[Coral-List] Screed from Mike

[Steve Mussman]

Happy Birthday Mike!

I would like to use the occasion to air one of my pet peeves.

It seems to me that the coral science community does not take full advantage of the experience and wisdom of the many senior scientists who have been on the front lines of coral reef research for decades. We have lost a number of prominent voices recently and I’m not sure that the full value of their collective knowledge has been appreciated or utilized as it should.

“ . . . can the current strategies for coral reef restoration succeed without factoring water quality into the restoration formula” ?

I would think that there is no longer any question about that.

If we are to have any chance to save the world’s coral reefs we must first effectively address water quality issues and warming oceans . . . (and dare I say, over-fishing too!)

And let me add that to date, I don’t see any indication that the shift (to those priorities) is on.

Warm regards,

Steve Mussman

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On 3/13/24, 8:54 PM, Risk, Michael via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

I had a birthday a few days ago, which made me do some thinking.

Here is what we know.

-reefs are in desperate shape, worldwide.

-the decline, in most instances, began mid-19th century, long before

heat stress had been invoked as a major factor.

-land-based stresses (LBSP) are a major threat.

-global warming, left unchecked, will slay every coral reef on the

planet.

-We knew about the declining reefs 30 years ago, we knew about CO2 and

climate for far longer-many thanks to Shell and Exxon, for their

climate models >50 years ago, showing the impacts. Pity they didn't

publicize their results.

Every week it seems there is some new idea that will "save the reefs:"

killing COTs with robots, saving holothurians, 3D-printing of fake

corals, breeding super corals that can live in hot polluted

oceans...though alarmingly, discussions around the root cause of reef

decline at the very sites of active restoration where it is clear that

water quality is insufficient to sustain coral reef ecosystems, remain

missing, with no effort to correct it.

So it is with a jaundiced eye that I view the present situation. Some

recent work has convinced me that we can no longer ignore the fact that

degradation of the ocean's water quality is a mortal enemy of

restoration, and if it continues to be ignored the battle to restore

coral reefs is already lost.

As an indication that this is more than my opinion, here are several

recent publications, as well as some old facts that support this point

of view.

There is ample evidence, from both the Indo-Pacific and the Caribbean,

that reducing nutrient load on reefs improves their health (Kaneohe

Bay, Worthing Barbados, etc etc). Then there's that wonderful paper by

Tomascik et al, 1996: "Rapid coral colonization of a recent lava flow

following a volcanic eruption, Banda Islands, Indonesia." Coral reefs

15: 169-175, which I call "Zero to 60 in 5 (years)." An andesitic lava

flow entered a bay, promptly dubbed "Air Panas" (Hot Water) by the

locals. Five years later, that flow supported a coral community with

>60% coral cover (the level most of us assume reefs attained in those

prelapsarian times before humans started messing things up), and >100

coral species. The key, of course, is that this location is free from

industry and major human habitation. The water is clean. Five years is

all that is needed to build a healthy reef-if.

May et al 2022 [1]https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278695 worked

on porewater toxicity in Biscayne Bay, using the sea urchin embryo

model. (Stick the little critters in the water, watch them die.) At

over 80% of their sites, the porewater was so toxic that any reef

growth would be impossible. All sorts of human nasties in the water:

sewage, pharmaceuticals, ag chemicals. Biscayne Bay isn't the world,

but it can serve as a model for any reef sitting on porous substrates,

next to human influence. i.e., most of them. That paper terrified

me-and it should terrify all of us.

Yang et al 2024 also scared me.

[2]https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46059-4They looked at the impacts

of herbicides on primary productivity, worldwide, and found a

significant inhibition at all sites. What's more, there were changes in

the plankton community. The concept of a reef being outside human

influence is hard to sustain.

Li et al 2023 ([3]https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139729)

investigated the synergistic effects of nitrogen enrichment and

pesticides (prometryn) on coral metabolism, and found significant

impairment. "Prometryn exposure increases the oxidative stress induced

by nitrate enrichment." (from the Abstract).

Zhou et al, 2024 ([4]https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10417) showed

that...well, what they found is in the title. "Environmental

Concentrations of Herbicide Prometryn Render Stress-Tolerant Corals

Susceptible to Ocean Warming." The herbicide overwhelms the coral's

photosystem repair mechanism. What's worse is that the herbicide may

actively inhibit the coral's ability to recover from stress.

In light of these papers, among many others, can the current strategies

for coral reef restoration succeed without factoring water quality into

the restoration formula?

Yours, this lovely and too-early Spring-Mike

References

1. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278695

2. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-46059-4

3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.139729

4. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c10417

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