[Coral-List] functional extinction of D. cylindrus on the Florida Reef Tract.

[Douglas Fenner]

Here is the original article:

Rapid population decline of the Pillar Coral Dendrogyra cylindrus along the
Florida Reef Tract

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.656515/full?fbclid=IwAR0KOjOkmwG05p6mvQoQZrn8Wi38z4fl2UKVK7SMizV5HzwzVGCJZ6aCFIo#B52

"Losses of 94% of coral tissue, 93% of colonies, and 86% of genotypes
between 2014 and the end of 2020 have led to functional extinction of *D.
cylindrus* on the FRT."  (FRT = Florida Reef Tract)

"Large-scale efforts to improve water quality, and curb climate change are
also essential for creating the conditions that will allow for the
successful future restoration, survival, and wild reproduction of this
iconic and unique coral."

Folks, I think this is the thin end of the wedge, we are seeing the future
here, and it is ugly.  The disease has spread widely in the Caribbean, and
this story is likely to be repeated over and over again across the
Caribbean, where the capacity to keep it alive and breed it in captivity is
less or non-existent.  If we lose coral species, we can't put Humpty Dumpty
(the coral reef ecosystem) back together again.

This species, and *Ctenella chagius*, largely endemic to the Chagos
archipelago in the Indian Ocean, appear to me to be the two most endangered
coral species we know of on the planet.  *Ctenella* has had a population
reduction of more than 99%, and the next big bleaching event there could
well finish it off.  Attempts to keep it alive in captivity have failed,
and there is no facility for doing so in the archipelago.  Freezing sperm
cannot save it.  It is the only species in its genus, and there are only a
few species in its family, it is also listed as an EDGE coral.  EDGE =
Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered.
https://www.edgeofexistence.org/

For the Ctenella story, see:

  Coral mass mortalities in the Chagos  Archipelago over 40 years: Regional
species and assemblage extinctions and

    indications of positive feedbacks. Marine Pollution Bulletin 154: 111075


https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X20301934


Included are some local coral extinctions, and references to more local
coral extinctions in Pacific Panama.  The extinction wave of corals has
begun, and it isn't pretty.

Cheers, Doug


On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 12:17 AM Steve Mussman via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>
>
> https://www.wlrn.org/news/2021-05-19/pillar-coral-was-already-rare-on-florida-reefs-now-biologists-say-its-extinct
>
> Whether we and our politicians know it or not, Nature is party to all our
> deals and decisions, and she has more votes, a longer memory, and a sterner
> sense of justice than we do. (Wendell Berry)
>
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