[Coral-List] [External Email] Re: New Paper: Resilient corals in the Phoenix Islands

[David Blakeway]

Great post Austin,
I was discussing with a colleague this morning that we'd like to live in a
country that would elect an ecologist as President/Prime Minister (ours has
qualifications in law and marketing).

I *assumed *that the deeper seaward corals at Kiribati would be ok, like
those in the Line Islands described by Fox et al. But given what you are
saying, and other examples (e.g. Mike's Isla del Canio) that's often not
the case.

Halard - thanks for raising those points. You are of course right that the
reef will continue to grow outward. 'Terminal' was a poor word choice on my
part. 'Senescent' or 'senile' is more appropriate, and is what Maxwell
(1968) and Hopley (1982) used in their original 'lifespan' descriptions.
Kiribati's senile stage will, I believe, almost certainly involve the loss
of all lagoon corals. In fact the eastern lagoons of Kiribati may already
be devoid of live coral. Senile Kiribati will perhaps be less like
Washington Island though; more like Starbuck Island (-5.64, -155.88) which
clearly shows internal 'Kiribati-like' structures.
I don't think the lifespan idea is a dangerous concept. Most every reef is
on a natural trajectory to something different. If we want to understand
anthropogenic effects it would be very helpful to first understand that
natural trajectory.

Maxwell, WGH. 1968. Atlas of the Great Barrier Reef
Hopley, D. 1982. Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef