[Coral-List] sponge bioerosion

[Clare Bradshaw]

Dear List,
Interesting discussion on bioerosion...

Regarding Stephen Jameson's questions on sponge erosion in 'minimally 
impaired environments', we quantified bioerosion in coral rubble (using a 
modified 'Holmes' approach) in the Chagos Archipelago in 2001. This was in 
the context of post-bleaching recovery (or otherwise) of the reefs there. 
Chagos has to be one of the most minimally impaired environments there is, 
with more-or-less no direct human impacts. However, sponge bioerosion in the 
rubble was extensive everywhere. We compared the extent of bioerosion on 
different atolls, in lagoons vs on reef slopes, and exposed vs sheltered 
sites. Infestation was not related to atoll size or location...
 
see:
Charles R.C. Sheppard, Mark Spalding, Clare Bradshaw and Simon Wilson 
(2002). 
Erosion vs. Recovery of Coral Reefs after 1998 El Niño: Chagos Reefs, Indian 
Ocean. Ambio 31(1): 40-48 
 
Best wishes
Clare 
----------------------------------------
Clare Bradshaw
Dept of Systems Ecology
Stockholm University
10691 Stockholm
Sweden

 
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:42:02 +0000
From: "Dr. Stephen Jameson" <sjameson at coralseas.com>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Michael Risk - C. delitrix as measure of
bioerosion
To: Michael Risk <riskmj at univmail.cis.mcmaster.ca>, Gregor Hodgson
<gregorh at reefcheck.org>, <jrohde at msh.org>,
<coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Message-ID: <C15AB851.4AEC%sjameson at coralseas.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"


Mike Questions:

1.  Have you given any thought as to what would be appropriate reference
conditions (concentrations in minimally impaired environments) for the
various Cliona species in their respective geographical locations throughout
the world?

2.  In minimally impaired conditions, does their concentration vary in
different coral reef zones?

Best regards,

Dr. Stephen C. Jameson, President
Coral Seas Inc. - Integrated Coastal Zone Management
4254 Hungry Run Road, The Plains, VA  20198-1715  USA
Office:  703-754-8690, Fax:  703-754-9139
Email:  sjameson at coralseas.com
Web Site:  http://www.coralseas.com

and

Research Collaborator
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Washington, DC 20560