[Coral-List] Ship wrecks and reefs??

Mark Tupper mtupper at coastal-resources.org
Wed Nov 28 20:36:00 EST 2012


I would have to agree with Alina. I cannot reconcile the quote in the ISME article with the wreck dives I have done in Micronesia (Chuuk or Peleliu, for 
example). Also, people have been sinking metal structures (ships, planes, cars, oil rigs)for decades to make artificial reefs. Many of these are in 
oligotrophic environments that should also be iron-limited, at least to some extent. 

I note that Enric Sala's blog on National Geographic stated that "The science team found similar black reefs in other coral atolls and islands in the 
central Pacific". So the question is, why has this black reef phenomenon not been found earlier in other remote areas that are more regularly dived (like 
the Caroline Islands)? Is it because iron is less limiting in those areas, or is there a specific suite of taxa in the central Pacific that exhibit a much 
greater response to iron input? 

Dr. Mark Tupper, Board of Directors
Coastal Resources Association
16880 87 Ave., Surrey, BC, Canada V4N 5J4
www.coastal-resources.org
Email: mtupper at coastal-resources.org
Tel. 1-604-576-1674; Mobile: 1-604-961-2022

Philippines Office: c/o Ricky Mijares
Poblacion, Sagay, Camiguin, Philippines 9103
Tel. 63-927-921-9915


On Wed Nov 28 13:54 , John Ware  sent:

>A quote from: Black reefs: iron-induced  phase shifts on coral reefs.
>Linda Wegley Kelly et al., ISME, Mar 2012
>
>"Here we use a combination of benthic surveys, chemistry, metagenomics 
>and microcosms to investigate if and how shipwrecks initiate and 
>maintain black reefs. ...   Together these results demonstrate that 
>shipwrecks and their associated iron pose significant threats to coral 
>reefs in iron-limited regions."
>
>Contrasted with this from Alina Szmant's e-mail of 26Nov:
>
>"FYI, every place I dive where there is metal structure (old ship hulls, navigation pilings etc) they are covered with nice looking corals of all 
species."
>
>Am I the only one that sees some sort of disconnect here??
>John
>
>
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