[Coral-List] About Time and Nutrient Politics

[Gene Shinn]

Alina, I think you have highlighted just one example of how natural 
science is being misquoted, twisted, and increasingly prostituted 
and/or suppressed on many fronts. Some recent comments on the list 
were revealing.
In issue 9  it was:
  "PS: Developers that want to build golf courses
  will use this the nutrient debate in court as
  they watch the coral list server and sort of turn
  to it as a reference point.  Lets not allow
  developers to think that the nutrient thresholds
  published by the scientists quoted above can be
  ignored, as this will give them reason to say
  that the only reason reefs have shifted from
  productive Cnidarian reef systems to macro algae
  dominated habitats is due to the grazer
  disappearing."
In issue 15 it was:
  "The sad point is that the people that think urchin grazing and other
dwindling herbivores/landscapers swimming on reef system control the
algal lawns that smother corals.  This says to the developers that
claim  "hey our point source" that is spewing secondary treated
sewage out into a reef is not the reason for the reefs to become
algal dominated, its because the spiny urchin died off that used to
be a proficient landscaper and kept the corals "macro-algae free".
Is this a call for suppression of science and scientific data if the 
data does not line up with someones agenda?
Gene

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No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
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E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
Marine Science Center (room 204)
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eshinn at marine.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158---------------------------------- 
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