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

Thu May 27 16:38:36 UTC 2021

Ecological Infrastructure is  at the heart of this issue.
Translating that to scientists is hard, to politicians more so, and nearly
impossible to the average westerner.
Native people understand it intuitively.
Reefs are sensitive because they are biological entities at the edge of
their evolutionary success.
By this I mean they are superbly adapted to their environmental limits, but
not to conditions they have not experienced the wrath of Natural Selection.
Now humans are increasing the "evolutionary goalposts" faster than
evolution allows for adaptation - or maybe not.
But it is clear we are witnessing (monitoring) a global selection
experiment with humans providing the selection pressures.
I see it much like the evolution of drug resistance bacteria; which
species/ecosystems/etc will survive humanity?
If only Humanity would embrace a Lovelockian perspective and realize we
can't make it without the rest of the Biosphere as a support mechanism.

I would start by teaching that life is a process, not a thing.
Ecosystems represent the emergent  properties of processes and are not
things to plunder.
They cannot be "restored" unless the selection pressures that "guide" these
processes are restored first, not as an afterthought.
You cannot build a bridge without a foundation. The same goes for a house,
road, financial system, an army, or a nation.
The foundations of ecosystems are physical and biological, just like the
foundations for a nation are physical and social.
Humans will (maybe and hopefully) accept these ideas and integrate into
nature.

Biogeochemistry and the evolved conservative properties of natural systems
are what I would want people to appreciate.
Westerners might be able to understand this in terms of garbage picking:
Someone puts their old microwave on the curb for the trashman because they
got a new one for their birthday.
THe next bloke that comes along sees the old one and thinks. "Oh, a
microwave! I always wanted one but..."
He takes it home where it lasts for many years.
The moral is that someone's junk is another's treasure.
It happened with oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and the list goes on and on
throughout the food web driving the biological arms race.

Reefs evolved in the sea where there was lots of energy and  almost no
nutrients, so selection favored the efficient capture and retention of
nutrients.
A few hundred million years of evolution in a benign, stable, and
predictable place and it is no wonder that nitrogen from sewage and runoff
is like crack cocaine to zooxanthellae..........
And all those fish we catch for food are equivalent to airplane mechanics
that keep our fancy jet planes flying.
It's no mystery why fishing them off the reef leads to an ecological
crash.......
The list goes on as long as we care to make it.
So how do we become more aware?
Maybe try doing one thing each day to help the Biosphere heal.
Maybe vote with your dollars.
Remember, the ocean begins at your front door....

 Phil

On Thu, May 27, 2021 at 10:52 AM Steve via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>
>
> Dear Melanie and Judy,
>
> While I agree with both of you in general, to some extent this brings us
> back around to the bigger question at hand.
>
> What exactly is the message we want to put out there in the media and at
> the dinner table?
>
> Which “conservation policies” do we want our elected officials to support?
>
> And to some extent, this ties into Ellen Prager’s question regarding the
> top three messages that the public and youth need to hear about coral reefs
> right now.
>
> I happen to agree with Phil Dustin’s perspective, but that doesn’t
> correspond to the messaging most commonly being amplified today.
>
> Most of the emphasis now in the coral sciences is on restoration and the
> development of super corals. I’ve been told countless times that promoting
> action to remedy the root causes is just doom and gloom and that will do
> nothing but cause the public to shut down or shun the topic all together.
> Well, I don’t see it that way. As I see it, it is the broader
> ecosystem/natural environment that needs to be restored. This does not mean
> that there is no role for coral restoration, but it does mean that there is
> an imperative need to clean up the water, reduce carbon emissions (lower
> ocean temperatures) and sustain a healthy level of fish biomass on our
> reefs. What is so negative about that? As Phil mentioned, there are
> similarities between the breakdown of this nation’s physical infrastructure
> and the dissolution of the earth’s ecological infrastructure. Why can’t we
> fix them both? They actually go hand in hand. So, I would suggest to Ellen
> that the top three messages are that coral reefs (and other ecosystems) are
> increasingly being threatened primarily by how we have chosen to live our
> lives. If we want healthy oceans and coral reefs we need to do the
> following:
>
> 1. Lower our carbon emissions. Address climate change.
>
> 2. Clean up the water (and the air, land/soil).
>
> 3. Learn to value nature and more sustainable lifestyles.
>
> In my opinion, young people will jump all over those messages.
>
> (I taught in the public schools for thirty years. Kids get it. Go ask
> Greta!)
>
> Those messages resonate much better than “coral reefs are threatened and
> are dying so we are genetically altering them so they may be able to
> withstand all the increasing stressors that we will continue to produce
> because we are unwilling to change the way we live”.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Steve Mussman
>
> On 5/25/21, 12:11 PM, Judith Lang via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> Melanie,
>
> Thank you; you have perfectly articulated my feelings.
>
> None of us can do everything, but we can all do some things and, by now,
> we should all know what those are.
>
> Inaction has run out of excuses.
>
> Judy
>
> Judith Lang
>
> AGRRA Scientific Coordinator
>
> > On 25 May 2021, at 09:56, Melanie McField - HRI via Coral-List wrote:
>
> >
>
> > Coral Listers:
>
> > I agree with the urgency of addressing the root causes of coral decline
>
> > and there is some value in having such discussions among ourselves (this
>
> > list or ISRS) - but the greater value will be gained if we all
> additionally
>
> > write letters and give interviews to local newspapers, online blogs,
>
> > political action committees etc. Coral reef conservation needs to be a
>
> > topic of dinner conversations in regular (non-scientist) households
> across
>
> > the world - including the industrialized non-reef bearing countries that
>
> > are contributing significantly to the climate and other pollution, the
>
> > over-fishing and overdevelopment of sensitive coastal areas.
>
> >
>
> > We also need to have clear instructions for what the average citizens can
>
> > do to help coral reefs. Support local efforts to curb pollution,
>
> > overdevelopment, and overfishing; eat lower on the food chain and from a
>
> > local supply chain; conserve energy use alternative energy; and support
>
> > politicians that support conservation - this last step is critical - Vote
>
> > out the bad ones and help find and support more good ones. We can all
> help
>
> > with this step - in our free time - of course- when not supported by any
>
> > restricted funding.
>
> >
>
> > Melanie
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > On Tue, May 25, 2021 at 6:56 AM Steve via Coral-List <
>
> > coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> >
>
> >>
>
> >> Phil,
>
> >>
>
> >> “Our challenge is to change the political will to do the right thing”
>
> >>
>
> >> The real challenge is for many of your colleagues to find the courage to
>
> >> speak truth to power as you just did.
>
> >>
>
> >> And not just in the abstract or conclusion sections of peer-reviewed
>
> >> papers.
>
> >>
>
> >> Seems like most would prefer to ride the current wave until it breaks
>
> >> safely on the sandy shore. By then they will have avoided the hazard of
>
> >> crashing on any remains of the jagged reef below.
>
> >>
>
> >> Thanks to you and Doug for speaking out.
>
> >>
>
> >> Steve
>
> >>
>
> >> On 5/22/21, 2:36 PM, Phillip Dustan wrote:
>
> >>
>
> >> Dear Listers,
>
> >>
>
> >> So why is the loss of Dendrogyra from the Florida Keys new or even
>
> >> important news?
>
> >>
>
> >> Humans have wrecked the Florida Keys- plain and simple.
>
> >>
>
> >> Reefs corals are below 2% cover, having lost about 95-98% of their
>
> >> abundance to the nested stresses of humanity.
>
> >>
>
> >> Lots of species are now rare or functionally extinct.
>
> >>
>
> >> For example, you would be very hard put to find a Mycetophyllia ferox or
>
> >> M. lamarckiana or Scolymia cubensis on any of the patch or outer reefs.
>
> >>
>
> >> Corals are so threatened that they have been taken to aquarium "safe
>
> >> houses" to avoid the most recent plague of SCTLD.
>
> >>
>
> >> Bioerosion is "melting"the reef framework.
>
> >>
>
> >> The inshore reefs are practically dead; Hens and Chickens died years
> ago.
>
> >>
>
> >> Dendrogyra cylindrus has simply tracked along the same path.
>
> >>
>
> >> And now, NOAA is going to fix the reefs by replanting them with super
>
> >> corals.
>
> >>
>
> >> Please, give me a break!
>
> >>
>
> >> The astonishing thing is the complacency of this august coral reef
>
> >> scientific community.
>
> >>
>
> >> The Florida Keys (and SE Florida) reefs exist at the margin of reef
> growth
>
> >> in the Western Atlantic; on the environmental fringe along the North
>
> >> America eastern coastline.
>
> >>
>
> >> The geography selected for tough, resilient species and it has taken
> them
>
> >> a long time (by human standards) to die from our greed and pollution.
>
> >>
>
> >> Unless the environment is "restored" to parameters that promote reef
>
> >> growth (clean water, lower temperatures, no take, etc) the trend will
>
> >> continue downwards.
>
> >>
>
> >> And there will be more sad stories to write and talk about.
>
> >>
>
> >> And one day sooner than later the reefs will be functionally extinct;
> as a
>
> >> matter of fact they probably are now.
>
> >>
>
> >> Maybe it is time for the Coral List to become more purposeful and focus
> on
>
> >> the real problems, rather than the little sound bites that keep popping
> up.
>
> >>
>
> >> All this degradation and death of virtually every ecosystem on Earth is
>
> >> shouting at us loud and clear that we need to fix the ecological
>
> >> infrastructure.
>
> >>
>
> >> Just like our decaying roads, bridges, schools, and electrical grid, the
>
> >> ecological infrastructure, the basis of our great nation, is busted.
>
> >>
>
> >> The loss of Dendrogyra from the Florida Keys is just the most recent
> tiny
>
> >> tip of the monstrous landslide that is underway.
>
> >>
>
> >> Imagine If all the managers, politicians, and other silent coral-list
>
> >> members were to combine with the scientists we might become a more
> potent
>
> >> political force for change.
>
> >>
>
> >> But that would be against the "NOAA rules" that define the purpose of
> the
>
> >> coral list, wouldn't it.
>
> >>
>
> >> Maybe the Rights of Future Generations should overide presentday
> politics?
>
> >>
>
> >> We know what the issues are and we have some pretty good ideas on what
>
> >> needs to be done.
>
> >>
>
> >> Our challenge is to change the political will to do the right thing.
>
> >>
>
> >> Phil
>
> >>
>
> >> On Fri, May 21, 2021 at 11:21 PM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
>
> >> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)>
>
> >> wrote:
>
> >>
>
> >> 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 (mailto: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)
>
> >>
>
> >>>
>
> >>
>
> >>> _______________________________________________
>
> >>
>
> >>> Coral-List mailing list
>
> >>
>
> >>> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)
>
> >>
>
> >>> https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
>
> >>
>
> >>>
>
> >>
>
> >> _______________________________________________
>
> >>
>
> >> Coral-List mailing list
>
> >>
>
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov (mailto:Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov)
>
> >>
>
> >> 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
>
> >>
>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
>
> >>
>
> >> Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video
>
> >>
>
> >>
>
> >>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
>
> >>
>
> >> Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video
>
> >>
>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
>
> >>
>
> >> TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
>
> >>
>
> >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
>
> >>
>
> >> Google Scholar Citations:
>
> >>
>
> >> https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ
>
> >>
>
> >> _______________________________________________
>
> >> Coral-List mailing list
>
> >> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> >> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Coral-List mailing list
>
> Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
>
> 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

-- 

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*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCPJE7UE6sA
*Raja Ampat Sustainability Project video*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RR2SazW_VY&fbclid=IwAR09oZkEk8wQkK6LN3XzVGPgAWSujACyUfe2Ist__nYxRRSkDE_jAYqkJ7A
*Bali Coral Bleaching 2016 video*

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxOfLTnPSUo>*
TEDx Charleston on saving coral reefs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwENBNrfKj4
Google Scholar Citations:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HCwfXZ0AAAAJ