[Coral-List] feedback on sponge monitoring??

[Christine Schoenberg]

Dear all,

during the ICRS Kate Holmes and I presented a talk that was supposed  
to encourage a discussion on the use of bioeroding sponges in  
monitoring projects. We receive irregular but fairly frequent  
requests or accounts on field observations that seem to indicate an  
increase in bioeroding sponge abundances. These sponges weaken the  
reef framework and some can overwhelm live coral. Kate and I see a  
need for large-scale and time-series data on these critters.

We gave out 50 free CDs with very detailed information which were  
gone within seconds, and we provided the same info again on an ftp  
site for downloading. Now we are waiting for your feedback  
(anything), so we can generate a recommendation that suits as many  
people as possible, is do-able at different sites and comparable  
between different studies. A lot of work went into compiling the  
provided info. Please, if you are a lucky owner of one of the CDs or  
downloaded all that material from the ftp site, honour our efforts,  
spend a little time on browsing through it and let us know what you  
think/like to suggest/need to know etc. Did we reach the right  
people? Do you agree that the sponges should be watched? How do you  
think it could be done at your site? We would very much appreciate to  
hear about your ideas on this and will then honour YOUR efforts and  
try to publish a step-by-step recommendation in the ICRS Proceedings.  
Deal?

Cheers, Christine