[Coral-List] A very good summary of the Persian/Arabian Gulf coral reef condition

Steve Coles slcoles at bishopmuseum.org
Tue Sep 16 20:48:18 EDT 2014


Dear Dennis and others interested,

For further details on Gulf coral temperature tolerances (both high and low), history of bleaching/mortality events, possible mechanisms for acclimatization/adaptation, and pros and cons of coral transplantion from the Gulf, please see Coles, S. L. and Riegl, B. M. (2013) Thermal tolerances of reef corals in the Gulf: A review of the potential for increasing coral survival and adaptation to climate change through assisted translocation. Mar. Poll.. Bull 72: 323–332.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X12004560).

Steve Coles

________________________________________
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov [coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml..noaa.gov] On Behalf Of Dennis Hubbard [dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 2014 3:59 AM
To: Sheppard, Charles
Cc: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] A very good summary of the Persian/Arabian Gulf coral reef condition

Thanks Charles:

Very interesting article. Has anyone looked at why these reefs can
apparently sit in 90°F+ water without bleaching? Is it slow adaptation.....
and if so are the corals or the zoox the ones providing this apparently
significant tolerance to heat?

I assume that nobody is proposing somehow transplanting what would
effectively be invasive species elsewhere given all the discussion in the
past. Even if we consider moving them to places where this species exists
in a less-tolerant form, how do we avoid getting into a scenario akin to
wolf and coyote "management" in North America? Nevertheless it provides the
foundation for an interesting discussion ahead of bad management practices
rather than the usual retrospective discussions that dominate the
literature.

Dennis

On Sun, Sep 14, 2014 at 12:49 PM, Sheppard, Charles <
Charles.Sheppard at warwick.ac.uk> wrote:

> Dear coral-list
>
> A recent article has appeared which discusses the importance of coral
> reefs in the Arabian/Persian Gulf and discusses the increasing threats
> facing these unique and fragile ecosystems.
>
> The citation for the article is:
> Burt J, van Lavieren H, Feary D (2014) Persian Gulf reefs: an important
> asset for climate science in urgent need of protection. Ocean Challenge
> 20:49-56
>
>  and it can found here:
> http://www.challenger-society.org.uk/sites/default/files/8%20Gulf.pdf
>
> You will see, (if you didn't already know it), that reefs in this body of
> water are in a dire and deteriorating condition.  As many on coral list
> work in the Arabian or Iranian Region, perhaps you can wave this article
> about in front of officials in those countries.  To quote a few lines from
> the Burt et al article
>
> "There is also a pressing need for more public awareness of, and
> engagement in, environmental decision-making. While scientific knowledge of
> regional reefs has grown in recent years, this has not generally translated
> into a better informed public who might act as advocates for these
> ecosystems. Additionally, public participation in decision-making processes
> is almost non-existent due to the highly centralised role played by
> governments, the limited freedom of media in highlighting environmental
> concerns, and the general lack of publicly available environmental data."
>
> Then, take a look at its figure 7, and be convinced!
>
> Best wishes
>
> Charles Sheppard
> University of Warwick
> _______________________________________________
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> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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>



--
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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