[Coral-List] Szmant 2002: Great review on nutrient enrichment on coral reefs (Gene Shinn)

Pawlik, Joseph pawlikj at uncw.edu
Mon May 7 08:27:48 EDT 2018


Hi Gene and list,

Was the peak year for Caribbean coral demise in 1983?

Zlatarski and the Halas did videos of Grecian and Dry Rocks reefs in 1987, capturing the beginning of the end for reefs in the Key Largo Area -- check out these videos (prepare to be depressed).

https://youtu.be/LIbmsHmuxWk

https://youtu.be/QV-XJZdPbk0

In 1987, things were still very healthy, but the narration indicates that diseased patches were observed.

Is there any agreement on the span of demise of Acropora in the Caribbean?  For the northern Keys, I would suggest that it's closer to 1988-89, but I'd like confirmation of that by those who were there and monitoring the reefs.

Joe

**************************************************************
Joseph R. Pawlik
Frank Hawkins Kenan Distinguished Professor of Marine Biology
Dept. of Biology and Marine Biology
UNCW Center for Marine Science
5600 Marvin K Moss Lane
Wilmington, NC  28409
Office:(910)962-2377; Cell:(910)232-3579
Website: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/index.html
PDFs: http://people.uncw.edu/pawlikj/pubs2.html
Video Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/skndiver011
**************************************************************


-----Original Message-----
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml..noaa.gov> On Behalf Of Eugene Shinn
Sent: Thursday, May 3, 2018 12:54 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Szmant 2002: Great review on nutrient enrichment on coral reefs (Gene Shinn)

John, I agree the Szmant 2002 paper on nutrient enrichment is a classic. 
It was one of several papers consulted while we were developing our African dust hypothesis. At the time it was already known that African dust supplied the nutrients that stimulate Amazon rain forest growth. 
Thus, African dust also seemed a viable explanation for benthic turf algal blooms and demise of coral reefs around isolated Caribbean islands with small human populations. It was noted early on that the peak year of coral demise throughout the Caribbean was centered around 1983. That was also the peak year of increased dust flux in the Atlantic. During this period of time our USGS research revealed tidal pumping and offshore seepage of nutrient rich ground water. Also at that time many researchers were finding offshore surface waters contained insufficient amounts of nutrients to readily explain benthic turf algal blooms, Thus, seepage of nutrient rich ground water (enriched by anthropogenic sewage
nutrients) combined with sedimentation of atmospheric dust elements might explain turf algal blooms and at the same time explain the relative lack of dissolved nutrients in the overlying water column.

So where are we now? For sure the demise of corals reefs continues throughout the Caribbean and especially in Florida. It seems likely increasing human population in the Keys and continued African dust flux (enhanced by climate change) is ongoing. African dust nutrients are now increasingly recognized as a stimulus for phytoplankton blooms in mid Atlantic surface waters. Many studies have also shown the dust transports viable bacteria and fungi along with toxic elements like mercury and arsenic in addition to pesticides.. And now we have sunscreens containing Oxybenzone to contend with. It is increasingly difficult to remain optimistic. Gene

See: Shinn, E.A., Smith, G.W., Prospero, J.M., Betzer, P., Hayes, M.L., Garrison, V., Barber, R.T., 2000, African dust and the demise of Caribbean coral reefs: Geological Research Letters, v. 27, p. 3129-3032.

Also see https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoastal.er.usgs.gov%2Fafrican_dust%2Fgallery.html&data=01%7C01%7Cpawlikj%40uncw.edu%7Cb7c8df1161b8417497ae08d5b1c38c02%7C2213678197534c75af2868a078871ebf%7C1&sdata=h4vJogAotNbVB9wmetx64b0FyuGlQllvSLlOAJnYtQs%3D&reserved=0

-- 


No Rocks, No Water, No Ecosystem (EAS)
------------------------------------ -----------------------------------
E. A. Shinn, Courtesy Professor
University of South Florida
College of Marine Science Room 221A
140 Seventh Avenue South
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
<eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Tel 727 553-1158
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fcoral.aoml.noaa.gov%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fcoral-list&data=01%7C01%7Cpawlikj%40uncw.edu%7Cb7c8df1161b8417497ae08d5b1c38c02%7C2213678197534c75af2868a078871ebf%7C1&sdata=3ro0SaMtZAqxrxxMV%2F6XsYct0fP8dxKZHDwOTPb51%2BI%3D&reserved=0


More information about the Coral-List mailing list