[Coral-List] NOAA plan to save coral reefs

Dustan, Phillip DustanP at cofc.edu
Thu Dec 26 20:03:50 UTC 2019


 Steve,
Thanks for the pep talk
 NOAA has been spouting this sort of rhetoric for years and  the reefs keep dying - faster and faster and now there is virtually nothing left.  NOAA has not paid enough attention to the basic ecology of coral reefs. The very adaptations that allow reefs to flourish make them vulnerable to human activity.  The scientific community has known  this for years. NOAA has been told over and over but since the agency insists on commerce too - it will never work out. Dollars increase and reefs suffer......Now we have climate change and what is NOAA doing about it? Where is the strong political will to work on the things that matter? We very well might be better off planting 90 million dollars worth of trees than coral outplants at this stage of the game. The politics are simply stronger than  conservation. Reefs along the US coastline will not have a chance until we attack the more fundamental issues with 2-5x the ferocity of the WW2 effort; and even with that it may be too late for the Keys until sea level rises to the point where people are excluded............. I just can not understand why we are not more realistic about the current situation? There are solutions we can work on but most are on land, not in the sea.
   Phil
________________________________
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of Steve Gittings - NOAA Federal via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, December 25, 2019 5:46 PM
To: Phillip Dustan <phil.dustan at gmail.com>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] NOAA plan to save coral reefs

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.


Thanks for this discussion about a number of valid concerns, including the
risk of failure when local planners neglect to deal with relevant problems
that operate at scales beyond their jurisdiction or immediate priorities.
But I want to point out that just because the news reports don't mention
the full range of problems that we all know are at play doesn't mean they
are forgotten.  The restoration planners for the Florida Keys projects are
all concerned that climate change, as well as water quality and other
non-climate stressors, could prevent success.  We all know that restoration
is likely to fail without improvements in most or all of these.  As one who
is on the planning side of the table for NOAA, I can confirm that we
recognize the need to attack on multiple fronts, and will continue to fight
whatever battles we can.  But no matter how much money is raised to do the
restoration, it won't be enough on its own to fight the larger war to
protect the Keys.  We hope the restoration effort will become a rallying
cause, but it will take the entire coral community, and those who depend on
coral ecosystems—especially the seasoned veterans—to fight for changes that
help achieve a common goal.  So please keep pushing hard for action on
these issues by all local, regional and national authorities that can make
a difference.

Happy holidays to all,
Steve

On Tue, Dec 24, 2019 at 5:48 PM Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hey All,
> As we begin about 50 years of coral reef conservation I offer the following
> to this august group:
>  Insanity is described as doing the same thing over and over expecting a
> different result.
> We knew the drivers of coral reef destruction a long time ago, although it
> doesn't seem that long ago.
> Reefs are the messengers.
> We are the bad guys but no one wants to step up.
> No government has the political will.
> No government agencies can really make a difference until there is will -
> or emergency
> Human reproductive success is driving the destruction of our only
> biosphere.
> So work at local levels where you think you can make a difference.
> Attack the fundamental mechanisms ,not the diversions.
> Mother Nature will take care of the rest.........including us.
> Then maybe there will be Peace on Earth.
> P
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 24, 2019 at 1:42 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> > Hi Steven,
> >
> > I just don’t understand why the effort in Florida doesn’t have the
> > following essential aspects of restoration front and center.
> >
> > From : Rodgers et al. (2017), Effectiveness of coral relocation as a
> > mitigation strategy in
> > Ka ̄ne‘ohe Bay, Hawai‘i.
> >
> > “Coral restoration projects are better designed and implemented today
> than
> > decades ago, but they may take the focus off the underlying problems. We
> > need to reduce pollution, prevent erosion, and reduce carbon emissions.
> > Restoration efforts on reefs vulnerable to poor land management,
> pollution,
> > and/or continued severe bleaching may render restoration efforts futile”.
> >
> > “Effective translocation and management plans should include reduction or
> > elimination of watershed stressors, establishment of marine reserves,
> > development of integrated coastal management systems, and establishment
> and
> > enforcement of regulations that protect coral reefs”.
> >
> >
> >  The idea that addressing major stressors is paramount to the long-term
> > success of any such project appears to be based on sound science.
> > Conversely, any large-scale project that does not put emphasis on the
> > underlying problems is setting itself up for criticism to say nothing of
> > increasing the odds of ultimate failure. Restoration is not inherently
> > folly in any sense, but if it by design takes the focus off major
> stressors
> > E.g. water quality and climate change, then it’s setting itself up for an
> > inauspicious ending.
> >
> > There are reasons to support well-conceived restoration projects, but
> they
> > should be framed as a tool, not a solution. If the hype surrounding these
> > efforts even unintentionally delays action on addressing the major
> > stressors one could certainly argue that they may be  doing more harm
> than
> > good.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Steve Mussman
> >
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
> >
> > > On Dec 20, 2019, at 5:50 PM, Steven Miller via Coral-List <
> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> > >
> > > A quick reply to counter the idea that restoration is folly, even
> though
> > > I'm a co-author on an older restoration paper with folly in the title.
> I
> > > changed my mind. I wonder how many people on the list have changed
> their
> > > minds, moving from one camp to another, or abandoned belief in a
> paradigm
> > > for something that they thought was better?  That would be an
> interesting
> > > thread, but I digress.
> > >
> > > Why should anyone support coral restoration when all the stressors
> remain
> > > that got us to where we are now, and related to warming are only
> getting
> > > worse?
> > >
> > > Simply, 1)  Large numbers (tens of thousands) of corals in offshore
> > > nurseries (mid Hawk Channel in Florida) grow fast and are generally in
> > good
> > > shape after a year or two. 2) Corals in nurseries were derived from
> > > survivors. That is, from wild corals that survived multiple bleaching
> and
> > > disease events. 3) Nursery corals also represent a genetically diverse
> > > population, based on individuals collected across significant spatial
> > > scales and genetic analyses that confirm the diversity of corals in
> > > nurseries capture a significant portion of variability that exists in
> the
> > > wild. 5) Large numbers of nursery-raised corals can be outplanted to
> > reefs
> > > and despite high mortality after 5-10 years, some corals survive.
> > >
> > > So, a result of restoration work (not projects but large-scale
> programs)
> > > that can be sustained at the decadal scale is lots of corals
> (potentially
> > > thousands) on reefs where they were previously absent. Local ecological
> > > extinction is prevented. Even better, outplanted corals have sex and
> > while
> > > the fate of their gametes is unknown, as more adults survive on the
> reef,
> > > perhaps recruitment will eventually result.
> > >
> > > But challenges remain, such as how to get more corals out to reefs in a
> > > cost-efficient manner.  Some species present unique challenges, I know.
> > > And more.
> > >
> > > The above summary is based on work from Florida, which perhaps
> represents
> > > the most challenging place to try and conduct this work. After all,
> > > historical baselines suggest that the best reefs were limited to only a
> > > small percentage of total available habitat, due to things like outflow
> > > from Florida Bay and the northern geographic limit of reef growth in
> the
> > > region being just south of Miami.
> > >
> > > My intent with this post is to suggest that there are reasons to
> support
> > > restoration despite the criticism of why do it in the face of existing
> > > stressors.  If you don't think it will work, then, by all means,
> > critiques
> > > are warranted that advance the science. But understand that successes
> > have
> > > already occurred that suggest those who are working on restoration are
> > not
> > > doing so in folly.
> > >
> > > Finally, coral restoration science is in its infancy.  In my opinion,
> > it's
> > > way too early to give up.
> > >
> > > Best Regards
> > >
> > > Steven Miller. PhD
> > > Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography
> > > Nova Southeastern University
> > >
> > > On Fri, Dec 20, 2019 at 4:45 PM Risk, Michael via Coral-List <
> > > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> > >
> > >> The entire article doesn't even mention LBSP. It's as though Brian
> > >> Lapointe's work had been airbrushed away...we never learn, do we?
> > >> ________________________________________
> > >>
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>
> --
>
>
>
> Phillip Dustan PhD
> Charleston SC  29424
> 843-953-8086 office
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>
> "When we try to pick out anything by itself
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