[Coral-List] Recent paper about land-based source pollution impacts in Acropora palmata

Tue Aug 5 12:49:39 EDT 2014

Coral Reefers,

At Sanibel Sea School, we take young kids to Looe Key National Marine
Sanctuary annually to learn coral reef biology and experience reefs
first-hand; we also take (slightly) older kids to Andros (Bahama Islands)
each year to lean more and engage in an ongoing reef monitoring project.

Over several years, I have observed something that has struck a chord with
me about the complexity of coral reef management and conservation.

On Looe Key, we are doing a superb job of conserving large fish.  We see a
lot of sharks, Goliath Grouper and more recently Nassau Grouper, among
other fishes; we also see many Queen Conch.  And we are seeing some
Acropora regeneration.

On Andros, we are seeing extensive Acropora regeneration, but we see very
few large fish, and we see very few conch.

It strikes me that (marine) location-based management (in the Keys) helps
conserve fish, but can't control water quality and other factors vital to
coral regeneration.  In the Bahamas, we have better water quality and
recruitment factors (hence better coral regeneration), but are not doing a
good job of fish management.  (I recognize that the coral recruitment pool
in the keys is likely lower than the Bahamas, but it is a great teaching
opportunity, nonetheless.)

It certainly has served to remind me that coral reef conservation must have
both marine and land components to maintain thriving coral reef ecosystems.

Keep up the good work.

Bruce Neill

J. Bruce Neill, Ph.D.

Ocean Advocate and Executive Director
[image: Sanibel Sea School Logo] <http://sanibelseaschool.org/>

Our vision is a world where all people value, understand and care for the
ocean.

P.O. Box 1229 - 414 Lagoon Drive - Sanibel, FL 33957
*Phone:* 239.472.8585

[image: SSS Blog Icon] <http://sanibelseaschool.org/blog/> [image: SSS
Facebook Icon] <http://www.facebook.com/SanibelSeaSchool> [image: SSS
Twitter Icon] <http://www.twitter.com/DocBruce>

On Tue, Aug 5, 2014 at 11:37 AM, Szmant, Alina <szmanta at uncw.edu> wrote:

> Hi Edwin:
>
> With all due respect, I do not think that the methods you report using to
> measure nutrient concentrations would yield usable data for marine waters..
>  The concentrations you report (and the variance) are excessively high and
> the La Motte system you report using would not be used by any knowledgeable
> marine nutrient chemist:  Just not sensitive enough for this application.
>  It is difficult and takes considerable expertise and equipment to do
> nutrients in tropical marine waters.  If you think I am incorrect, I would
> appreciate it if you could send me some of your raw data including your
> blanks and standards for me to review.
>
> Alina
>
>
> "Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds
> discuss people." Eleanor Roosevelt
>
> "The time is always right to do what is right"  Martin Luther King
>
> *************************************************************************
> Dr. Alina M. Szmant
> Professor of Marine Biology
> AAUS Scientific Diving Lifetime Achievement Awardee
> Center for Marine Science
> University of North Carolina Wilmington
> 5600 Marvin Moss Ln
> Wilmington NC 28409 USA
> tel:  910-962-2362  fax: 910-962-2410  cell: 910-200-3913
> http://people.uncw.edu/szmanta
> *******************************************************
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [mailto:
> coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Hernandez Edwin
> Sent: Tuesday, August 05, 2014 11:00 AM
> To: Coral List
> Subject: [Coral-List] Recent paper about land-based source pollution
> impacts in Acropora palmata
>
> Dear Listers!
>
> Greetings! Just a quick notice to inform you of our recent publication
> regarding the impacts of land-based source pollution on remnant populations
> of threatened Elkhorn coral (Acropora palmata) in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico.
> Aspects such as eutrophication and sewage pollution are addressed in the
> context of how much chronic pollution interferes with the natural ability
> of corals to bounce back from disturbance and sea surface warming trends.
>
>
> It is an open access paper, so you can download it directly from the link
> below.
>
>
> Unsustainable Land-Based Source Pollution in a Climate of Change: A
> Roadblock to the Conservation and Recovery of Elkhorn Coral Acropora
> palmata (Lamarck
> 1816)
>
>
> Unsustainable Land-Based Source Pollution in a Climate of Change: A
> Roadblock to the Conservatio...
> Chronic eutrophication and turbidity are critical detrimental factors
> impacting coral reef ecosystems, adversely affecting their ecological
> functions, services, benefits, and resilience across multiple spatial
> scales and over prolonged periods of time. Inadequate land...
> View on www.scirp.org Preview by Yahoo
>
> Best regards and enjoy!
>
> E
>
> Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado, Ph.D.
> Affiliate Researcher
>
> University of Puerto Rico
> Center for Applied Tropical Ecology and Conservation Coral Reef Research
> Group P.O. Box 23360 San Juan, Puerto Rico 00931-3360
>
> Tel (787) 764-0000, x-2009
> Fax (787) 764-2610
>
> e-mail:      coral_giac at yahoo.com
>                 edwin.hernandez13 at upr.edu
>
> http://upr.academia.edu/EdwinHernandez
>
> http://catec.upr.edu
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>