[Coral-List] Dendrogyra
Steve Mussman
sealab at earthlink.net
Wed Jun 2 13:14:51 UTC 2021
. . . “I think it would help to consider a world where failure actually IS an option”.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around this concept.
How can we possibly continue to envision or even maintain any hope for implementing the changes needed to save coral reefs from the continued downward spiral if coral scientists have given up and moved on to “instead recognize that with impending disaster comes opportunity, whether financial or otherwise”.
So, what does this say about the prospects of “saving” what remains of the world’s coral reefs?
Oh, right, that’s where recognizing opportunity comes into play.
Steve
On 5/31/21, 12:46 PM, Steve Gittings - NOAA Federal via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
Bill,
We each have opinions and concerns about political will and the likelihood
of seeing changes on the scale needed to save reefs from continued loss.
But while people valiantly try to turn things around using existing
socio-political approaches, I think it would help to consider a world where
failure actually IS an option.
Let's objectively imagine a collective future when people and economies
that now depend on reefs have none. The science community knows the
resource and ecosystem service consequences, and I think we would agree
that it is our role to make sure those are clearly communicated - as you
say, "speak with one voice." But to make progress with those whose work
has changed the world during past crises, including corporations,
philanthropists, and yes, politicians, we need to resist ascribing blame
(that's not directed at your message, which did not do that). Few are
motivated by being blamed. Problem-solvers - even those that may have some
culpability - instead recognize that with impending disaster comes
opportunity, whether financial or otherwise. I believe our priority as
scientists should be to empower them with awareness, constructive
information, and advice.
As reefs disappear, new food production, distribution, and financing
systems will be needed to support the importation of protein, construction
of coastal and offshore aquaculture facilities and artificial reefs, and
perhaps expansion and diversification of terrestrial agriculture. New
infrastructure will be needed to deal with nuisance flooding,
increased coastal erosion, transportation safety, utilities, energy
production, and disaster response. And training will have to be supported
and promoted to prepare people with new skills that synchronize with the
transition. We need corporate and government leaders and philanthropists
to recognize that these needs are not only opportunities that could bolster
tourism-based economies, but alternatively, could support the transition
away from them. Effective diversification planning could accomplish both.
Few coral reef scientists work directly in these areas, but we know how we
got here and how ecosystems might respond to many of the changes. So,
while none of us prefer a future without coral reefs, and while we continue
to fight for other solutions, we have a responsibility to consider our role
if we fail to protect or restore coral reefs.
Steve
On Mon, May 31, 2021 at 9:17 AM William Precht via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> To be blunt - my point was while we are bickering about whether
> *Dendrogyra* was
> or not it was an important reef builder and the importance of losing
> individual species even if they were always rare - we are missing the
> bigger picture. In the last four decades we have watched reef after reef
> go up in flames. Some due to local causes but most to to
> overarching regional and global issues associated with global climate
> change. *Dendrogyra cylindrus* is nothing more than a bellwether species
> that is giving us a glimpse of the future. .Dendrogyra is a
> beautiful iconic species and seeing a giant colony on a dive is awe
> inspiring. I remember making a dive in the Florida Keys to a site known as
> the "Pillar Forest." There were over 200 columns at this one site! They
> are now ALL gone - dead from a variety of causes - but the main and final
> blow was from SCTLD.
>
> People have been talking about reefs as being like "canaries in a coal
> mine" - well that canary has a very bad case of COPD and it's getting worse
> day by day. This week the average CO2 concentration at the Mauna Loa
> Observatory was 419.02 ppm. In 2009 Veron et al. wrote a manuscript of the
> need to maintain CO2 concentrations below 350 ppm for the future survival
> of coral reef ecosystems. That number came from a quote by Dr.
> James Hansen during testimony to the US Congress where he stated “If
> humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization
> developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and
> ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced … to at
> most 350 ppm.” The math is pretty simple - we are going in the wrong
> direction. We all know what we must do - the question is do we have the
> political will to make the changes necessary. My note was a call to the
> 10,000 people that are as passionate as coral reefs as I am that exchange
> ideas on this Coral-List serve. It's time to speak with one voice. We need
> to be heard. We can make a difference. The alternative - failing (which we
> are doing quite admirably) - is not an option.
>
> WFP
>
> Veron, J.E., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Lenton, T.M., Lough, J.M., Obura, D.O.,
> Pearce-Kelly, P.A.U.L., Sheppard, C.R., Spalding, M., Stafford-Smith, M.G.
> and Rogers, A.D., 2009. The coral reef crisis: The critical importance of<
> 350 ppm CO2. *Marine pollution bulletin*, *58*(10), pp.1428-1436.
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, May 29, 2021 at 9:38 AM Dennis Hubbard > >
> wrote:
>
> > Bill makes excellent points, but we always return to the same issue....
> is
> > the loss of "species X "the problem to be addressed or just the symptom.
> > Yes, this is a unique species, and saving it is a worthwhile endeavor for
> > this and many other reasons. Having agreed, I remain concerned that
> success
> > on this front will lead some to be satisfied.
> >
> > Denny
> >
> > On Fri, May 28, 2021 at 12:36 PM William Precht via Coral-List <
> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> >
> >> The manuscript that started this thread on the coral- list was an
> >> excellent, open-access manuscript by Neely et al. Rapid Population
> >> Decline of the Pillar Coral Dendrogyra cylindrus Along the Florida Reef
> >> Tract
> >>
> >> Front. Mar. Sci. doi: 10.3389/fmars.2021.656515
> >>
> >> It should be read by all There are two main punch lines. The first is
> >> that this species has been rendered functionally extinct (extirpated)
> >> throughout Florida. The second is that the main cause was stony coral
> >> tissue loss disease (SCTLD). This species is highly susceptible to this
> >> emergent disease as are the three other genera in its family - the
> >> Meandrinidae. All species in this family and are highly susceptible to
> >> SCTLD. On many reefs where the disease has run it course you can’t
> find a
> >> single member of this family. No Meandrina, no Dendrogyra, no
> >> Dichocoenia,
> >> no Eusmilia. So the story goes much further than just pillar coral. We
> >> may be looking at the loss of an entire coral family in a short window -
> >> and this coral family is only extant in the Caribbean.
> >>
> >> If this doesn’t serve as a wake-up call I don’t know what will.
> >>
> >> Clearly losing more than 50% of the corals on the GBR due to mass
> >> bleaching
> >> events in 2015-2016 did not cause a sea change in policy - not in
> >> Australia
> >> - not globally. For most it’s been business as usual.
> >>
> >> I’m getting sick and tired of writing and reading coral obituaries. In
> my
> >> 40+ years of studying coral reefs I have watched my three favorite reefs
> >> burn before my very eyes and the reefs that lie at the door step of
> where
> >> I
> >> live are suffering the same fate.
> >>
> >> The coral-list has a voice of 10,000 people that love coral reefs -
> let’s
> >> use that voice to make a difference. Time really is running out.
> >>
> >> Bill
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 9:38 PM Peter Sale via Coral-List <
> >> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi listers,
> >> > I've been following the comments re the essential extirpation of
> >> > Dendrogyra in Florida waters. The fact that this is not a major reef
> >> > builder (Gene is correct) is beside the point from my perspective.
> >> Here is
> >> > a monotypic species that looks like it may be on the way out
> throughout
> >> its
> >> > range, and certainly in a large portion of it. (I'm being pessimistic
> >> but
> >> > perhaps realistic in predicting total extinction.) The biodiversity
> >> loss
> >> > is great. This is a coral (and I am definitely NOT a coral expert)
> >> that is
> >> > phenotypically quite distinctive. It has one of, if not the most
> >> > well-connected nerve nets leading to a conspicuous flash when all the
> >> > polyps retract in unison following a disturbance. God only knows what
> >> > other special skills it has tucked amongst its tentacles. From an
> >> > evolutionary point of view, its loss is a greater loss than the loss
> of
> >> > many other coral species. My fear is that we are going to have to
> >> become
> >> > used to such losses. Let's a) strive not to let the losses becom
> >> > e un-noticed and routine, and b) use such losses to highlight, and
> make
> >> > 'personal', what it means for a reef to gradually lose its species and
> >> > cease to be a reef. Getting people to relate to what is happening, to
> >> > actually feel what is happening, may be the only way to rescue
> humanity
> >> > from turning the planet into a wasteland, starting with the reefs.
> >> >
> >> > Peter Sale
> >> > www.petersalebooks.com
> >> > @PeterSale3
> >> >
> >> > See my latest book at
> >> >
> >>
> https://www.amazon.com/Coral-Reefs-Majestic-Realms-under/dp/0300253834/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=coral+reefs+peter+sale&qid=1622149307&sr=8-1
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Coral-List mailing list
> >> > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> > https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >> >
> >> --
> >> William F. Precht
> >>
> >> “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only
> choice
> >> you have”
> >>
> >> Bob Marley
> >>
> >>
> >> "Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you
> >> don't
> >> have the strength."
> >>
> >> Theodore Roosevelt
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Coral-List mailing list
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> >> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Dennis Hubbard - Emeritus Professor: Dept of Geology-Oberlin College
> > Oberlin OH 44074
> > (440) 935-4014
> >
> > * "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
> > Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
> >
>
>
> --
> William F. Precht
>
> “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice
> you have”
>
> Bob Marley
>
>
> "Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't
> have the strength."
>
> Theodore Roosevelt
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
--
Dr. Steve Gittings, Science Coordinator
NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries
1305 East West Hwy., N/ORM62
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(240) 533-0708 (w), (301) 529-1854 (c1), (301) 821-0857 (c2)
*Follow National Marine Sanctuaries *
*and our Earth is Blue Campaign
on**:*
[image: http://www.facebook.com/NOAAOfficeofNationalMarineSanctuaries]
[image:
http://twitter.com/sanctuaries] [image:
http://www.youtube.com/user/sanctuaries]
[image:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/onms/]
[image:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/NoaaNationalMarineSanctuaryNews]
[image:
http://pinterest.com/nmsanctuaries/national-marine-sanctuaries/] [image:
http://instagram.com/noaasanctuaries]
_______________________________________________
Coral-List mailing list
Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list