transplanting Acropora cyth

[Jack, Sobel]

Why don't we spend more time and effort protecting our natural heritage  
rather than trying to replicate someone else's to displace ours? 

Coral reefs, Acropora coral reefs included, are parts of beautiful and  
valuable natural ecosystems, and we should do all we can to protect these  
threatened treasures; but that doen't mean we should be exporting them  
into other natural environments that also have value. 

Why don't we learn from our past mistakes?  History provides enough  
experience with both deliberate and accidental introductions to be very  
wary of such actions, which often have unintentional adverse impacts.   
Think about the deliberate introduction of carp or the accidental  
introduction of the zebra mussel to North America.  There are a multitude  
of such examples.  Hawaii, in particular, with its sensitive, highly  
endemic flora and fauna; provides a font of such examples. 

Let's protect our extraordinary and threatened natural coral reefs,  
including those with Acropora, but let's not manufacture a need to  
introduce them to areas where they don't belong.  Let's not mess  
unnecessarily with Mother Nature.