[Coral-List] couple more articles on the Amazon reefs in the press

Tue Apr 26 11:32:19 EDT 2016

Hello Guys,

Of course this major reef system did not emerge suddenly out of the blue
(brown)! Collette & Rutzler reported sponges and reef fishes from the
Amazon mouth in the 1970's (specimens lost), Moura et al. described a rich
coral and fish assemblage in the southern end of the Amazon mouth (publ. in
Coral Reefs), and Cordeiro et al. recently checklisted cnidarians, from a
collection of scattered museum specimens (Bull Mar Sci). The Brazilian
Environmental Agency, IBAMA, along the last decades, has also reported
massive yields of reef fishes (groupers, snappers) and lobsters from that
region. There are other relevant pieces here and there (cited in our
paper), but information about the carbonate structures and the massive
rhodolith beds around the structures was lacking.

We are now providing a more comprehensive overview of the Amazon reef
system, derived from an ongoing research program that initially involved
Brazilian and US scientists, and now also includes Australian and European
collaborators. Our paper shows the dimensions of the Amazon reef system,
how it evolved, and how it is currently structured and dynamically
interacting with the river plume. There are insights regarding the effects
of climate changes over reef systems (e.g. microbial and benthic cover
responses to severe runoff, lowered oxygen and pH), the role of this
particular system as a biogeographic corridor, and its importance as a
fishing ground. We are also expressing concerns about the future of this
unique coralgal + sponge assemblage due to ESCALATING oil & gas drilling
off the Amazon Mouth. The journalists are telling their stories too, but
this is a completely different dimension: some are saying the system has
1km2 and others referred it to Peru...

The full (scientific) story is told in our paper and SM (includes
downloadable shape files, updated species lists, microbial metagenomes,
movies, pictures, etc):
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/4/e1501252
http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/suppl/2016/04/19/2.4.e1501252.DC1

You may also be interested in other major South Atlantic "marginal reefs"
where our group is working at:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0035171
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278434313001362

A full list of our contributions may be found here:
http://www.abrolhos.org/publicacoes.php

Warm Regards from Rio,

-- 
*Rodrigo Leão de Moura, Dr.*
Professor Adjunto, Instituto de Biologia
Pesquisador Associado ao SAGE/COPPE
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

http://lattes.cnpq.br/8814217649491828
http://www.abrolhos.org <http://www.mouralab.org/>
http://www.mouralab.com

cel: + 55 (21) 99609-2724        skype: r.moura

2016-04-25 21:31 GMT-03:00 Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>:

> One news story said that the reef was "in the Amazon River."  I doubted
> that.  One had a picture it labelled "coral" which was an obvious sponge.
> Sigh.
>
> Cheers,  Doug
>
> On Mon, Apr 25, 2016 at 12:59 PM, Charles Delbeek <cdelbeek at calacademy.org
> >
> wrote:
>
> > Since when is a known reef that has been written about on a couple of
> > occasions since 1977 a "discovery"?
> >
> > Sent by my digital assistant, please excuse it's typos.
> >
> > On Apr 25, 2016, at 8:47 PM, Douglas Fenner <
> douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > The Atlantic story gives a bit more background:
> >
> > Scientists have discovered a 600 mile coral reef
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/04/scientists-discover-a-new-coral-reef-at-the-amazons-mouth/479259/?utm_source=yahoo
> >
> > Unique coral reef ecosystem discovered in the Amazon river
> >
> > http://mashable.com/2016/04/23/coral-reef-ecosystem-amazon/#NhazxDKSCSqo
> >
> > Cheers,  Doug
> >
> > --
> > Douglas Fenner
> > Contractor for NOAA NMFS, and consultant
> > "have regulator, will travel"
> > PO Box 7390
> > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
> >
> > phone 1 684 622-7084
> >
> > Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
> > subscription to the journal Coral Reefs, and there are discounts for pdf
> > subscriptions and developing countries.  Check it out!
> www.fit.edu/isrs/
> >
> > "Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim
> Beever.
> >  "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own
> facts."-
> > Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
> >
> > Carbon tax: a cheap, proven fix to the world's biggest problem.  (revenue
> > neutral)
> >
> >
> >
> http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/19/opinions/sutter-carbon-tax-washington-british-columbia/index.html
> >
> > Earth's hot streak continues for a record 11 months.
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/earths-hot-streak-continues-record-152700358.html
> >
> > Solar can power more than 100 times America's current electricity needs,
> a
> > new report finds
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs/solar-can-power-more-than-100-times-americas-current-electricity-needs-new-report-finds
> >
> > website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
> >
> > blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Contractor for NOAA NMFS, and consultant
> "have regulator, will travel"
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>
> phone 1 684 622-7084
>
> Join the International Society for Reef Studies.  Membership includes a
> subscription to the journal Coral Reefs, and there are discounts for pdf
> subscriptions and developing countries.  Check it out!  www.fit.edu/isrs/
>
> "Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim Beever..
>   "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts."-
> Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
>
> Carbon tax: a cheap, proven fix to the world's biggest problem.  (revenue
> neutral)
>
>
> http://edition.cnn.com/2016/04/19/opinions/sutter-carbon-tax-washington-british-columbia/index.html
>
> Earth's hot streak continues for a record 11 months.
>
>
> https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/earths-hot-streak-continues-record-152700358.html
>
> Solar can power more than 100 times America's current electricity needs, a
> new report finds
>
>
> http://www.theclimategroup.org/what-we-do/news-and-blogs/solar-can-power-more-than-100-times-americas-current-electricity-needs-new-report-finds
>
> website:  http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
>
> blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
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