[Coral-List] Amazing coral cover!

[William Precht]

Denny 

The different states described in the Aronson & Precht manuscript were specifically addressing the rhomboidal shoal reefs in the Belize lagoon.  We saw similar mixed zones of ACER and ATEN along the barrier reef tract    

Interesting the offshore banks of Honduras appear to be a hydrodynamic mix of both types of Belizean reefs.  

The most amazing part of the Honduras story is the fact that these reefs continue to flourish - especially the ACER - 

Cheers

Bill

Sent from my iPhone

> On Feb 2, 2016, at 9:30 AM, Dennis Hubbard <dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu> wrote:
> 
> Joe:
> 
> Impressive cover indeed. Lisa Greer is working on a reef in Belize that is
> similarly robust but likewise not particularly diverse in its shallower
> portions. The deeper sites look like a number I've seen (lots of *Madracis*
> coming in) and are still good news.
> 
> It is interesting that the shallower reef seems to be *mostly** A.
> cervicornis* and *Agaricia tenufolia* (or whatever we are agreeing to call
> it these days). If I remember the story correctly, the excellent Aronson
> and Precht papers from years back described them as different reef states.
> That aside, neither species is a major reef builder except in the western
> Caribbean or protected bays where wave energy is low enough to allow them
> to accumulate. But.... they'll make a lot of good sediment if it's not all
> exported by increasing storminess. It would be very interesting to look at
> the stratigraphy of this reef to see whether it has been like this for a
> long time or if this is something new. It has been my experience that these
> are often opportunist species (I'd say "weedy" except for the connotation
> that "weeds are bad").
> 
> Thanks for the video. It will be a nice break from the "gloom and doom"
> that increasingly dominates my *Coral Reefs* course.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Dennis
> 
>> On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 8:28 AM, Pawlik, Joseph <pawlikj at uncw.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> Greetings, coral-listers,
>> 
>> I've just posted a video dive survey of Cordelia Banks, just off the south
>> coast of Roatan, Honduras:
>> https://youtu.be/FHcUmUry8Vk
>> 
>> This site has amazing coral cover for a contemporary Caribbean reef -
>> anyone know of other Caribbean sites that still look like this?
>> More surprising is that this site is just a few km from Coxen Hole, the
>> largest town on Roatan, just off the coast of the airport, and very close
>> to the transit channel for the harbor and cruise ship port.
>> 
>> For those of you studying coral resiliency, I would think this site would
>> be worth sampling.
>> 
>> Enjoy the video,
>> 
>> Joe
>> 
>> **************************************************************
>> Joseph R. Pawlik, Professor,
>> Dept. of Biology and Marine Biology
>> UNCW Center for Marine Science
>> 5600 Marvin K Moss Lane
>> Wilmington, NC  28409
>> Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579
>> Website: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html
>> PDFs: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html
>> Video Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/skndiver011
>> **************************************************************
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Dennis Hubbard
> Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
> (440) 775-8346
> 
> * "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
> Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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