[Coral-List] Why corals' resilience are in decline

[Martin Moe]

A coral reef is an intricate web of life. Many thousands ofspecies, microscopic and macroscopic interact to make up the fabric of thisweb. All of these species are important, but their importance to the structureand function of the web of life on a coral reef is not equal. Some species suchas the corals actually construct the structure of the reef, and others, such asmacro algae and the herbivores, establish the base and the balance of theecological environment. Other species find their balance of life within theshadows of these keystone species, and the ecological stability of the coralreef environment progresses through time, typically changing slowly. But rapidenvironmental change produces precipitous biological change and destroysecological stability and far outpaces the capacity of biological evolution toadapt to the changing environment. Thus when rapid change occurs some species dieout, some species reproduce without ecological checks and balances, and new speciespre-adapted to the new environment invade and become part of the rapidly changingbalance of life. The human species has brought extreme and rapid environmentalchange to our world, and our coral reefs, like no other species in the historyof life. 


With regard to the coral reefs of the tropical westernAtlantic, there have been many changes, overt and subtle, that have hadeffected ecological change on our coral reefs, and many of these have beenreasonably well documented if not eliminated or controlled. Some are within ourcapability to correct or mitigate, and some, at least in the short run, canonly be observed and documented. One species of great ecological importance, onceubiquitous to this entire region, was almost completely destroyed in 1983 by themost extensive mass mortality of any marine animal ever reported in humanhistory. This was the sea urchin, Diadema antillarum, the keystone herbivore ofthe western Atlantic coral reefs. The loss of this single species shifted theecological balance of our tropical reefs from coral dominance to macro algaedominance. 


Ogden and Carpenter (1987), based on over 20 years ofexperiments and observations, said it best.


“Through direct effects on algal communities or indirecteffects on other benthic reef organisms, grazing by Diadema is a major factorcontrolling the community structure of coral reefs.  ….. Perhaps no other single species in thecoral reef environment has such profound effects on the other organismscomposing the reef community. "
The loss of Diadema ushered in a relativelyimmediate change from clean coral rock and crustose coralline algae reefsubstrates into macro algae jungles.. This changed the ecological balance ofreef substrates away from coral and other invertebrate larvae friendlysubstrates to sediment accumulating, micro predator dense, and coral impinging growthsof macro algae. 


There are many things in our present societies detrimentalto our coral reefs where we cannot effect rapid change in our lifetimes, but wherewe can at least continue to begin to make remedial changes. And there are otherthings such as coral propagation and reestablishment, in which we have alreadymade good progress. And if we but determine to do so, we can also develop propagationand reestablishment of the keystone herbivore, Diadema antillarum, to effectecological restoration, and we can do both these things during our periodof stewardship of these precious ecosystems. if we but determine to do so.


Martin Moe 

    On Thursday, May 26, 2016 7:52 AM, rnharag <rnharag at uol.com.br> wrote:
 

 The more I study the marine life and I assess the resilience of coral, the more I discover that the possible variables are many and to complete also vary according to location.

I venture to say that the expertise to cover all the variables that are affecting corals, demand the need for multiple areas of knowledge, in the current situation. 

The emission of CO2 and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, in the post industrialization period, caused the global warming that has acidified the oceans and has defrosted the poles. As everything is interconnected in nature, we have also had severe climate change and impact on the Earth's core.

The Earth's core is not as accessible, so we have to watch what's happening in the planet's crust. The increasing number of earthquakes, tsunamis and active volcanoes in recent years show that the magma is becoming busier and probably warmer.

The core of our planet has always generated the gravity of the planet and has supplied with a suitable electromagnetic field to life. However, from 2012 the irradiation of the electromagnetic field has been in an high voltage level and has been accompanied by Beta radioactivity, in an exponential increasing.

This adds to the problem of Acidification occurrence, more two items who are global in nature and are highly debilitating for the functioning of the organism of all living things.

Little or nothing is said about this problem, so I decided to make this contribution. Probably will allow to scholars of corals' resilience, better understand why the Marine Protected Areas still remain subject to bleaching and death of corals.

In my opinion bleaching is part of the coral nature in the process of adaptation, but the volume of deaths with a tendency to extinction is dramatic and dangerous for mankind.

Sorry if this description was long and for my English.

Cheers,

Ricardo Haraguchi

Geobiology, Dowsing and Radionics.

rnharag at uol.com.br

São Paulo – Brazil

ricardo at coralsurvival.com.br 

www.coralsurvival.com.br

www.sobrevivenciadoscorais.com.br

www.harmonizacaoambiental.com.br

www.facebook.com/sobrevivenciadoscorais
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