Julian Sprung's email.

[Winter Esther]

Hi all, 
I don't know if these messages were supposed to be on the list or not...but
I'd like to add my own "two cents worth". 
The phenomenon of tissue regrowth from residual tissues found in corals
with deep set calices has been recorded as well for free living fungiid
corals by Paul Jokiel and Dave Krupp as pertaining to "fresh water kills"
as well as colonial species as Cindy pointed out. Sorry I missed the SICB
meeting would have liked to hear more.  In our own work on fungiids here in
the Red Sea we (Yossi Loya and myself) also reported how experimentally
induced tissue damage as well as "tissue only" explants caused the
development of new anthocauli. We also noticed similar phenomena of tissue
regrowth in some Acroporid and Faviid species following apparent tissue
denuding. It seem that these corals are proving to be quite resilient. Many
questions arise such as  are the tissues regrowing to fill the original
calices or  do they use the calices as guides for further perhaps light
calcification? Are we sure that during these stresses tissues are not
simply retracting into the calices as reported by Bown et al 1994 for heat
stress in Coeloseris.
At any rate I agree that this a fascinating area and hope to hear more
about it in Bali.
Cheers
Esti Kramarsky-Winter  
At 11:58 15/09/00 +1000, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg wrote:

>Hi Cindy,
>
>Yes - fascinating.  This seems and area ripe for research projects
(postgrad students!).  Did you
>publish the SICB Boston stuff?  I would be very interested in having a
look at it.  The microclimate
>idea also presents an additional explanation for the resilience of deep
tissued corals like Porites
>(I discussed this in the 1999  article from a point of view of reduced
damage due to to low light
>regions) ...  deep tissues provide that reservior for promoting regrowth etc.
>
>You will be in Bali, right?
>
>Aloha,
>
>Ove
>
>PS Opening ceremonies - right now - did I miss an meeting or something?
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Cindy Hunter [mailto:cindyh at hawaii.edu]
>Sent: Friday, 15 September 2000 11:51 AM
>To: oveh at uq.edu.au; Bruce Carlson; Billy Causey
>Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>
>
>Dear Ove,
>
>The situation of "larger than they should be if they were from new sexual
>recruits" is reminiscent of the "Phoenix effect" documented in Hawaii by
>Paul Jokiel and others in Porites compressa.  In this species, lowered
>salinity caused by episodic rainfall and flooding events resulted in a
>nearly complete loss of tissue on colony surfaces.  The colonies most
>affected by the "freshwater kill" were those in the shallowest water (the
>lens of 15-18 ppt water extended to 1-2 m depth) and appeared (and smelled)
>to be completely putrefied--covered in gray or black algal/fungal mats.
>However, within two years, these nearshore reefs were once again fringed by
>large (up to 1 m diameter) Porites compressa colonies. They couldn't have
>been from new recruits.
>
>Dave Krupp and I presented an experimental verification of the phenomenon at
>SICB in Boston in 1997. After osmotic shock, a layer of residual cells and
>zoox shows up deep (0.5-1 cm) within the skeleton; these "ashes" can
>apparently de- and redifferentiate to form coral tissues and polyps in a
>matter of weeks.  The twist in what you've seen in Pocillopora and
>Stylophora (as we did in Montipora) is that these genera are much less
>perforate than Porites, and the reservoir of  viable tissues (and zoox)
>appears in shaded undersides or between branches, regrowing up and around
>the branches rather than from the inside out.
>
>In either case, it demonstrates (again) the remarkable resiliency that
>resides in these coral-algal associations. What this means for our thinking
>about their genetics, senescence, etc. is indeed interesting territory,
>
>Aloha,
>Cindy
>
>P.S. Shouldn't you be at the Opening Ceremonies?
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg <oveh at uq.edu.au>
>To: Bruce Carlson <carlson at soest.hawaii.edu>; Billy Causey
><Billy.Causey at noaa.gov>
>Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>;
><coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 2:21 PM
>Subject: RE: Julian Sprung's email.
>
>
>> Dear Bruce,
>>
>> Very interesting - I am extremely interested in tracking microclimate
>variability as you know.  One
>> thing has struck me (and I have a field observation to back it up) is that
>these less stressful
>> microclimates may represent reservoirs of coral and dinoflagellate tissue
>for regrowth following
>> bleaching events.  After the 1998 bleaching event, we lost  many corals -
>Stylophora and Pocillpora
>> were hit so hard at One tree Island that students who were working on
>these species had to find
>> alternative species to work on.  I was convinced that this was akin to a
>"local extinction event".
>> To my surprise, almost the same abundance of large colonies of these two
>species could be found in
>> surveys done in 2000 as prior to 1998.  The size of the heads made it seem
>impossible for these
>> individuals to be the result of settlement and growth over 18 months.
>Where did these coral
>> colonies come from? I suspect that the internal areas of the Stylophora
>and Pocillopora coral heads
>> survived (lower light) and that the coral heads that I thought were
>completely dead in fact
>> regenerated from these living internal regions.  Could the internal
>shading provided by coral heads
>> act as a defence against thermal stress?  Interesting area.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Ove
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Bruce Carlson
>> Sent: Monday, 28 August 2000 8:15 AM
>> To: oveh at uq.edu.au; Billy Causey
>> Cc: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>>
>>
>> Ove,
>>
>> Just to add some anecdotal observations I made in Fiji and Palau that seem
>> to be consistent with your hypothesis:  very small acroporids (better
>> surface to volume ratio?), and those in the shade under larger colonies
>were
>> the few survivors, and on the Suva barrier reef (where the water flow is
>> strong), one patch of Acropora muricata that I have monitored since 1972
>was
>> bleached in April -- or so it appeared on first inspection.  However, the
>> undersides of every branch were brown -- apparently a shading effect (by
>> brown, I mean "normal" in appearance presumably with zooxanthellae present
>> in large numbers).  Temperature, sunlight and water flow must all have an
>> effect.  I recorded this on video tape.  I did not notice this on any of
>the
>> bleached corals on the outer barrier reef where mortality among acroporids
>> approached 100%. I will check this colony again in November to see if it
>has
>> recovered.
>>
>> Unrelated to bleaching, the Suva barrier reef has been overgrown by
>> Sargassum since 1972.  I first noticed it growing around the corals in
>1995,
>> but this year it has taken over on top of the reef (I have photos showing
>> the progression over the years).  It snags on the Porites cylindrica and
>has
>> killed those large old colonies.  The only coral colony free of the
>> Sargassum was "my" old A. muricata colony.  Presumably the large Stegastes
>> sp. damsels in that patch are keeping it clean = a small oasis in a "sea
>of
>> Sargassum".  Why is the Sargassum taking over?  My first guess would be
>> increased nutrients over the years from farming, coming down the nearby
>Rewa
>> river delta, but over fishing of herbivores may also be a factor.
>>
>> Bruce
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Ove Hoegh-Guldberg <oveh at uq.edu.au>
>> To: Billy Causey <Billy.Causey at noaa.gov>
>> Cc: Bruce Carlson <carlson at soest.hawaii.edu>; Bernard A. Thomassin
>> <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>; <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>> Sent: Sunday, August 27, 2000 11:13 AM
>> Subject: RE: Julian Sprung's email.
>>
>>
>> > Dear Bill,
>> >
>> > Interesting comments.  My feeling is that oxygen is involved (either as
>an
>> promoter of the
>> > photoinhibitory production and build-up of active oxygen within the
>> zooxanthellae - that is, as a
>> > secondary variable).  We know that thermal stress collapses oxygen
>> production and increases
>> > respiration (see papers by Coles and Jokiel: Marine Biology. 1977;
>> 43:209-216, Hoegh-Guldberg and
>> > Smith - J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 1989; 129:279-303 and others). If the
>> photosynthetic production of
>> > oxygen is down and respiration is up (and probably, bacterial
>consumption
>> up due to decaying
>> > tissue), then oxygen at night over reefs under low flow (especially on
>> reefs where corals dominate)
>> > would be expected to decrease, perhaps to critical levels.  While not a
>> primary factor, I would see
>> > this as an important follow on effect.  It may actually be an important
>> determinant of mortality.
>> >
>> > I am interested in following up the aggravating effect of oxygen - it
>> would be useful if oxygen was
>> > monitored during the next set of bleaching events.  Perhaps water motion
>> (over small patches of
>> > reef) might help ameliorate the ultimate impact of a thermal event.
>Just
>> a thought.  That and
>> > shading a reef might be useful for managers of small show pieces of
>reefs.
>> But - just for those
>> > journalists our there - this would not be useful for anything more than
>a
>> few hundred square metres!
>> >
>> > Cheers to all,
>> >
>> > Ove
>> >
>> > -----Original Message-----
>> > From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Billy Causey
>> > Sent: Monday, 28 August 2000 1:25 AM
>> > To: oveh at uq.edu.au
>> > Cc: Bruce Carlson; Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>> >
>> >
>> > Ove and others,
>> >
>> > I am interested in your comments about the role of oxygen.  For years I
>> have sounded like a broken
>> > record, exclaiming that while hot water is one of the stressors leading
>to
>> coral bleaching, that I
>> > suspect the slick-calm, doldrum weather patterns lead to a drop in
>> dissolved oxygen levels in the
>> > coral
>> > reef environment, especially at night.  I sometimes think we take the
>> level of dissolved oxygen on
>> > coral reefs for granted .... and tend to not believe there could be a
>> significant enough change to
>> > affect corals for example.
>> >
>> > During years when we have had severe bleaching in the Florida Keys, I
>have
>> observed reef fish
>> > respiring
>> > very heavily .... in the middle of the day.  So I have often suspected
>the
>> oxygen levels as being
>> > low
>> > .... during "hot water" events ... even during daylight hours.
>> >
>> > Is it possible that the zooxanethellae, existing inside the coral polyp
>> tissue starts competing with
>> > the coral polyp for oxygen at night ... when dissolved oxygen levels are
>> low anyway .... and
>> > something
>> > has to give?  Imagine ... day after day and night after night, during
>> periods of low mixing and
>> > natural
>> > aeration of surface waters, the oxygen level drops below a threshold and
>> the coral polyp is in a
>> > state
>> > of competing for oxygen with the zooxanethellae.
>> >
>> > Folks ... be kind to me!  I am not a coral physiologist, in fact I
>wasn't
>> very good in biochemistry
>> > .... just a coral reef manager with thousands of hours of observations
>> that make me think the coral
>> > bleaching trigger and mechanisms are simpler than we realize.  I am
>> curious about opinions on this
>> > idea.
>> >
>> > Cheers, Billy Causey
>> >
>> > Ove Hoegh-Guldberg wrote:
>> >
>> > > Flow probably has some effect through the removal of some of the
>> feedback effects of the high
>> > oxygen
>> > > tensions that occur during the daylight hours.  If the increased
>> production of active oxygen after
>> > > thermal stress (a'la Jones et al 1998, reviewed in Hoegh-Guldberg
>1999),
>> then flow might have an
>> > > ameliorating effect through the decreased boundary layer thickness and
>> hence oxygen tensions close
>> > > to coral surfaces.
>> > >
>> > > Survival near rivers might be related to the decreased light stress
>due
>> to the higher turbidity of
>> > > rivers.
>> > >
>> > > Just some ideas ...
>> > >
>> > > Cheers,
>> > >
>> > > Ove
>> > >
>> > > Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
>> > > Director, Centre for Marine Studies
>> > > University of Queensland
>> > > St Lucia, 4072, QLD
>> > >
>> > > Director, Heron, Stradborke and Low Isles Research Stations
>> > > President, Australian Coral Reef Society
>> > >
>> > > Phone:  +61 07 3365 4333
>> > > Fax:       +61 07 3365 4755
>> > > Email:    oveh at uq.edu.au
>> > > http://www.marine.uq.edu.au/ohg/index.htm
>> > >
>> > > -----Original Message-----
>> > > From: owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > > [mailto:owner-coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov]On Behalf Of Bruce
>Carlson
>> > > Sent: Saturday, 26 August 2000 4:15 AM
>> > > To: Bernard A. Thomassin; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> > > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>> > >
>> > > Bernard,
>> > >
>> > > Did you also notice that corals in areas with swift flowing water
>> (usually
>> > > from tides) also survived better than nearby reefs with low flows?  I
>> > > noticed this in Fiji on the shallow barrier reef of the University of
>> the
>> > > South Pacific, and in Palau near the lighthouse reef -- both are
>similar
>> > > reef environments with strong laminar water flow (the water is shallow
>> > > enough to stand up at mid-tide, but the current knocks you over -- I
>> don't
>> > > have a more precise current measurement).  Why would flow rate matter?
>> > > Perhaps there is something related to diffusion rates (which would
>> increase
>> > > in strong water flow) which offers some protection during
>bleaching????
>> If
>> > > Ove is right about superoxides forming during warm water events, maybe
>> this
>> > > observation is relevant.
>> > >
>> > > Also, in Fiji, we noticed that reefs near river mouths also showed
>good
>> > > survival rates.  The outer barrier reefs in Palau and Fiji seemed to
>be
>> hit
>> > > the hardest.
>> > >
>> > > Bruce
>> > >
>> > > ----- Original Message -----
>> > > From: Bernard A. Thomassin <thomassi at com.univ-mrs.fr>
>> > > To: <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>> > > Sent: Friday, August 25, 2000 6:30 AM
>> > > Subject: Re: Julian Sprung's email.
>> > >
>> > > >
>> > > > Jonathan.Kelsey at noaa.gov wrote :
>> > > >
>> > > > >-Are these generally accepted concepts?
>> > > > >-Can one accurately assess coral mortality rates associated with a
>> > > bleachin
>> > > > >event after "a matter of just a few days"?
>> > > > >-Are there quantitative studies showing that there is a greater
>> bleaching
>> > > > >survival rate among corals in polluted waters versus those in
>> > > non-polluted
>> > > > >water? -Any comments and/or further discussion would be greatly
>> > > appreciated.
>> > > >
>> > > > We will presented a poste about the subject at bali meeting. In
>> Mayotte
>> > > > Is., North Mozambique Channel, a huge bleaching occurred in 1998
>> spring
>> > > > (end of summer season there) and most of 90 percent of the shallow
>> coral
>> > > of
>> > > > the barrier reefs died.
>> > > > Those corals that surveyed the best are from the muddy
>environnements
>> in
>> > > > bays, on fringing reef fronts and patches, even the harbour !why ?
>> Because
>> > > > the corals living in oceanic cooler waters of the barrier reef belt
>> (170
>> > > km
>> > > > long) are less adapted to tolerate hot waters and high level of
>light
>> > > (some
>> > > > got "sun burns" as table acroporas). In opposite population of
>corals
>> > > (same
>> > > > species) living in neritic coastal waters, in inner areas of the
>> lagoon,
>> > > > are genetically more adapted to tolerate : high temperature, turbid
>> waters
>> > > > after rainfalls, even falls of salinity. Today in Mayotte, probably
>> the
>> > > > recovering ibn coral of the mid-lagoon patch reefs (recruitement) is
>> due
>> > > to
>> > > > larvae coming from these coastal coral populations. These is one of
>> the
>> > > > main reasons to protect these "special" reefs in muddy environments
>> from
>> > > > all the effects of coastal works (marinas, dredgings, infilling of
>> > > littoral
>> > > > for roads, etc...).
>> > > >
>> > > > This is a good way for researches.. and from where larvae that
>recruit
>> are
>> > > > coming.
>> > > >
>> > > > Bernard A. Thomassin
>> > > > Directeur de recherches au C.N.R.S.
>> > > >
>> > > > G.I.S. "Lag-May"
>> > > > (Groupement d'Int=E9r=EAt Scientifique Environnement marin et
>littoral
>> de
>> > > > Mayotte")
>> > > > & Centre d'Oceanologie de Marseille,
>> > > > Station Marine d'Endoume,
>> > > > rue de la Batterie des Lions,
>> > > > 13007 Marseille
>> > > > 9l. (33) 04 91 0416 17
>> > > > 9l. GSM 06 63 14 91 78
>> > > > fax. (33) 04 91 04 16 35 (0 l'attention de...)
>> > > > e-mail : thomassi at sme.com.univ-mrs.fr
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> > > >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Billy D. Causey, Superintendent
>> > Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
>> > PO Box 500368
>> > Marathon, FL 33050
>> > Phone (305) 743.2437, Fax (305) 743.2357
>> > http://www.fknms.nos.noaa.gov/
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>