[Coral-List] SPAM R2: Re: The Four Principles of Ecological Restoration

Mon Aug 20 06:42:53 UTC 2018

 Dear coral-reef friends,

Lately, the forum's discussions included various important issues. I will
try to be laconic.

Yes, Dennis, it is good scholarship.  Sadly, the progress of scientific
knowledge is marked by human actions of "to kill the messenger".
Nevertheless, it is unacceptable to ignore existing publications and to
silence the failed results.  It is to researchers and funding institutions
to grant immunity to the messengers and to correct the wrongdoing.

Returning to coral reef builders, presenting synonymic list in taxonomic
works shows how much the author is familiar with the existing for the taxon
in question publications and speaks for the quality of analysis on the
cited papers.

In his post sent on August 17, Doug is right that pigeonholing the coral
species is neglecting the extraordinary coral variability.  It leads to pro
parte service to biodiversity.

Not too long ago there was an unwritten, but well respected rule to use the
existing literature, no matter what language is the work. Not to mention
the Latin, which being basic for many classic works was not native language
for several centuries yet.  And all was done without today's miracles of
electronic translation and presently efficient inter-library exchange.. I
remember the time when in London's, Natural History Museum used for the
first time xerox copies....

Once a taxonomic opinion is available as published, it doesn't possess
power of a decree.  It is not obligatory to be followed by the subsequent
investigators.  Each  researcher has right of personal opinion.  All
opinions concerning certain taxon are presented in its synonymic list.

In general, the contemporary coral species ID tools recommended for
university courses and for field work are short-cut oriented, omitting
existing phenotypic diversity.

The conventional taxonomy is playing some time bad service. How to explain
in other way that the Caribbean species Porites colonensis was discovered
so late and described in 1990 but was luxury dwelling in area next to STRI
Marine Station, east of Colon, Panama, a place visited by almost all coral
specialists?

O tempora!  O mores!  The time of a lucky-generation researchers studying
corals and reefs to almost 100m depth with elementary two cylinder SCUBA is
running out ...

The respected reader of this post might be bored by such text.  I was
privileged with many years experience of various personal mistakes and
chance to learn from collegial mis-steps, and would be glad to provide any
additional clarification..

Best wishes,

Vassil

Vassil Zlatarski
D.Sc. (Biology), Ph.D. (Geology)

On Sat, Aug 18, 2018 at 10:18 AM Dennis Hubbard <dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu>
wrote:

> It's been a looong time, but when I was starting out, there were two common
> practices that seem to have declined over the years for reasons I've never
> understood. The first relates to citations. Papers now tend to cite the
> "latest" paper on a particular topic and ignore the "classics" - including
> the first to describe a particular phenomenon or introduce an argumnt that
> we think we've come up with. I understand that we need to set the stage
> with the most recent thinking. But, as a result, we might forget (for
> example) that Conrad Neumann coined the term *Bioerosion *in the 70s and
> that the phenomenon was described for sponges in the 1800s. I miss the
> scholarship that allows us to understand the historical context of modern
> arguments and find myself too-often saying, "....read that 20 years ago".
>
> The second relates to "negative" results. I was taught that one of the key
> elements of any good Discussion was a careful consideration of what we
> might have missed or done wrong - and how our interpretations might be
> misdirected despite apparent statistical support. Pointing out possible or
> real mis-steps was the norm (including failed results).
>
> So, "good for you" Julian. It's not just avoiding repeated mistakes; it's
> good scholarship.
>
> Dennis
>
> On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 10:33 PM, Julian <julian at reefcheck.org.my> wrote:
>
> > Hi to all
> > Our own small scale restoration experiments since 2011 are detailed in a
> > booklet we published recently (available for download soon on our website
> > www.reefcheck.org.my) which deliberately includes what didn't work so
> > that others can learn from it and not waste more money trying something
> > that won't work. It seems uncommon to publish such "negative" results - I
> > sometimes wonder how much useful information is sitting in scientists
> > minds...but never gets published because it was a "failed" experiment.
> > Regards,
> >
> > Julian Hyde
> > General Manager
> > Reef Check Malaysia
> > +60 3 2161 5948
> > www.reefcheck.org.my
> > Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rcmalaysia
> >
> > Heard a fish bomb? E-mail us at reportfishbomb at reefcheck.org.my with
> > date, time and location
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> On Behalf Of
> > Robert Nowicki
> > Sent: Friday, 17 August, 2018 11:33 PM
> > To: Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu>
> > Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > Subject: SPAM R2: Re: [Coral-List] The Four Principles of Ecological
> > Restoration
> >
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I agree that it would benefit the scientific community to highlight what
> > doesn't work- especially given the well understood publishing bias
> towards
> > positive (i.e. significant) results.  Best restoration practices include
> > what *not *to do, and with coral restoration funding so tight, every
> grant
> > not spent pursuing a known dead end is a grant that can be used to pursue
> > new directions.  Learning what methods don't succeed is still valuable
> work
> > and should be celebrated as such.
> >
> > Generally, if people are afraid of "outing" organizations or people,
> > perhaps an alternative would be to list methods that failed, or
> > non-methodological drivers of failure (such as logistical, biological, or
> > political challenges)?  That way restoration groups can know what to
> watch
> > out for or what not to pursue without people getting thrown into the
> > spotlight.
> >
> > Curious what everyone else thinks.
> >
> >
> > Dr. Rob Nowicki
> >
> > Postdoctoral Research Fellow
> > Elizabeth Moore International Center for Coral Reef Research &
> Restoration
> > Mote Marine Laboratory
> > 24244 Overseas Highway
> > Summerland Key, FL 33042
> >
> > Office phone: (941)-504-4812
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 12:29 PM, Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > Dear Dr. Frias-Torres,
> > >
> > > Making mistakes and learning from them is part of science.  While you
> > > are under no obligation to share your findings I believe it would help
> > > the community to understand what went wrong and why. There’s nothing
> > > wrong with a failed restoration project in my eyes because coral
> > > restoration is probably the most complex form of environmental
> > > restoration occurring.  I don’t want to alienate, that’s a personal
> > opinion, I want to learn.
> > >
> > > Coming from a position of raising money to donate to coral-restoration
> > > it would be nice to know some of these details to better make
> > > donations. Who knows, maybe some of the money we donated went to such
> > > organizations, I doubt it, but being so far away it can be hard to
> tell.
> > >
> > > Warm Regards,
> > > Damien Beri
> > >
> > > Founder
> > > Reefined Arts
> > >
> > >
> > > B.S. Biology
> > > The college of Charleston
> > > Coral/Aquarium Specialist
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > > On Aug 14, 2018, at 5:19 PM, Sarah Frias-Torres <
> > > sfrias_torres at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Damien,
> > > > Indeed, I would like very much to share openly in Coral-List the
> > > > coral
> > > reef restoration projects that failed because a solid scientific base
> > > was missing.
> > > > However, this would be sensitive information (with names and dates)
> > > > and
> > > it will alienate the organizations that funded and/or implemented the
> > work.
> > > >
> > > > Rather than alienating them pointing out they failed, I think it's
> > > better to build a strong science-based coral reef restoration
> > > community of scientists and practitioners, and we make our code of
> > > conduct and our application of basic principles of ecological
> > > restoration well known, and we publicize them through all media
> > available, globally.
> > > >
> > > > I prefer building bridges than pointing fingers... but I keep a
> > > > little
> > > black book with project fails just in case more drastic measures are
> > needed.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > <><...<><...<><...
> > > >
> > > > Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D.
> > > > Twitter: @GrouperDoc
> > > > Science Blog: https://grouperluna.com/ Art Blog:
> > > > https://oceanbestiary.com/
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > From: Damien Beri <beridl at g.cofc.edu>
> > > > Sent: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 5:03 PM
> > > > To: Sarah Frias-Torres
> > > > Cc: coral list
> > > > Subject: Re: [Coral-List] The Four Principles of Ecological
> > > > Restoration
> > > >
> > > > Hi,
> > > >
> > > > Thank you for sharing these 4 basic principles. Could you please
> > > > share
> > > these failed restoration projects you have come across?
> > > >
> > > > Warm Regards,
> > > > Damien Beri
> > > >
> > > > M.A Marine Conservation and Policy
> > > > Stony Brook University
> > > >
> > > > B.S. Biology
> > > > The college of Charleston
> > > > Coral/Aquarium Specialist
> > > >
> > > > > On Aug 13, 2018, at 11:34 AM, Sarah Frias-Torres <
> > > sfrias_torres at hotmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Dear Coral Listers
> > > > >
> > > > > Recently, I have come upon several ill-planned coral reef
> > > > > restoration
> > > projects that failed. I also see newspaper interpretations on other
> > > projects that are blown out of proportion.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > We must bring the coral reef restoration community together and
> > > implement a set of basic principles to guide present and future
> projects.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Coral reef restoration must follow the four basic principles of
> > > planning and implementation of ecological restoration in order to
> > > increase sustainable and valuable outcomes. These principles are
> > > explained in Suding et al. (2015). Below, I list the four basic
> > > principles and a direct implication for coral reef restoration labelled
> > as CRR:
> > > > >
> > > > > 1. Restoration increases ecological integrity. Restoration
> > > > > initiates
> > > or accelerates recovery of degraded areas by prioritizing the
> > > complexity of biological assemblages, including species composition
> > > and representation of all functional groups, as well as the features
> > > and processes needed to sustain these biota and to support ecosystem
> > > function;
> > > > >
> > > > > [CRR] Avoid "monocultures" unless they exist in natural conditions
> > > (i.e. Acropora thickets);  aim to restore species assemblages
> > > > >
> > > > > 2. Restoration is sustainable in the long term. Restoration aims
> > > > > to
> > > establish systems that are self-sustaining and resilient; thus, they
> > > must be consistent with their environmental context and landscape
> > > setting. Once a restoration project is complete, the goal should be to
> > > minimize human intervention over the long term. When intervention is
> > > required, it should be to simulate natural processes that the
> > > landscape no longer provides or to support traditional practices of
> > > local communities;
> > > > >
> > > > > [CRR] coral reef restoration jump-starts a degraded coral reef
> > > > > that is
> > > beyond natural recovery. Once the intervention ends, it must be
> > > self-sustaining, i.e. the restored reef attracts new coral recruits,
> > > fish community increases, etc.
> > > > >
> > > > > 3. Restoration is informed by the past and future. Historical
> > > knowledge, in its many forms, can indicate how ecosystems functioned
> > > in the past and can provide references for identifying potential
> > > future trajectories and measuring functional and compositional success
> > > of projects. However, the unprecedented pace and spatial extent of
> > > anthropogenic changes in the present era can create conditions that
> > > depart strongly from historical trends. Often, then, history serves
> > > less as a template and more as a guide for determining appropriate
> > restoration goals.
> > > > >
> > > > > [CRR] this is shorthand for "don't "restore" a coral reef where
> > > > > there
> > > was not one to begin with.
> > > > >
> > > > > 4. Restoration benefits and engages society. Restoration focuses
> > > > > on
> > > recovering biodiversity and supporting the intrinsic value of nature.
> > > It also provides a suite of ecosystem services (e.g., improved water
> > > quality, fertile and stable soils, drought and flood buffering,
> > > genetic diversity, and carbon sequestration) that enhance human
> > > quality of life (e.g., clean water, food security, enhanced health, and
> > effective governance).
> > > Restoration engages people through direct participation and, thus,
> > > increases understanding of ecosystems and their benefits and
> > > strengthens human communities.
> > > > >
> > > > > [CRR] Meaning, don't do "helicopter science". Involve the local
> > > community as much as possible throughout the entire process.
> > > > >
> > > > > I would add a communications principle:
> > > > >
> > > > > 5. Do not over-promise on what your project can do. Be very clear
> > > > > on
> > > what you are doing. A coral is not a coral is not a coral. It's not
> > > the same to outplant one breeding sized branching coral (i.e. 20 cm
> > > diameter),
> > > 20 thumb-sized fragment or 200 coral spat (< 1 cm diameter). Each
> > > coral is a at a different growth stage, has different mortality rates
> > > and different outcomes for the project. Educate journalists on the
> > > correct way of reporting your project. I know many won't listen, but
> > > it's worth the effort for those who would listen.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > Reference
> > > > >
> > > > > Suding K. and 12 authors (2015) Committing to ecological
> restoration
> > .
> > > Science 348: 638-640
> > > > >
> > > > > http://science.sciencemag.org/content/348/6235/638
> > > >
> > > > Committing to ecological restoration | Science
> > > > science.sciencemag.org At the September 2014 United Nations Climate
> > > > Summit, governments rallied
> > > around an international agreement—the New York Declaration on
> > > Forests—that underscored restoration of degraded ecosystems as an
> > > auspicious solution to climate change.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > <><...<><...<><...
> > > > >
> > > > > Sarah Frias-Torres, Ph.D.
> > > > > Twitter: @GrouperDoc
> > > > > Science Blog: https://grouperluna.com/ Art Blog:
> > > > > https://oceanbestiary.com/
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
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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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