[Coral-List] Bioturbulence Proven as a Factor in Ocean Mixing and it's Implications
Risk, Michael
riskmj at mcmaster.ca
Tue May 31 13:26:29 UTC 2022
[1]https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1975/00000025
/00000001/art00010
[2]Water Flow and Hydromechanical Adaptations of Branched Reef
Coral...: Ingenta Connect
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From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> on behalf of
Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Sent: Monday, May 30, 2022 5:09 PM
To: coral list <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Bioturbulence Proven as a Factor in Ocean
Mixing and it's Implications
Mel, A few more thoughts on bioturbation.
I think that this paper is potentially HUGE in that it shows that
bioturbation can essentially erase the boundary layers in an ocean,
which
is an important aspect of the wider picture of mixing,
because boundary layers are known to prevent the broader process of
mixing.
Upwelling for example is suppressed across a strong boundary layer. So
I
wonder what the killing off of vast schools of fish or whales that
dwell
near the thermocline might cause to nutrient fluxes in the wider ocean?
Even a good laminar flow over a coral reef forms a boundary layer
around
corals, which I think that only the fish routinely break. As far as
the
corals are concerned, I believe that the micro scale (from a few mm to
tens
of centimeters), is where much of the action is, but in the ocean
boundary
layers are hugely important, just saying. The planet is alive, but
declining rapidly. In time they will have this all figured out, if we
don't collapse the whole system first! Could bioturbation be similar
to
"death by a million cuts", but rather "life by a million tails"?
Austin
On Tue, May 31, 2022 at 2:50 AM Melbourne Briscoe <mel at briscoe.com>
wrote:
> Yes, I've spent hours watching the little fish tails stir things up,
in
> specific locations at specific times. This should not be confused
with
> "ocean mixing," to which the little fish tails are an insignificant
> contribution in general, just as the original paper Austin cited
says.
> The fish "bioturbulence" (it is not actually turbulence you are
describing
> but rather stirring" probably does have an effect on the corals, but
it is
> an enormous, unjustified, and mathematically impossible stretch to
say that
> this is significant to ocean mixing in general.
>
> - Mel
>
> On Mon, May 30, 2022 at 10:11 AM Andrew Ross <ross.andrew at mac.com>
wrote:
>
>> Hi Mel,
>> It's pretty common & by no means a deductive stretch. I myself have
seen
>> what Austin is describing - a larger fish hovering over a coral &
>> displacing parrotfish-poop by "little fish tails" (& other fins).
It's a
>> question of scale & repetition: fish-fin/movement currents function
over a
>> scale of inches and without calm morning nor seasonal breaks, which
is what
>> the coral needs, particularly in those without a well-developed
mucus
>> cleaning system such as *Acropora*. To this, I've also seen mucky
dead
>> spots in the middle of flatter corals in places where there aren't
these
>> larger fish (overfished), all of this being a regular topic around
the
>> conference bar... so its not just me/us seeing it.
>>
>> I might tease about *getting out of the office & out into the sea,*
but
>> I'm watching same right now in my office's cichlid-tank...
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Andrew M. Ross, Ph.D.
>> Seascape Caribbean
>> +1-876-363-8850
>>
>>
>> On May 29, 2022, at 1:32 AM, Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <
>> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>>
>> Hi Mel and all,
>>
>> I was just using simple logical deduction: since the study proves
that
>> fish
>> cause significant ocean mixing, if those same fish are then
overfished to
>> extinction or reduced by half, it only follows that the fish-induced
>> mixing
>> caused by that species will stop completely, or be reduced by half
>> accordingly. If these fish cause bioturbulence, then imagine how
much
>> better tuna, mackerel, sardines, whales, etc. might be, but
especially
>> those species that cross boundary layers.
>>
>> Thanks for sharing the 1860 quote from La Mer "the combined motion
of the
>> little fish tails"... of course! Brilliant!
>> Sadly, the day of descriptive science and assumptions based on logic
and
>> keen observation are presently out of fashion, but I think that they
need
>> to come back, because hypothesis testing and other forms of science
that
>> are in vogue are limited, as they often exclude close visual
observations
>> and detailed descriptions, which is of course due to the fact that
few
>> scientists live on the reef and go out daily or weekly year after
year.
>> Science seems to be moving far too slowly for a system in grave
danger of
>> collapsing.
>>
>> Being "on the spectrum", much of what I know is based on reading
other
>> works as well as my own close observation of the systems in both the
>> Pacific and Caribbean over decades. Much of what I operate on has
never
>> been published, due to my personal circumstances and limitations,
and not
>> being attached to any academic research institution, having to fight
the
>> wolf at the door on an ongoing basis year after year. I have
developed a
>> long list of observations and preliminary conclusions that you won't
find
>> in any journal, but as they are based on simple logic, and based on
>> multiple observations, I am teaching these speculations and
observations
>> to
>> indigenous marine graduates and others in our course "Coral
restoration
>> for
>> climate change adaptation", making it clear that they are my own
>> assumptions and might in time be proven or disguarded. We welcome
>> researchers and graduate students to attend one of these workshops,
and to
>> come to our field sites as interns or researchers, and to work with
us, as
>> we need verification of many observations and working hypotheses,
and time
>> is far too short to not share "intellectual property" more openly
before
>> it
>> is published. Saving the coral reefs should certainly be enough of a
>> reward- and just imagine how much unpublished knowledge goes to the
grave
>> every year?!
>>
>> One example of what I am talking about, and directly related to the
topic
>> of this email thread, is that I have long assumed that fish are
vital to
>> branching corals for oxygenation, nutrient uptake, waste removal,
and
>> sediment removal, not only because it is completely logical, but
because
>> we
>> see evidence that it is happening. It is clear from observations of
>> tabulate Acropora corals versus digitate or staghorn Acropora, that
>> Chromis
>> and Dascyllus, both planktivorous fish, make a difference to
survival in
>> challenging lower flow habitats in the IndoPacific: We observe that
>> tabulate corals do NOT provide habitat for planktivorous fishes, and
so
>> they generally do poorly in these silty and low-flow situations,
while
>> the digitate and staghorn growth forms do just fine in such low flow
>> conditions, especially if they are able to attract Chromis and
Dascyllus.
>> On a less definite and more speculative aside, I hypothesize that
the
>> corals might be competing for these little fish, which has in turn
>> resulted
>> in diverse and flamboyant coloration and possibly even fluorescence
of
>> various coral colonies within a species, done in an attempt to
attract the
>> little fishes!? Not only do the corals benefit from the presence of
the
>> fish, but the fish in turn require a clearly defined home site,
hovering
>> over the colonies as they feed on zooplankton, and having the
absolute
>> requirement to not stray far from their home colony. A strong
visual
>> signal coming from the home colony would help them stay close to the
>> safety
>> of its branches.
>>
>> The sad thing is that sharing like this is not often done- everyone
holds
>> back on important findings and hypotheses that might help others and
thus
>> collectively help save coral reefs. What seems to be missing from
science
>> is an easy place to publish unverified speculations and observations
like
>> these, and without complications, so that the information can be
accessed
>> and used by researchers and graduate students who then go on to
verify or
>> disprove the ideas as they develop research topics of relevance to
the
>> present crisis. Idea-people and those with years of field
observations at
>> the end of career would then have a greater impact. These
speculation or
>> observations can then be referenced and the first to post them would
get
>> at
>> least some of the credit! This might be a way to encourage a vast
and
>> more
>> open sharing of information? A rush to post new observations, ideas,
and
>> findings.
>>
>> In the present era, as the very survival of humanity is in question
due to
>> strains being made on the earth, just about every institution needs
to be
>> reinvented or transformed if we are going to avoid collapse of the
planet,
>> and academia is not exempt from this reinvention.
>>
>> Thanks and regards,
>>
>> Austin
>>
>> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
>> Corals for Conservation
>> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
>> [3]https://www.corals4conservation.org
>>
>>
[4]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-
coral-bleaching/
>> <
>>
[5]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-
coral-bleaching/
>> >
>>
>>
>> On Sun, May 29, 2022 at 11:22 AM Melbourne Briscoe <mel at briscoe.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> " The article, which proves bioturbulence for the first time is
>> likely relevant to overfishing of the oceans in general."
>> I don't understand how you conclude anything about overfishing from
the
>> article you link, which does not mention overfishing. Can you
explain?
>>
>> I used to have an 1860's French textbook on "La Mer" that not only
had
>> drawings of the Kraken dragging down a schooner, but described the
things
>> that mixed the ocean, i.e. the sun, the moon, the rotation of the
earth,
>> and "the combined motion of all the little fish tails." Walter
Munk's
>> joking a century later was not a new idea.
>>
>> - Mel
>>
>> On Fri, May 27, 2022 at 5:06 PM Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <
>> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>
[6]https://eos.org/articles/tiny-creatures-may-play-a-difficult-to-dete
ct-role-in-ocean-mixing?utm_source=EosBuzz&mkt_tok=OTg3LUlHVC01NzIAAAGE
o_OQQIW0rqNZgyI-5z4UkTpsHp10Uek4dHjh4bgXqzxC0SqtKmfPEA6BYterhbNRI5v4ND6
0Wn_3l4twA-r0yDS-9ZstGMrMhYqIHcA
>>
>> The article, which proves bioturbulence for the first time is likely
>> relevant to overfishing of the oceans in general. Also I am
wondering
>> about corals and hiw highly branched species can get properly
oxygenated
>> and fed in calm waters, and as branching corals in general do poorly
when
>> fish numbers are too low. I believe that the fish are the
circulatory
>> system of the corals, dissipating wastes and bringing in oxygenated
waters
>> to the corals at microscale, as well as "dusting off" settling silt
and
>> even sand from corals. Has anyone studied the topic of
bioturbulence in
>> corals?
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Austin
>>
>>
>> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
>> Corals for Conservation
>> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
>>
>>
>> [7]https://www.corals4conservation.org
>>
>>
>>
[8]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-
coral-bleaching/
>> <
>>
>>
[9]https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-
coral-bleaching/
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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References
1. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1975/00000025/00000001/art00010
2. https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/1975/00000025/00000001/art00010
3. https://www.corals4conservation.org/
4. https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
5. https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
6. https://eos.org/articles/tiny-creatures-may-play-a-difficult-to-detect-role-in-ocean-mixing?utm_source=EosBuzz&mkt_tok=OTg3LUlHVC01NzIAAAGEo_OQQIW0rqNZgyI-5z4UkTpsHp10Uek4dHjh4bgXqzxC0SqtKmfPEA6BYterhbNRI5v4ND60Wn_3l4twA-r0yDS-9ZstGMrMhYqIHcA
7. https://www.corals4conservation.org/
8. https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
9. https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
10. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
11. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
12. https://coral.aoml.noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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