Editing Spratly Islands (section)

=== Coral reefs ===
[[Coral reefs]] are the predominant structures of these islands; the Spratly group contains over 600 coral reefs in total.<ref name="ECO">{{WWF ecoregion|id=im0148|name=South China Sea Islands}}</ref> In April 2015 ''The New York Times'' reported that China were using "scores of dredgers" to convert Fiery Cross Reef and several other reefs into military facilities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/world/asia/china-building-airstrip-in-disputed-spratly-islands-satellite-images-show.html|title=China Building Aircraft Runway in Disputed Spratly Islands|date=17 April 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|last1=Perlez|first1=Jane|access-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515220758/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/17/world/asia/china-building-airstrip-in-disputed-spratly-islands-satellite-images-show.html|archive-date=15 May 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/world/asia/what-china-has-been-building-in-the-south-china-sea.html|title=What China Has Been Building in the South China Sea|date=30 July 2015|newspaper=The New York Times|last1=Watkins|first1=Derek|access-date=28 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223070750/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/30/world/asia/what-china-has-been-building-in-the-south-china-sea.html|archive-date=23 February 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>