[Coral-List] About time!

[Dr. James M Cervino]

Dear Ilsa & Devon,

Congrats on a thorough well put together manuscript! It is about time 
that these data are beginning to get published, I will use this for 
my class this next semester.

The sad point is that the people that think urchin grazing and other 
dwindling herbivores/landscapers swimming on reef system control the 
algal lawns that smother corals.  This says to the developers that 
claim  "hey our point source" that is spewing secondary treated 
sewage out into a reef is not the reason for the reefs to become 
algal dominated, its because the spiny urchin died off that used to 
be a proficient landscaper and kept the corals "macro-algae free".

Devon what I am not saying that top down controls are not 
significant, they are. However, what I am trying to say is that the 
levels of nutrients that induce algal blooms cannot be controlled 
with more grazers.

Cheers, James

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Dr. James M. Cervino, MS, Ph.D.
Marine Pathology
Department of Biological & Health Sciences
Pace University New York NYC
Phone: (917) 620-5287
Web site: http://www.globalcoral.org
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