[Coral-List] sad demise of the mesophotic plate coral fields in Jamaica

Sat Nov 26 04:51:16 UTC 2022

Some years after Hurricane Allen I got to see the glorious field of
Agaricia undata in the upper mesophotic at Discovery Bay, Jamaica.  At that
time corals on the upper and mid-slope were long gone, starting in 1980
with Hurricane Allen, but these deep plates, a big monospecific stand, were
doing fine.
      Now, sadly, I find out that they are now mostly dead.  This doesn't
bode well for the deep refuge hypothesis, it seems.  Not only were they
killed, but the same species is not present in shallow water.

Two papers:

Dustin, P., Chapentier, B. H., Wheeler, L., and Lang, J. C. 2018. A short
report on the changing ecology of the Pinnacle Reefs of Discovery Bay,
Jamaica; 1970’s to 2018. Pp. 23-31 in Gochfeld, D.J. and Herrlinger, T.J.
(Eds.), *Diving for Science** 2018:Proceedings of the American Academy of
Underwater Sciences 37th** Symposium.*

Dustin, P. and Lang, J. 2019. Discovery Bay, Jamaica. Pp. 85-109 in Loya,
Y., Puglise, K. A., and Bridge, T. L. (eds.), *Mesophotic Ecosystems*.
Springer.

More papers:

Motti, C. A., Cummins, S. F., and Hall, M. R. 2022. A review of the Giant
Triton  (*Charonia tritonis*), from exploitation to coral reef
protector? *Diversity
*14(11): 961.

Radice, V. Z., Hoegh-Guldberg, O., Fry, B., Fox, M. D., and Dove, S. G.
2019. Upwelling as the major source of nitrogen for shallow and deep
reef-building corals across and oceanic atoll system. *Functional Ecology*
33: 1120-1134.

Rocha L. A., Pinheiro, H. T., Shepherd, B., Papastamatiou, Y. P., Luiz, O.
J., Pyle, R. L., and Bongaerts, P. 2018. Mesophotic coral ecosystems are
threatened and ecologically distinct from shallow water reefs. *Science*
361: 281-284.

Streit, R. P., Cumming, G. S., and Bellwood, D. R. 2019. Patchy delivery of
functions undermines functional diversity in a high diversity system.
*Functional
Ecology* 33: 1144-1155.

Traylor-Knowles, N., Baker, A. C., Beavers, K. M., Garg, N., Guyon, J. R.,
Hawthorn, A., MacKnight, N. J., Medina, M., Mydlarz, L. D., Peters, E. C.,
et al. 2022. Advances in coral immunity ‘omics in response to disease
outbreaks. *Frontiers** in Marine Science* 9: 952199.

Williams, G. J. and Graham, N. A. J. 2019. Rethinking coral reef functional
futures. *Functional Ecology* 33: 943-946.

Woodhead, A. J., Hicks, C. C., Norström, A. V., Williams, G. J., and
Graham, N. A. J. 2019. Coral reef ecosystem services in the
Anthropocene. *Functional
Ecology* 33: 1023-1034.

Zawada, K. J. A., Madin, J. S., Baird, A. H., Bridge, T. C. L., and
Dornelas, M. 2019. Morphological traits can track coral reef responses to
the Anthropocene. *Functional Ecology* 33: 962-975.

Cannon SE, Aram E, Beiateuea T, Kiareti A, Peter M, Donner SD (2021) Coral
reefs in the Gilbert Islands of Kiribati: Resistance, resilience, and
recovery after more than a decade of multiple stressors. PLoS ONE 16(8):
e0255304. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255304

 Riegl B., Berumen M., Bruckner A. 2013.  Coral population trajectories,
increased disturbance and management intervention: a sensitivity analysis.
Ecology and Evolution 3(4): 1050–106

C. A. Ward-Paige, H. Sykes B , G. J. Osgood A and J. Brunnschweiler. 2022.
Community-driven shark monitoring for informed decision making: a case
study from Fiji. Pacific Conservation Biology: PC22009.

Hughes, T. P, Ayre, D., Connell, J. H. 1992. The evolutionary ecology of
corals. *Trends **in Ecology and Evolution* 7:292–295.

Cheers,  Doug
-- 
Douglas Fenner
Lynker Technologies, LLC, Contractor
NOAA Fisheries Service
Pacific Islands Regional Office
Honolulu
and:
Coral Reef Consulting
PO Box 997390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799-6298  USA

Fixing methane leaks is a fast and vast help for climate change, and pays
for itself.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-fixing-methane-leaks-oil-132702814.html

Switching to renewable energy could save trillions-up to $12 TRILLION by
2050.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62892013

1 in 6 deaths worldwide can be attributed to pollution, new review shows
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/1-in-6-deaths-worldwide-can-be-attributed-to-pollution-new-review-shows/ar-AAXozQh