[Coral-List] Origin of Corals?

Wed Dec 16 22:42:34 UTC 2020

Hi Melbourne,

I suggest you read the following great book. It summarizes many of the ideas proposed to explain differences in species richness around the world.

 Corals in Space and Time: Biogeography and Evolution of the Scleractinia Hardcover – April 1, 1995 by J.E.N. Veron

Cheers!

John
________________________________
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of Melbourne Briscoe via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, December 15, 2020 4:27 PM
To: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
Cc: Coral-List <Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Origin of Corals?

Thanks for this, Doug. I guess no one else wants to weigh in! It also seems
like no one wants to apply a little critical thinking to some of those
dozen theories. For example, your last paragraph mentions a "vortex
theory." If it has been assessed, and discarded, I'm not surprised. The
life times of coral eggs/sperm drifting across the Pacific are much shorter
than the time it takes to get there. I can only see the abstract, but the
methodology is not compelling.
- Mel

On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 4:39 PM Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> There are about a dozen theories for the marine biogeographic pattern with
> the center of diversity in the Coral Triangle.  I'm not up on the current
> state of this, so I'll let others speak to it and will be interested in
> what they say.  However, it just so happens that Science just published an
> article that appears to me to be relevant, even though it is about birds
> and not corals.
>
> Diversity hotspots: coldspots of speciation?
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.sciencemag.org%2Fcontent%2F370%2F6522%2F1268&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182917318%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=VMd1GEo3WWclTPz%2Fpi6blQOP3DRg%2F5t1e1jFexQRYtg%3D&reserved=0
> <https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.sciencemag.org%2Fcontent%2F370%2F6522%2F1268%3Futm_campaign%3Dtoc_sci-mag_2020-12-10%26et_rid%3D17045989%26et_cid%3D3593354&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182917318%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=yFvn0JvPdlfuRBdqFXVfLaDVKGJp3Tj7WRjG8qzJxhI%3D&reserved=0>
>
> The evolution of a tropical biodiversity hotspot
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.sciencemag.org%2Fcontent%2F370%2F6522%2F1343&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182917318%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=OkxNHtZqnImLaZrFsRtP3ev1ZV%2FXs1ROvZcsDQzrik8%3D&reserved=0
>
> I believe that this is the opposite pattern to have been reported in the
> first publication to report the diversity pattern for corals (at the genus
> level), Stehli and Wells, 1971.  They reported that coral genera in
> high-diversity areas were younger than in lower diversity areas.
>
> Theories of why corals show this pattern have been very difficult to
> test.  Veron 2000 shows the current map for coral species, genera, and
> families, might also be on his website, https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coralsoftheworld.org%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182917318%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=JeIeqa9b3UWjGB9D3f%2BjIfoEdY9%2F4Q9Taay82a%2B5uIQ%3D&reserved=0  Fish
> show the same pattern as shown in Figure 14-11 on page 308 in Goldberg's
> text on coral reefs, based on data from Gerry Allen.  Chuck Birkeland
> pointed out that echinoderms show a similar pattern, in his 1989 book
> chapter on "The influence of echinoderms on coral-reef communities."  He
> shows in his Table 1 the data for each class of echinoderms separately, at
> 10 locations, a very strong pattern for every class.  Take a look at this
> chapter, it is an education on echinoderms on reefs.
>
> One interesting idea was that of the "vortex model", that westward flowing
> currents in the Pacific carried newly evolved coral species westward,
> causing them to accumulate in the western Pacific area of highest
> diversity.  Jokeil & Martinelli, 1992.  There was also a similar study that
> modeled the effect of the large number of islands and reefs concentrated in
> the western Pacific vs the very sparse reefs in the eastern Pacific, and
> reported that was sufficient to produce the pattern on its own as well.  I
> never found that publication, does anybody know it?
>
> Cheers,  Doug
>
> Birkeland  1989.   The influence of echinoderms on coral-reef communities.
>
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.researchgate.net%2Fprofile%2FCharles_Birkeland%2Fpublication%2F284657222_The_influence_of_echinoderms_on_coral-reef_communities%2Flinks%2F56b4c6d308aebbde1a7793c7.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182917318%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=eLKvoBH9Uqen7ncj2AQEf8g7HFQDFTq3X9kvW2C%2FYaY%3D&reserved=0
>
> Goldberg.  2013.  The biology of reefs and reef organisms.  Univ
> Chicago Press
>
> Jokiel & Martinelli.  1992.  The vortex model of coral reef biogeography.
> Journal of Biogeography.
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jstor.org%2Fstable%2Fpdf%2F2845572.pdf&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182927313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=exh%2BWl%2F2Z%2FGcbwkJZU0nhowezyfmm7ra0uyiU6QK7Q4%3D&reserved=0
>
> Stehli and Wells.   1971. Diversity and age patterns in hermatypic
> corals.
> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fciteseerx.ist.psu.edu%2Fviewdoc%2Fdownload&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182927313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=hNm62rOlZZdxj0izwK%2FheJ%2FJxeM8S75RGnN0aytB4tA%3D&reserved=0
>
> On Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 6:44 AM Melbourne Briscoe via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
>> What is the currently accepted theory for the global distribution of
>> corals?
>> Is it still the "spreading from the epicenter in the Coral Triangle" as I
>> learned many years ago or is there a more accepted idea today?
>> thanks -
>> - Mel Briscoe
>> _______________________________________________
>> Coral-List mailing list
>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>> https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoral.aoml.noaa.gov%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fcoral-list&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182927313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=z8MP9TQliNOeC9XfiBleKVLwmzAHOMunczwfmsHd2AE%3D&reserved=0
>>
>
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
https://nam01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcoral.aoml.noaa.gov%2Fmailman%2Flistinfo%2Fcoral-list&data=04%7C01%7Cjmcmanus%40rsmas.miami.edu%7Cb7f53ef55cd544cd2d5808d8a1533d6d%7C2a144b72f23942d48c0e6f0f17c48e33%7C0%7C0%7C637436726182927313%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=z8MP9TQliNOeC9XfiBleKVLwmzAHOMunczwfmsHd2AE%3D&reserved=0