[Coral-List] [EXTERNAL] Re: Sign On: Science Community Letter for Florida Keys Restoration

Kuffner, Ilsa B ikuffner at usgs.gov
Tue Feb 4 15:30:16 UTC 2020


Hi Dennis and Coral-List,

Thank you for your post highlighting the need to "keep your photos archived in a way they can be used by others later." I would like to point out that all of Gene's excellent time-series photos from the Florida Keys pictured in Gene's poster are available and accessible for download in a USGS data release:

Shinn, E. A., and I. B. Kuffner (2017) Florida Keys Corals: A Photographic Record of Changes from 1959 to 2015: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7S46QWR.
Data Release - Florida Keys Corals: A Photographic Record of Changes from 1959 to 2015<https://doi.org/10.5066/F7S46QWR>
This data release contains time-series photographs taken of corals and coral habitats in the Florida Keys between 1959 and 2015 at Carysfort Reef and Grecian Rocks (a total of six sites). These time-series photographs, showing the same individual coral colonies year after year, document the decline in coral health observed at these locations, mirroring patterns seen region-wide across the western Atlantic.
doi.org


Best regards, Ilsa


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Ilsa B. Kuffner, Ph.D.

U.S. Geological Survey

St. Petersburg Coastal & Marine Science Center

600 4th Street South

St. Petersburg, FL 33701



Email: ikuffner at usgs.gov<mailto:ikuffner at usgs.gov>

Tel: (727) 502-8048
Fax: (727) 502-8001
http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/crest/
https://www.usgs.gov/staff-profiles/ilsa-b-kuffner

http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8804-7847

http://ow.ly/8F4M50xpQ4R

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________________________________
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of Dennis Hubbard via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2020 10:16 AM
To: Eugene Shinn <eugeneshinn at mail.usf.edu>
Cc: Coral Listserver <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [Coral-List] Sign On: Science Community Letter for Florida Keys Restoration

Gene's post clearly shows that "a picture is worth a thousand words". It is
worth noting (and, Gene, correct me if I'm wrong) that Gene's original
intent was to show that the "weedy" species came and went over intervals of
a few years to a decade while the larger colonies that would most
contribute to preserved geologic framework remained pretty much unchanged.
But, all of a sudden, the larger colonies began to succumb.

This is one of the best non-quantitative records we have - and, because it
did not spend as much time amassing a large data set at a single site to
satisfy the requisite statistical requirements, it ultimately provided a
much more compelling record of the scale at which decline occurred. In
short, it was not designed to "prove" what was already known or assumed. I
am not implying that this record is "better" than present monitoring
protocols. My point is simply that long-term historical records that
reflect nothing more than someone going back to the same place(s) for a
lifetime can be solid science as well. We could all take a lesson from this
lifetime effort -  data collected in a way that can serve both what we
think we know today and what we don't know yet puts us way ahead when we
are surprised years down the line.

Keep your photos archived in a way they can be used by others later.....
you need look no further than all the photos taken at Discovery Bay decades
ago.

Dennis

On Thu, Jan 30, 2020 at 9:57 AM Eugene Shinn via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> With so many jumping in on the issue of expanding the Florida Keys
> National Marine Sanctuary and plans to transplant coral and increase
> boundaries it is impossible for me keep quiet. Below is what I sent
> various NOAA and State officials that included more that 50 references.
> I include here just two references, One of my first papers and our most
> recent book.
>
>
> *-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *
>
> Those of you involved with the proposed expansion of the Florida Keys
> Marine Sanctuary will likely remember I served on numerous NOAA and
> Coral Reef Sanctuary committees. I was born in Key West (1933) and began
> diving on Keys reefs in the mid 1950s. Beginning in the late 1950s I
> began research and published more than 50 peer-reviewed research papers
> concerning Florida Keys coral reefs. After NOAA and the Marine
> Sanctuaries were formed (1972) I worked closely with NOAA/sanctuary
> personnel on several projects and served on numerous Keys committees. In
> 1975 I became a GS 15 research employee of the U. S. Geological Survey.
> During my tenure FKS along with the US EPA funded several of my
> geological research projects. During that time I cooperated with and
> worked with the many Sanctuary managers and personnel that cycled
> through the Florida Keys. In an early self-funded study (1966) I
> transplanted Staghorn coral (A. /cervicornis/) to determine growth rate
> and the reasons why this species does not live near shore in the Florida
> Keys. I clearly recall when disease began affecting Staghorn and Elkhorn
> coral both in the Keys and most of the Caribbean. The peak year of coral
> death was 1983. Black Band disease in massive corals began later in
> 1986. Together with several colleagues I unsuccessfully lobbied the
> Sanctuary Program to fund research into the causes of coral diseases.
> During that time sanctuary management remained focused mainly on anchor
> and boat damage. Since those early days coral both on Florida reefs and
> the Caribbean continued to decline. Today live corals only occupy
> approximately 2 percent of the Florida reef tract. I watched and
> photographed the decline each year from 1960 to 2015 as shown at:
> <
> https://archive.usgs.gov/archive/sites/coastal.er.usgs.gov/african_dust/images/CoralSequencePoster.jpg
> >
>
> The live corals remaining are generally referred to as small, “weedy
> species.” The huge 100-to 200-year-old massive species are essentially
> gone. They are presently being consumed and converted to reef sand by
> boring sponges and Parrott fish.
>
> The various causes of coral decline in the Keys remain controversial but
> can be correlated with increasing keys-wide population growth. Remember
> correlation is not causation but sometimes it is. My USGS groundwater
> studies conducted during the early 1990s most everywhere in the keys
> revealed net seaward movement through the permeable island limestone.
> Our analysis also discovered fecal bacteria in the groundwater being
> upwelled mainly on the Atlantic side of the keys. Our studies also
> confirmed the reason why groundwater moves seaward. During low tide
> Florida bay remains approximately 12 inches higher than water on the
> coral reef side of the keys. Groundwater flows downward toward the
> Atlantic for a few hours during each tidal cycle. Rate of movement was
> determined to be 1 to 2 meters/day.
>
> I am gratified that our monitoring studies helped justify installation
> of the sewage system and additional treatment plants some of which are
> still under construction. However, it concerns me that treated fresh
> water based effluent from treatment plants is being injected into the
> underlying saline water table through disposal wells little more than
> 100 ft. deep. That effluent, and all it contains, floats back up to the
> shallow water table just below the surface and moves seaward on the
> underlying saline water. In summary, if one flushes a toilet, takes a
> shower, or fertilizes a lawn nutrients (including chemicals such as
> Oxybenzone from sunscreens and other cosmetics) moves seaward and
> eventually upwells offshore. This shallow ground water also contains
> pollutants from the atmosphere such as mosquito sprays and African dust.
> African dust contains living bacteria and a variety of heavy metals and
> pesticides. The Sanctuary program cannot prevent these bacteria and
> toxic chemicals from entering our coral reef areas. For that reason I
> suggest continued management of reef fish and lobster without enlarging
> management areas. Enlarging boundaries will not rectify the situation
> described above. Resources should therefore be focused mainly on
> determining which toxins and microbes have caused coral
> diseases.Excellent research into causes of coral disease is currently
> being conducted at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine
> and Atmospheric Science. Dr. Baker and his team are conducting the kind
> of science under controlled conditions that some of us lobbied for in
> the 1970s. We are very pleased that such research is now being
> conducted. Such research is needed before Corals are transplanted to the
> offshore waters in the Florida Keys. Coral transplanted under present
> conditions (including rising temperatures) will likely succumb to the
> same diseases and chemicals that led to their demise in the first place.
> In addition, justifying coral transplanting to encourage more tourism
> and residents seems counterproductive. The Florida Keys I know so well
> has been, and remains, overpopulated. Do we need more people? *Eugene A.
> Shinn PhD, 4727 Paradise Way S. St. Petersburg, FL 33705*
>
> *Two references our of more than 50:*
>
> Shinn, E.A., 1966, Coral growth rate, an environmental indicator:
> Journal of Paleontology, v. 40, no. 2, p. 233-240.
> Eugene A. Shinn, Barbara H. Lidz, 2018, Geology of the Florida Keys,
> University Press of Florida, ISBN 978-0-8130-5651-7 pp.176.
>
>
> --
>
>
> 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
> ---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
>
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> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
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--
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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