Julian Sprung's email.

[Ove Hoegh-Guldberg]

Hi Cindy,

Yes - fascinating.  This seems and area ripe for research projects (postgrad students!).  Did you
publish the SICB Boston stuff?  I would be very interested in having a look at it.  The microclimate
idea also presents an additional explanation for the resilience of deep tissued corals like Porites
(I discussed this in the 1999  article from a point of view of reduced damage due to to low light
regions) ...  deep tissues provide that reservior for promoting regrowth etc.

You will be in Bali, right?

Aloha,

Ove

PS Opening ceremonies - right now - did I miss an meeting or something?


-----Original Message-----
From: Cindy Hunter [mailto:cindyh at hawaii.edu]
Sent: Friday, 15 September 2000 11:51 AM
To: oveh at uq.edu.au; Bruce Carlson; Billy Causey
Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.


Dear Ove,

The situation of "larger than they should be if they were from new sexual
recruits" is reminiscent of the "Phoenix effect" documented in Hawaii by
Paul Jokiel and others in Porites compressa.  In this species, lowered
salinity caused by episodic rainfall and flooding events resulted in a
nearly complete loss of tissue on colony surfaces.  The colonies most
affected by the "freshwater kill" were those in the shallowest water (the
lens of 15-18 ppt water extended to 1-2 m depth) and appeared (and smelled)
to be completely putrefied--covered in gray or black algal/fungal mats.
However, within two years, these nearshore reefs were once again fringed by
large (up to 1 m diameter) Porites compressa colonies. They couldn't have
been from new recruits.

Dave Krupp and I presented an experimental verification of the phenomenon at
SICB in Boston in 1997. After osmotic shock, a layer of residual cells and
zoox shows up deep (0.5-1 cm) within the skeleton; these "ashes" can
apparently de- and redifferentiate to form coral tissues and polyps in a
matter of weeks.  The twist in what you've seen in Pocillopora and
Stylophora (as we did in Montipora) is that these genera are much less
perforate than Porites, and the reservoir of  viable tissues (and zoox)
appears in shaded undersides or between branches, regrowing up and around
the branches rather than from the inside out.

In either case, it demonstrates (again) the remarkable resiliency that
resides in these coral-algal associations. What this means for our thinking
about their genetics, senescence, etc. is indeed interesting territory,

Aloha,
Cindy

P.S. Shouldn't you be at the Opening Ceremonies?

----- Original Message -----
From: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg <oveh at uq.edu.au>
To: Bruce Carlson <carlson at soest.hawaii.edu>; Billy Causey
<Billy.Causey at noaa.gov>
Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>;
<coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 2:21 PM
Subject: RE: Julian Sprung's email.


> Dear Bruce,
>
> Very interesting - I am extremely interested in tracking microclimate
variability as you know.  One
> thing has struck me (and I have a field observation to back it up) is that
these less stressful
> microclimates may represent reservoirs of coral and dinoflagellate tissue
for regrowth following
> bleaching events.  After the 1998 bleaching event, we lost  many corals -
Stylophora and Pocillpora
> were hit so hard at One tree Island that students who were working on
these species had to find
> alternative species to work on.  I was convinced that this was akin to a
"local extinction event".
> To my surprise, almost the same abundance of large colonies of these two
species could be found in
> surveys done in 2000 as prior to 1998.  The size of the heads made it seem
impossible for these
> individuals to be the result of settlement and growth over 18 months.
Where did these coral
> colonies come from? I suspect that the internal areas of the Stylophora
and Pocillopora coral heads
> survived (lower light) and that the coral heads that I thought were
completely dead in fact
> regenerated from these living internal regions.  Could the internal
shading provided by coral heads
> act as a defence against thermal stress?  Interesting area.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Ove
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Bruce Carlson
> Sent: Monday, 28 August 2000 8:15 AM
> To: oveh at uq.edu.au; Billy Causey
> Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>
>
> Ove,
>
> Just to add some anecdotal observations I made in Fiji and Palau that seem
> to be consistent with your hypothesis:  very small acroporids (better
> surface to volume ratio?), and those in the shade under larger colonies
were
> the few survivors, and on the Suva barrier reef (where the water flow is
> strong), one patch of Acropora muricata that I have monitored since 1972
was
> bleached in April -- or so it appeared on first inspection.  However, the
> undersides of every branch were brown -- apparently a shading effect (by
> brown, I mean "normal" in appearance presumably with zooxanthellae present
> in large numbers).  Temperature, sunlight and water flow must all have an
> effect.  I recorded this on video tape.  I did not notice this on any of
the
> bleached corals on the outer barrier reef where mortality among acroporids
> approached 100%. I will check this colony again in November to see if it
has
> recovered.
>
> Unrelated to bleaching, the Suva barrier reef has been overgrown by
> Sargassum since 1972.  I first noticed it growing around the corals in
1995,
> but this year it has taken over on top of the reef (I have photos showing
> the progression over the years).  It snags on the Porites cylindrica and
has
> killed those large old colonies.  The only coral colony free of the
> Sargassum was "my" old A. muricata colony.  Presumably the large Stegastes
> sp. damsels in that patch are keeping it clean = a small oasis in a "sea
of
> Sargassum".  Why is the Sargassum taking over?  My first guess would be
> increased nutrients over the years from farming, coming down the nearby
Rewa
> river delta, but over fishing of herbivores may also be a factor.
>
> Bruce
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg <oveh at uq.edu.au>
> To: Billy Causey <Billy.Causey at noaa.gov>
> Cc: Bruce Carlson <carlson at soest.hawaii.edu>; Bernard A. Thomassin
> <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>; <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2000 11:13 AM
> Subject: RE: Julian Sprung's email.
>
>
> > Dear Bill,
> >
> > Interesting comments.  My feeling is that oxygen is involved (either as
an
> promoter of the
> > photoinhibitory production and build-up of active oxygen within the
> zooxanthellae - that is, as a
> > secondary variable).  We know that thermal stress collapses oxygen
> production and increases
> > respiration (see papers by Coles and Jokiel: Marine Biology. 1977;
> 43:209-216, Hoegh-Guldberg and
> > Smith - J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 1989; 129:279-303 and others). If the
> photosynthetic production of
> > oxygen is down and respiration is up (and probably, bacterial
consumption
> up due to decaying
> > tissue), then oxygen at night over reefs under low flow (especially on
> reefs where corals dominate)
> > would be expected to decrease, perhaps to critical levels.  While not a
> primary factor, I would see
> > this as an important follow on effect.  It may actually be an important
> determinant of mortality.
> >
> > I am interested in following up the aggravating effect of oxygen - it
> would be useful if oxygen was
> > monitored during the next set of bleaching events.  Perhaps water motion
> (over small patches of
> > reef) might help ameliorate the ultimate impact of a thermal event.
Just
> a thought.  That and
> > shading a reef might be useful for managers of small show pieces of
reefs.
> But - just for those
> > journalists our there - this would not be useful for anything more than
a
> few hundred square metres!
> >
> > Cheers to all,
> >
> > Ove
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Billy Causey
> > Sent: Monday, 28 August 2000 1:25 AM
> > To: oveh at uq.edu.au
> > Cc: Bruce Carlson; Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
> >
> >
> > Ove and others,
> >
> > I am interested in your comments about the role of oxygen.  For years I
> have sounded like a broken
> > record, exclaiming that while hot water is one of the stressors leading
to
> coral bleaching, that I
> > suspect the slick-calm, doldrum weather patterns lead to a drop in
> dissolved oxygen levels in the
> > coral
> > reef environment, especially at night.  I sometimes think we take the
> level of dissolved oxygen on
> > coral reefs for granted .... and tend to not believe there could be a
> significant enough change to
> > affect corals for example.
> >
> > During years when we have had severe bleaching in the Florida Keys, I
have
> observed reef fish
> > respiring
> > very heavily .... in the middle of the day.  So I have often suspected
the
> oxygen levels as being
> > low
> > .... during "hot water" events ... even during daylight hours.
> >
> > Is it possible that the zooxanethellae, existing inside the coral polyp
> tissue starts competing with
> > the coral polyp for oxygen at night ... when dissolved oxygen levels are
> low anyway .... and
> > something
> > has to give?  Imagine ... day after day and night after night, during
> periods of low mixing and
> > natural
> > aeration of surface waters, the oxygen level drops below a threshold and
> the coral polyp is in a
> > state
> > of competing for oxygen with the zooxanethellae.
> >
> > Folks ... be kind to me!  I am not a coral physiologist, in fact I
wasn't
> very good in biochemistry
> > .... just a coral reef manager with thousands of hours of observations
> that make me think the coral
> > bleaching trigger and mechanisms are simpler than we realize.  I am
> curious about opinions on this
> > idea.
> >
> > Cheers, Billy Causey
> >
> > Ove Hoegh-Guldberg wrote:
> >
> > > Flow probably has some effect through the removal of some of the
> feedback effects of the high
> > oxygen
> > > tensions that occur during the daylight hours.  If the increased
> production of active oxygen after
> > > thermal stress (a'la Jones et al 1998, reviewed in Hoegh-Guldberg
1999),
> then flow might have an
> > > ameliorating effect through the decreased boundary layer thickness and
> hence oxygen tensions close
> > > to coral surfaces.
> > >
> > > Survival near rivers might be related to the decreased light stress
due
> to the higher turbidity of
> > > rivers.
> > >
> > > Just some ideas ...
> > >
> > > Cheers,
> > >
> > > Ove
> > >
> > > Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
> > > Director, Centre for Marine Studies
> > > University of Queensland
> > > St Lucia, 4072, QLD
> > >
> > > Director, Heron, Stradborke and Low Isles Research Stations
> > > President, Australian Coral Reef Society
> > >
> > > Phone:  +61 07 3365 4333
> > > Fax:       +61 07 3365 4755
> > > Email:    oveh at uq.edu.au
> > > http://www.marine.uq.edu.au/ohg/index.htm
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Bruce
Carlson
> > > Sent: Saturday, 26 August 2000 4:15 AM
> > > To: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
> > >
> > > Bernard,
> > >
> > > Did you also notice that corals in areas with swift flowing water
> (usually
> > > from tides) also survived better than nearby reefs with low flows?  I
> > > noticed this in Fiji on the shallow barrier reef of the University of
> the
> > > South Pacific, and in Palau near the lighthouse reef -- both are
similar
> > > reef environments with strong laminar water flow (the water is shallow
> > > enough to stand up at mid-tide, but the current knocks you over -- I
> don't
> > > have a more precise current measurement).  Why would flow rate matter?
> > > Perhaps there is something related to diffusion rates (which would
> increase
> > > in strong water flow) which offers some protection during
bleaching????
> If
> > > Ove is right about superoxides forming during warm water events, maybe
> this
> > > observation is relevant.
> > >
> > > Also, in Fiji, we noticed that reefs near river mouths also showed
good
> > > survival rates.  The outer barrier reefs in Palau and Fiji seemed to
be
> hit
> > > the hardest.
> > >
> > > Bruce
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: Bernard A. Thomassin <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>
> > > To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > > Sent: Friday, August 25, 2000 6:30 AM
> > > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Jonathan.Kelsey at noaa.gov wrote :
> > > >
> > > > >-Are these generally accepted concepts?
> > > > >-Can one accurately assess coral mortality rates associated with a
> > > bleachin
> > > > >event after "a matter of just a few days"?
> > > > >-Are there quantitative studies showing that there is a greater
> bleaching
> > > > >survival rate among corals in polluted waters versus those in
> > > non-polluted
> > > > >water? -Any comments and/or further discussion would be greatly
> > > appreciated.
> > > >
> > > > We will presented a poste about the subject at bali meeting. In
> Mayotte
> > > > Is., North Mozambique Channel, a huge bleaching occurred in 1998
> spring
> > > > (end of summer season there) and most of 90 percent of the shallow
> coral
> > > of
> > > > the barrier reefs died.
> > > > Those corals that surveyed the best are from the muddy
environnements
> in
> > > > bays, on fringing reef fronts and patches, even the harbour !why ?
> Because
> > > > the corals living in oceanic cooler waters of the barrier reef belt
> (170
> > > km
> > > > long) are less adapted to tolerate hot waters and high level of
light
> > > (some
> > > > got "sun burns" as table acroporas). In opposite population of
corals
> > > (same
> > > > species) living in neritic coastal waters, in inner areas of the
> lagoon,
> > > > are genetically more adapted to tolerate : high temperature, turbid
> waters
> > > > after rainfalls, even falls of salinity. Today in Mayotte, probably
> the
> > > > recovering ibn coral of the mid-lagoon patch reefs (recruitement) is
> due
> > > to
> > > > larvae coming from these coastal coral populations. These is one of
> the
> > > > main reasons to protect these "special" reefs in muddy environments
> from
> > > > all the effects of coastal works (marinas, dredgings, infilling of
> > > littoral
> > > > for roads, etc...).
> > > >
> > > > This is a good way for researches.. and from where larvae that
recruit
> are
> > > > coming.
> > > >
> > > > Bernard A. Thomassin
> > > > Directeur de recherches au C.N.R.S.
> > > >
> > > > G.I.S. "Lag-May"
> > > > (Groupement d'Int=E9r=EAt Scientifique Environnement marin et
littoral
> de
> > > > Mayotte")
> > > > & Centre d'Oceanologie de Marseille,
> > > > Station Marine d'Endoume,
> > > > rue de la Batterie des Lions,
> > > > 13007 Marseille
> > > > 9l. (33) 04 91 0416 17
> > > > 9l. GSM 06 63 14 91 78
> > > > fax. (33) 04 91 04 16 35 (0 l'attention de...)
> > > > e-mail : thomassi at sme.com.univ-mrs.fr
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
> > --
> > Billy D. Causey, Superintendent
> > Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
> > PO Box 500368
> > Marathon, FL 33050
> > Phone (305) 743.2437, Fax (305) 743.2357
> > http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov/
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>