中文摘要：

分析多年来涠洲岛珊瑚礁的研究成果,得出以下认识：1）近20多年来涠洲岛活珊瑚覆盖率呈快速下降趋势,北部活珊瑚覆盖率由2005年的63.70%下降到2010年的12.10%,东南部由1991年的60.00%下降到2010年的17.58%,西南部由1991年的80.00%下降到2010年的8.45%;2）处于相对高纬度区域的涠洲岛珊瑚礁,是研究全球气候变暖背景下珊瑚向高纬度或相对高纬度海域迁移的珊瑚避难所这一假说的理想区域;3）涠洲岛的珊瑚礁直接发育于火山基岩之上,是检验达尔文关于环礁成因假说的理想场所;4）涠洲岛珊瑚礁主要受到极端气候事件与人类活动的双重影响,是研究珊瑚礁响应人类活动和极端气候事件的天然实验室。因此,涠洲岛珊瑚礁除了与其他珊瑚礁一样具备重要的资源、生态与环境特征之外,还具有独特的科学研究价值,需要引起高度重视并进行有效保护,为南海珊瑚的北向迁移创造条件。

英文摘要：

The coral reefs in the Weizhou Island（WZR） are located at the northern margin of the tropical zone, and have been developing on the volcanic rocks for at least 7000 years. This paper reviewed the related studies on the coral reefs and summarized the characteristics of WZR as follows： 1） The living coral covers of WZR have substantially declined over the past two decades. For example, the coral cover reduced by 51.6% in the north（2009–2010）, by 42.42% in the southeast（1991–2010）, and by 71.55% in the southwest（1991–2010）; 2） the relatively high-latitude Weizhou Island is an ideal site for testing the refuge hypothesis that, under the background of global warming, corals are migrating from low-latitude areas to high-latitude areas; 3） as the basement rocks of WZR are volcanic rocks, this is an excellent case for testing Darwin＇s atoll origin hypothesis; 4） the Weizhou Island is experiencing heavy anthropogenic activities, thus it is a natural laboratory to study the interactions between human and coral reefs and how this relatively high-latitude coral reef responds to the global warming, extreme climatic events and anthropogenic stresses. Therefore, as an important resource, the WZR are not only of vital ecological and environmental significance as other coral reefs, but also of unique scientific value and deserve close attention for effective protection.