[Coral-List] PeerJ article published: Rapidly increasing macroalgal cover not related to herbivorous fishes on Mesoamerican reefs

[Nicole Crane]

Just need to say - this is a great paper with important points, BUT, lets not get simplistic about the world (I don’t mean the paper, I mean this conversation), and certainly not reefs.  This paper does not mean top down doesn’t exist, not that it isn’t important.  Both top down and bottom up are in action (some great work has illustrated both), and work together to shape ecosystems.  Obviously, we need to take care of the fish AND the s**t.  Also - since when was working with fisher people any less politically charged than talking about s**t?  Witness the tuna fishery.

Anyway, this is indeed a good discussion, and thanks!

Nicole

> On Jun 2, 2016, at 7:47 AM, Risk, Michael <riskmj at mcmaster.ca> wrote:
> 
> Thanks for pointing that out. Important work.
> 
> I have never been a fan of top-down control, feeling it lacked definitive work…in the meantime, top-down gave “managers” an out for decades. It is politically much easier to say “look after the fish” than “don’t throw s**t in the water.”
> 
> And now we see the results.
> 
> Mike
>> On May 31, 2016, at 7:13 PM, Pawlik, Joseph <pawlikj at uncw.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> Greetings, Coral-listers -- this just-released paper is the latest to join a growing tide of studies that run contrary to the widely held view that herbivorous fishes control seaweeds on Caribbean reefs:
>> 
>> 
>> Suchley A, McField MD, Alvarez-Filip L. (2016) Rapidly increasing macroalgal cover not related to herbivorous fishes on Mesoamerican reefs. PeerJ 4:e2084
>> 
>> https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2084
>> 
>> 
>> Cheers,
>> 
>> Joe
>> 
>> **************************************************************
>> Joseph R. Pawlik, Professor
>> Department of Biology and Marine Biology
>> UNCW Center for Marine Science
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>> pawlikj at uncw.edu; Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579
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> 
> Risk, Michael
> riskmj at mcmaster.ca
> 
> 
> 
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Nicole L. Crane
Faculty, Cabrillo College
Natural and Applied Sciences
www.cabrillo.edu/~ncrane
onepeopleonereef.ucsc.edu

Senior Conservation Scientist
Oceanic Society
www.oceanicsociety.org