established between mangroves and sea grass beds and reefs really resonated.

[Tania · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book is pretty out of date; a lot of the problems that Davidson discusses have become much more common knowledge than they were in 1998 and better researched. However, the spirit of wonder and discovery that infuses his narrative, as well as the mixed feeling of despair and hope, continue to ring true. It was worth the time just to get some insight into the subject in an accessible and well written way.

[Jax (Josh) Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this book does an excellent job making a somewhat uninteresting topic very captivating. Their excellent use of poetic analogies and the way they supplement scientific information with personal travel and experience made the book for me.

[Tiffany]

Good one on Coral Reefs & ecology. You don't have to be a bio-nerd like me to enjoy this one. Free to good home.