[Coral-List] Bleaching refuges

Wed Mar 30 21:57:01 EDT 2016

I agree, where would funding come from?

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 29, 2016, at 4:03 PM, Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Paul,
>    Well said, thank you very much for this idea.  I think this idea is a
> good one, and well worth trying.  We don't seem to have any other options
> at this point, and it could well work.     Cheers, Doug
> 
>> On Mon, Mar 28, 2016 at 12:40 PM, Paul Muir <paul.muir at qm.qld.gov.au> wrote:
>> 
>> I proposed this idea many years ago (~2005!) on coral list and am
>> wondering if anyone ever tried anything like this? Given the current
>> bleaching on the northern GBR and likelihood of other areas being hit soon
>> perhaps it's worth someone doing a trial? Desperate times..
>> 
>> Severe coral bleaching events can cause very high levels of coral morality
>> and the recovery of reefs following such events can be very slow. For
>> example, recovery of corals in the Seychelles Islands following the severe
>> 1998 bleaching event was extremely slow and regional extinction of some
>> species a possibility. Localised extinctions and slow recovery could be
>> mitigated if small areas of reef were protected during bleaching events:
>> corals have extremely high  fecundity and only a few healthy individuals of
>> each species would needed to accelerate recovery. Field observations and
>> studies of the physiology of coral bleaching suggest that shading corals
>> during a high temperature event can reduce mortality rates. Small areas of
>> reef (to 10,000m2 area) could be provided with moderate shading by the use
>> of floating covers similar to those used in farm dams and industrial ponds.
>> Such covers are light, float upon the water surface and could be rapidly
>> deployed from a small boat during a high-temperature event. The covers
>> would be held in place with small anchors and inflatable seams would
>> provide a flexible, semi-rigid structure that would resist small waves and
>> swells at a protected site. High temperature bleaching events typically
>> occur during very flat, calm conditions over just a few weeks which makes
>> deploying floating covers such as this feasible. Real-time monitoring of
>> the development of bleaching conditions and small-scale engineering
>> solutions may become increasingly important for the preservation of
>> thermally sensitive species at local scales.
>> 
>> I can supply some ideas for a test-scale floating cover on request.
>> 
>> 
>> Dr. Paul Muir
>> Research Officer/ Collection Manager Corals, Biodiversity &
>> Geosciences Program
>> 
>> 
>> Museum of Tropical Queensland | Queensland Museum
>> 70 - 102 Flinders Street | Townsville | Queensland 4810 | Australia
>> t +61 7 47 260 642 | f +61 7 47 212 093 | m +61 407 117 998 |
>> www.qm.qld.gov.au
>> 
>> Affiliate, Global Change Institute, University of Queensland
>> ResearchGate | Google Scholar | Staghorn Corals Website
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Douglas Fenner
> Consultant, corals, coral reefs, coral identification
> "have regulator, will travel"
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
> 
> phone 1 684 622-7084
> 
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> 
> "Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim Beever.
>  "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts."-
> Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
> 
> Record shattering February warmth bakes Alaska, Arctic 18oF
> 
> http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/03/13/3759569/record-february-warmth-alaska-arctic/
> 
> Sea level is now rising at the fastest rate in 3,000 years.
> http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/sea-levels-are-rising-their-fastest-rate-2000-years?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=292592
> http://mashable.com/2016/02/22/manmade-sea-level-rise-flooding/#fscPLGedCiqz
> 
> Miami is flooding: "The Siege of Miami, as temperatures rise, so will sea
> levels."  Sea level rising an inch a year there.
> http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/the-siege-of-miami
> 
> website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
> 
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