[Coral-List] Dendrogyra

[Dennis Hubbard]

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 <https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2021.656515>
>
> 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<http://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
> >
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> >
> --
> 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
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-- 
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*"