[Coral-List] COP26 impacts on coral reefs

[Alina Szmant]

We call them relic reefs. They once were coral reefs and now they are not. Or you can choose hard-bottoms but geologically hard-bottoms were likely never a coral reef in modern (20k years) times.



Dr. Alina M. Szmant,  CEO
CISME Instruments LLC



-------- Original message --------
From: Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Date: 11/19/21 6:46 AM (GMT-05:00)
To: Bruce Carlson <exallias2 at gmail.com>
Cc: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] COP26 impacts on coral reefs

I think much of the world's reefs are likely to end up with very little
coral.  A bit like Florida's "hard grounds" between their tiny reefs.
Dominated by algae of various sorts, in Florida's case with lots of sea
whips and sea fans (gorgonians), some sponges, some odds and ends, and very
very little live coral.  People talk like the reefs will be transformed and
we need to get used to what they will be.  Should we call something that is
dominated by algae, 90% algae cover and 10% coral cover, a "coral reef
ecosystem?"  Or an algae bed???  Which is more honest??  90% loss of coral
where there was 40% cover (a good cover these days, no?) leaves what, 4%
coral cover??  So my question is, how low does coral cover have to be
before we stop calling it a coral reef ecosystem and decide to be honest
and call them algae beds????  (the calcium carbonate will still be there,
so anybody who wants to call it a "dead coral reef" could do so with some
justification.)  I view "greatly altered reefs" as a euphemism for "dead
reefs."  How about you??  Will it do any good to candy coat it??  Ever look
at how many fish hover over a dead rubble bed???  Darn near none.  There
will still be fish around standing dead coral, but once they collapse, say
good by.  And Bruce is exactly right, the corals construct the habitat,
loads of species on and around them, most all will disappear when the coral
dies and many more when it collapses.  We don't have the money or expertise
to catalog the species on coral reefs, let alone document which ones have
gone locally extinct.  Loads could go extinct long before we could even
name them.
Cheers, Doug

On Thu, Nov 18, 2021 at 2:20 PM Bruce Carlson via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> If it is nearly or completely inevitable that warming of 2.4C will result
> in 90% loss of corals, there are few options IMHO to preserve present-day
> coral reefs.  They will either shift polewards (with or without human
> “assistance”), and/or will decline to some condition that we might describe
> as “highly degraded” by current standards, with many extinctions along the
> way.
>
> Apart from what to do to preserve corals in situ, we should be working
> with marine labs and public aquariums (private coral farms too) to set up
> cultures of corals both in numbers of species as well as genetic diversity
> - especially now while there is still considerable numbers of corals on
> reefs.  Cryogenic methods should be supported too.
>
> The example of Florida Dendrogyra ravaged by SCTLD is a model.  Florida D.
> probably no longer exists in the wild (?) but cultures are maintained in
> several labs and public aquariums.  The GBR Coral Biobank is another
> example currently under development.  Perhaps someday conditions will
> permit these corals to be re-established in the wild.  Maintaining these
> coral cultures in perpetuity will be expensive and will involve strict
> protocols; only the best funded labs and aquariums will be able to
> contribute.
>
> All well and good for corals, fishes too perhaps, but of course there are
> legions of other inverts and plants on coral reefs.  What happens to them??
>
> Bruce
>
>
> > On Nov 17, 2021, at 6:01 AM, Steve Mussman via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > Emission reduction commitments made at COP26 have been calculated to
> result in a warming of 2.4C above pre-industrial levels.
> >
> > Based on what I have read, this scenario is predicted to result in coral
> losses in excess of 90% worldwide.
> >
> > How should this realization affect the coral science community’s
> priorities and strategies going forward?
> >
> >
> https://www.marineconservation.org.au/cop26-and-the-great-barrier-reef-maintaining-hope/
> >
> >
> https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/cop26-why-keeping-1-5-alive-is-critical-for-a-reef-in-danger/
> >
> > https://youtu.be/Py1MzOKHevI
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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