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

[jude wilber]

Doug,

To spin that Darwinian evolution a bit more, see this paper from earlier
this year. This is Andre's *magnus opus* and final statement on the matter.
A Carbonate Geologist's perspective on the "products" of reef "processes"
over long time scales.
I read it in parallel with Darwin's original work.
Cheers - Jude

https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev-marine-122414-034137

On Wed, Sep 29, 2021 at 12:43 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

>    Maybe, to follow Darwin, the "evolution" of coral reefs might be a good
> term.  Lots of change over time, some patterns in the change, but death not
> certain, perhaps with the exception of during the next ice age, when all
> currently living reefs will be high in the air, dry and all the sea life
> that was on them will not be living on them.  But other generations of that
> same sea life will be living deeper and ready to re-invade the remaining
> reef structure when the sea levels rise again, and the reefs come alive
> again, Phoenix-life.  But probably not worth squabbling over particular
> words, it is the reality of the reef and whatever changes and/or cycles
> they may go through that is the important part, not so much what words we
> use.  Maybe.    Cheers, Doug
>
> On Fri, Sep 17, 2021 at 6:21 AM David Blakeway via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>
> > 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
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