[Coral-List] non artificial reef structures

[Bill Allison]

Complexities:
1. Both reduction or augmentation of dragonfly abundance would presumably
cause trophic cascades that cut across ecosystems and that may not be
desirable (e.g., dragonfly larvae and adults feed upon a variety of prey
including not only those we might want diminished such as mosquitoes and
deerflies, but also upon insect pollinators, influencing their abundance
and behaviour (Knight et al., 2005)).
2. Mosquitoes can reproduce in very small volumes and very shallow sheets
of water (e.g., cans, bottles, film of water produced by air-conditioner
drip) common in, but not limited to urban habitats, that preclude dragonfly
reproduction so logically it is such habitats that should be removed.
3. Dragonflies and other arthropod and vertebrate insectivores (generally
in decline) have much longer reproductive cycles than their prey with
implications for both population recovery and adaptation to selective
stressors such as insecticides to which mosquitoes adapt rather quickly.
The "solution" is the problem and more than band-aids are required.

Ref:
Knight, T. M., W. M. Michael, et al. (2005). "Trophic cascades across
ecosystems." Nature 437(7060): 880-883.
    Predation can be intense, creating strong direct and indirect effects
throughout food webs1–4. In addition, ecologists increasingly recognize
that fluxes of organisms across ecosystem boundaries can have major
consequences for community dynamics5,6. Species with complex life histories
often shift habitats during their life cycles7 and provide potent conduits
coupling ecosystems5,6. Thus, local interactions that affect predator
abundance in one ecosystem (for example a larval habitat) may have
reverberating effects in another (for example an adult habitat). Here we
show that fish indirectly facilitate terrestrial plant reproduction through
cascading trophic interactions across ecosystem boundaries. Fish reduce
larval dragonfly abundances in ponds, leading to fewer adult dragonflies
nearby. Adult dragonflies consume insect pollinators and alter their
foraging behaviour. As a result, plants near ponds with fish receive more
pollinator visits and are less pollen limited than plants near fish-free
ponds. Our results confirm that strong species interactions can reverberate
across ecosystems, and emphasize the importance of landscape-level
processes in driving local species interactions.



On Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 12:21 PM, Douglas Fenner <douglasfenner at yahoo.com>wrote:

> I seem to remember that dragon flies are predators that eat mosquitoes.
> They are also insects, so the insecticides surely kill them as well.  I
> wonder if in a test location away from people if the insecticide were
> stopped and large numbers of dragon flies were released, if the mosquitoes
> couldn't be controlled that way?  I have no idea whether mass dragonfly
> culture has been worked out.  Or maybe there is some other way.  Just
> removing standing fresh water where they can breed should help.
> Cheers,  Doug
>
>
> Douglas Fenner
> Coral Reef Monitoring Ecologist
> Dept Marine & Wildlife Resources
> American Samoa
>
>
> Mailing address:
> PO Box 3730
> Pago Pago, AS 96799
> USA
>
>
> work phone 684 633 4456
>
>
> Skeptic finds he now agrees global warming is real.
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/skeptic-finds-now-agrees-global-warming-real-142616605.html
>
>
> In 2010, a survey of more than 1,000 of the world's most cited and
> published climate scientists found that 97 percent believe climate change
> is very likely caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
>
>
> The American 'allergy' to global warming: why?
> http://news.yahoo.com/american-allergy-global-warming-why-171043981.html
>
>
> Bleak prospects for avoiding dangerous global warming.
>
> http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/10/bleak-prospects-for-avoiding-dangerous.html
>
>
> Heat hiding in deep sea, sea level to rise one meter by end of century
>
> http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/oceans_are_storing_heat_to_hide_global_warming_whilst_sea_levels_are_rising/?utm_source=Climate+Action+Programme+-+Newsletter&utm_campaign=00b7025746-Climate_Action_Newsletter_Issue_7_9_04_2011&utm_medium=email
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Rudy Bonn <rudy_bonn at yahoo.com>
> To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2011 9:34 AM
> Subject: [Coral-List] non artificial reef structures
>
> Your right Gene, helicopters flying over the place spraying, small trucks
> with sprayers in the beds are spraying small streets, and even people are
> getting sprayed down here during fantasy fest, not with malathion though,
> naked people getting sprayed with body paint, some of them should keep
> their clothes on believe me, and the funny thing is Im still get bitten by
> mosquitoes daily when I walk my dogs,  maybe the buggers have developed an
> immunity, what is sad though when it rains, and you know what its like down
> here when it rains heavily, all that malathion and everything else gets
> washed right into the ocean via storm drains where it eventually reaches
> the reef tract,   are we as humans losing our minds or what?  When you here
> talk all the time about my grandkids not being able to see a living coral
> reef, something is wrong with that picture, when are we going to learn,
> when we finally destroy it all?
>
> Rudy S Bonn
> Director of Marine Projects
> Reef Relief
> 631 Greene Street
> Key West, FL 33040
> 305-294-3100
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> http://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>



-- 
________________________________
Is this how science illuminates "reality"? - "the meaning of an episode was
not inside like a kernel but outside, enveloping the talk which brought it
out only as a glow brings out a haze."
- narrator's comment about Marlow's tale-telling, in Heart of Darkness
(Conrad)