[Coral-List] NOAA plan to save coral reefs

[Bill Allison]

Not to underestimate the role of warming and storms, there does seem to be
an underlying problem that is not named for some reason...
Lapointe, B. E., R. A. Brewton, et al. (2019). "Nitrogen enrichment,
altered stoichiometry, and coral reef decline at Looe Key, Florida Keys,
USA: a 3-decade study." Marine Biology 166: 108.
Abstract
Increased loadings of nitrogen [N] from fertilizers, top soil, sewage, and
atmospheric deposition are important drivers of eutrophication in coastal
waters globally. Monitoring seawater and macroalgae can reveal long-term
changes in N and phosphorus (P) availability and N:P stoichiometry that are
critical to understanding the global crisis of coral reef decline. Analysis
of a unique 3-decade data set for Looe Key reef, located offshore the lower
Florida Keys, showed increased dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN),
chlorophyll a, DIN:soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) ratios, as well as
higher tissue C:P and N:P ratios in macroalgae during the early 1990s.
These data, combined with remote sensing and nutrient monitoring between
the Everglades and Looe Key, indicated that the significant DIN enrichment
between 1991 and 1995 at Looe Key coincided with increased Everglades
runoff, which drains agricultural and urban areas extending north to
Orlando, Florida. This resulted in increased P limitation of reef primary
producers that can cause metabolic stress in stony corals. Outbreaks of
stony coral disease, bleaching, and mortality between 1995 and 2000
followed DIN enrichment, algal blooms, and increased DIN:SRP ratios,
suggesting that eutrophication interacted with other factors causing coral
reef decline at Looe Key. Although water temperatures at Looe Key exceeded
the 30.5 °C bleaching threshold repeatedly over the 3-decade study, the
three mass bleaching events occurred only when DIN:SRP ratios increased
following heavy rainfall and increased Everglades runoff. These results
suggest that Everglades discharges, in conjunction with local nutrient
sources, contributed to DIN enrichment, eutrophication, and increased N:P
ratios at Looe Key, exacerbating P limitation, coral stress and decline.
Improved management of water quality at the local and regional levels could
moderate N inputs and maintain more balanced N:P stoichiometry, thereby
reducing the risk of coral bleaching, disease, and mortality under the
current level of temperature stress.



On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 10:36 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> NOAA unveils plan to save coral reefs
>
>
> https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20191209/noaa-unveils-plan-to-save-coral-reefs?fbclid=IwAR1L8fgev0_h_VnP_Morw3UiuHXnwn_G9DdXBHoW8yxai5weRTxKyHliW6c
>
>
> The title makes it sound to me like maybe they are proposing to save all
> coral reefs.  They are proposing to save 7 little reefs in the Florida
> Keys.  Phase 1 will put out Elkhorn, which grows fast and is not subject to
> the stony coral tissue loss disease that is currently ravaging Florida
> reefs.  But Phase 2 plans to put out several other corals, including Pillar
> corals that are subject to that disease, plus "star and brain corals" which
> it doesn't say are subject or not.  Doesn't say they have a plan for how to
> keep them from catching the disease.
>
> Cheers,  Doug
> --
> Douglas Fenner
> Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
> NOAA Fisheries Service
> Pacific Islands Regional Office
> Honolulu
> and:
> Consultant
> PO Box 7390
> Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA
>
> Even 50-year old climate models correctly predicted global warmng
>
> https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/even-50-year-old-climate-models-correctly-predicted-global-warming?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2019-12-06&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=3113276
>
> Greenhouse gas emissions to set new record this year, but rate of growth
> shrinks
>
> https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/greenhouse-gas-emissions-year-set-new-record-rate-growth-shrinks?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2019-12-06&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=3113276
>
> "Global warming is manifestly the foremost current threat to coral reefs,
> and must be addressed by the global community if reefs as we know them will
> have any chance to persist."  Williams et al, 2019, Frontiers in Marine
> Science
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>