[Coral-List] French Polynesia Reef Report

[Charles Delbeek]

That article is also based on a 6 year old study from 2013, our team dove
there this past spring and the reefs were extensively bleached.


*J. Charles Delbeek, M.Sc.*Curator, Steinhart Aquarium
California Academy of Sciences

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On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 7:28 AM Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Dear Coral List Community,
>
> The encouraging report on coral reefs of French Polynesia and the
> associated press report which Doug so thoughtfully shared in my opinion is
> a bit misleading.  This "good news" masks the fact that a formerly
> Acropora-dominated system has collapsed, and although it has recovered, a
> major species-shift has occurred- from Acropora to Pocillopora.
>
> From what I have gathered in discussions and from observations, this same
> phase shift has occurred on various reefs throughout the IndoPacific-
> including the Line Islands and  the Seychelles. And this same shift
> happened in Hawaii hundreds of years ago.  In the Caribbean, the Acropora
> corals were the first to go......and are all but gone on many reefs, and
> they are now the focus of intense restoration efforts.
>
> From my observations over the decades, Acropora corals, especially the
> larger table and staghorn forms, are not only the first to go from
> bleaching and associated post-bleaching predation and disease, but these
> Acroporas are also the last to recover after mass die off.
>
> My recommendation is that when we use coral cover as a measure of reef
> health, that it is important to sort the corals to genera, as this phase
> shift from Acropora to Pocillopora or to Porites is clear, and it warrants
> further study.
>
> Regards,
>
> Austin
>
>
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> Sustainable Environmental Livelihoods for the Future
> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
> https://www.facebook.com/C4Conservation
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p009j6wb
> TEDx talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRLJ8zDm0U
>
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
> <
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
> >
>
>
> >
> > Message: 5
> > Date: Tue, 17 Dec 2019 08:23:04 -1100
> > From: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
> > To: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
> > Subject: [Coral-List] coral reefs of French Polynesia
> > Message-ID:
> >         <
> > CAOEmEkH-Cty3VGvLy0CegYQ3DWah0iE1dkSBuvVsRuiVf2arvw at mail.gmail.com>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
> >
> > As coral reefs suffer around the world, those in French Polynesia are
> > thriving
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/coral-reefs-suffer-around-world-reefs-french-polynesia-are-thriving?utm_campaign=news_daily_2019-12-16&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=3126352
> >
> >
> >  French Polynesia Final Report in English:
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/French-Polynesia-Final-Report-ENGLISH.pdf
> >
> >
> > (there is also a version of the report in French, just change the word
> > "ENGLISH" to "FRENCH" and that will probably work.)
> >
> > 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
> >
> >
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