[Coral-List] 80% of species are unknown

[Douglas Fenner]

As people interested in the most diverse marine ecosystems, some may be
interested in the following:

The 8 million species we still don't know

Biologist E. O. Wilson says that we need a reckoning of life on Earth
<http://links.information.nature.com/ctt?kn=5&ms=NTYxMjEyNjUS1&r=MzE3NTM0MjA4ODEyS0&b=0&j=MTM2MDc3MzIzMQS2&mt=1&rt=0>
 to inform the conservation decisions that will slow the pace of
extinction. “With only about 20 percent of its species known and 80 percent
undiscovered, it is fair to call Earth a little-known planet,” he writes.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/03/opinion/sunday/species-conservation-extinction.html

Open-access.

I see lots of interest in protecting ever larger areas.  Great!  I see lots
of action and support for fancy genetics.  Good!  But support for
describing new species continues to diminish into nothing.  I think the
call for more boots on the ground for field biologists finding new species
will fall on deaf ears as it has many times before.  Hope I'm wrong, but
not holding my breath.

Cheers,  Doug

-- 
Douglas Fenner
Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant
PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

New online open-access field guide to 300 coral species in Chagos, Indian
Ocean
http://chagosinformationportal.org/corals

Even without El Nino, 2017 temperatures soared.

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/even-without-el-ni-o-2017-temperatures-still-soared?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2018-01-19&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=1800664

Coral reefs are bleaching too frequently to recover
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/the-global-scourge-on-coral-reefs/549713/?utm_source=atlfb

How to save the "tropical rainforests" of the ocean
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/01/09/coral-reefs/?tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.80ce291c546b