[Coral-List] eDNA can be used to measure coral cover

Bill Allison allison.billiam at gmail.com
Wed Jun 9 11:55:41 UTC 2021


Hi, Mike,
By way of illustrating your second point, consider these "eco-friendly"
resort developments catering to the rich in Maldives (see link).
The islands were created by suction dredging (verify it on Google Earth),
which has a large carbon footprint and additional high environmental cost
by way of sediment loading.
The islands were and are being most likely vegetated by taking trees from
other islands. Soil too is probably being taken from other islands and soil
takes a very long time to accumulate on atoll islands. Then there is the
fossil fuel burned to fly guests in, transport them to the islands, power
air-conditioning and reverse osmosis plants, not to mention supply them
with food and drink.  Waste disposal is also an issue.
The good news, and the apparent basis for calling them eco-friendly, is
that they have a coral gardening project and the kids play room is solar
powered.
https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2021/06/05/want-spare-no-expense-luxury-and-an-eco-conscience-a-gorgeous-new-maldives-resort-promises-both.html

Cheers,
Bill

On Wed, Jun 9, 2021 at 7:38 AM Risk, Michael via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>    Phil:
>
>    This is funny-not funny. You are right on the money-a lot of reef
>    research these days is resume-padding which will in no way help the
>    reefs.
>
>    I think maybe 20 years ago, on this site, I said that the world's reefs
>    would have a rosier future of all the "reef scientists" quit and taught
>    elementary school.
>
>    I disagree strongly with your overpopulation angle, and draw your
>    attention to "A September 2020 [1]report by Oxfam found that from 1990
>    to 2015 -- a critical 25-year period during which humans doubled the
>    amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere -- the wealthiest 1 percent
>    of the world's population accounted for more than twice as much carbon
>    pollution as the 3.1 billion people who made up the poorest half of
>    humanity."
>
>    It's not the little brown people who are the problem, it's the big rich
>    white ones.
>
>    Mike
>      __________________________________________________________________
>
>    From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of
>    Phillip Dustan via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>    Sent: Tuesday, June 8, 2021 8:29 AM
>    To: Douglas Fenner <douglasfennertassi at gmail.com>
>    Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
>    Subject: Re: [Coral-List] eDNA can be used to measure coral cover
>
>    Once again, Western Science has figured out another way to apply
>    advanced
>    technological tools to measure the loss of coral reefs. I will bet
>    anyone a
>    case of beer that most people who rely on reefs in their daily lives
>    could
>    not tell you what 50% of the nouns in this paper are, let alone why
>    they
>    might be relevant. Leslie Watkins, the longtime gardener at Discovery
>    Bay
>    Marine Lab once told me," Phil, you don't even have to visit the reef
>    to
>    see it is dying. From here (the DBML breezway) you can see it is dark
>    brown, no longer golden and alive."
>     Every new paper about reefs now begins with "..... the most threatened
>    ecosystems in the sea or on the planet....." and then goes about saying
>    how
>    this offering will make a difference. When are we going to realise that
>    our
>    behavior is enabling the continued destruction of reefs? None of the
>    normal
>    reasons add up anymore. Rees do not need us to invent new techniques to
>    monitor their demise. Reefs don't NEED funds to keep our laboratories
>    chock
>    full of  new state-of-the-art PCR machines, 50mb cameras, or
>    supercomputers.  I think the coral reef science community is stuck
>    chasing
>    its tail in an ever decreasing circle.
>    My last post asked if we were ready to really do something meaningful.
>    That
>    begins at home, the lab, the institution, and society.
>    Alina is spot on correct. Overpopulation is the driver of our demise.
>    Maybe
>    we should begin to recognize it, popularize it, work towards solutions,
>    and
>    stop trying to hide behind technology............
>     There are over 10,000 people who monitor the Coral_List. Steve Gitting
>    suggests the list is "only for discussion" and we all know it is
>    overseen
>    by an agency embedded in the US Commerce Department. So why can't it be
>    a
>    priority for us all to work towards a day when natural infrastructure
>    is
>    valued over economic growth. Nations can always print more money but,
>    as we
>    discuss on this platform, we really can't make more reefs, or other
>    ecosystems, or even a planet without the appropriate natural
>    infrastructure. Watching it die with an ever finer resolving
>    "microscope"
>    might be intellectually satisfying but sadly ineffective...............
>     So please, do at least one thing every day to help the oceans heal and
>    remember that THE OCEAN BEGINS AT YOUR FRONT DOOR. Take your knowledge
>    outside of your laboratory and the pages of scientific publications.
>    Get
>    political because science in a vacuum is useless.
>      Happy Ocean Week,
>       Phil
>    On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 7:38 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
>    coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>    > Rapid assessment of coral cover from environmental DNA in Hawaii
>    >
>    > [2]https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/edn3.8
>    >
>    > open-access
>    >
>    > To quote from the abstract: "Given its broad applicability and ease
>    of
>    > use..."   Yes, everyone on every tiny island nation with coral reefs
>    can do
>    > PCR on their coffee break, it is as easy as using a pencil and paper
>    to
>    > write.  No equipment or prior knowledge needed.  Obviously the
>    authors have
>    > no idea what the real world is like in other island nations outside
>    their
>    > lab in the giant and well funded first-world University of Hawaii.
>    >
>    >     I note that they had to develop primers specific to the corals in
>    > Hawaii.  So looks like for other places that would have to be done
>    over,
>    > for much higher diversity, Hawaii has a relatively low coral
>    diversity.
>    >
>    > Please excuse the sarcasm, but really.   Cheers, Doug
>    >
>    > --
>    > Douglas Fenner
>    > Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
>    > NOAA Fisheries Service
>    > Pacific Islands Regional Office
>    > Honolulu
>    > and:
>    > Coral Reef Consulting
>    > PO Box 997390
>    > Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA
>    >
>    > Slashing emissions by 2050 isn't enough.  We can bring down
>    temperature
>    > now.
>    >
>    >
>    [3]https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/climate-deadlines-super-pollu
>    tants-hfcs-methane/2021/04/15/acb8c612-9d7d-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_stor
>    y.html
>    >
>    > Humans have destroyed 97% of earth's ecosystems
>    > (well, more like only 3% are fully intact)
>    > [4]https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB1fH7DT?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
>    >
>    > Study: One-third of plant and animal species could be gone in 50
>    years.
>    > (but 2-4 times worse in tropics)
>    > [5]https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/uoa-soo021220.php
>    > [6]https://www.pnas.org/content/117/8/4211
>    > _______________________________________________
>    > Coral-List mailing list
>    > Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>    > [7]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>    >
>    --
>    Phillip Dustan PhD
>    Charleston SC  29424
>    843-953-8086 office
>    843-224-3321 (mobile)
>    "When we try to pick out anything by itself
>    we find that it is bound fast by a thousand invisible cords
>    that cannot be broken, to everything in the universe. "
>    *                                         John Muir 1869*
>    *A Swim Through TIme on Carysfort Reef*
>    [8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>    *Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
>    [9]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6
>    LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>    *Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*
>    *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>    <[10]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
>    TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
>    [11]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>    Google Scholar Citations:
>    [12]https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>    _______________________________________________
>    Coral-List mailing list
>    Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>    [13]https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> References
>
>    1.
> https://go.redirectingat.com?id=66960X1516588&xs=1&url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/carbon-emissions-richest-1-percent-more-double-emissions-poorest-half-humanity&referrer=vox.com&sref=https://www.vox.com/22456663/arizona-environment-immigration-climate-change-right-wing&xcust=___vx__p_22220704__m_climate.ad.20210608__s_email_
>    2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/edn3.8
>    3.
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/climate-deadlines-super-pollutants-hfcs-methane/2021/04/15/acb8c612-9d7d-11eb-b7a8-014b14aeb9e4_story.html
>    4. https://a.msn.com/r/2/BB1fH7DT?m=en-us&referrerID=InAppShare
>    5. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-02/uoa-soo021220.php
>    6. https://www.pnas.org/content/117/8/4211
>    7. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>    8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>    9.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>   10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>   11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>   12. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>   13. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
> _______________________________________________
> Coral-List mailing list
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>


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