[Coral-List] another press article on some coral restoration projects

[Austin Bowden-Kerby]

Thanks Doug,

It is very difficult to get balance in press articles, even if every
researcher cited in the article had made the disclaimer statement that
without solving climate change all these efforts would come to naught,
the magazine still might still fail to include it.  At least they mention
climate change.

I have just received photos of Milne Bay province PNG where mass coral
bleaching is presently occurring and has already resulted in the death of
many corals.  It does not look like much of anything will be left on the
reefs of this particular site, and the few corals that survive will, in
subsequent months, inevitably be attacked by hungry coral predators, who
have lost most of their food.  Once the Acropora corals are finished,
the predators will go for Pocillopora, and then in desperation for
Porites.  A local group there wants to prevent the demise of the few corals
that survive via predator removal and the creation of a coral biobank
isolated from predators.  Then they will have broodstock to create patches
of resistant corals on the reefs in a year or two, once the samples grow
and the predators starve.  The hope is that by creating small patches of
resistant corals, that the adaptation of the wider system will be assisted,
as the larvae from more distant reefs begin arriving, and acquiring
resistant symbionts from what leaks out of the patches of corals.  The
patches are designed to also help reboot reproductive processes, so that
corals of host-derived resistance will cross, sending out their resilient
larvae to the wider system.  Not something we can measure or prove at this
point, but nevertheless a goal.  We no longer focus on numbers of corals
planted, or even on coral cover restored, but rather the post-bleaching
focus is on the numbers of genotypes of the most vulnerable coral species
(mostly Acropora) secured and kept reproductively functional, and in
positions where the patches of bleaching resistant corals can best impact
natural recovery and adaptive processes.

I discuss this strategy, with references, in my recent ICRS paper, now
published in OCEANS:
Coral-Focused Climate Change Adaptation and Restoration Based on
Accelerating Natural Processes: Launching the “Reefs of Hope” Paradigm
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf

In December we were rather horrified as our Fiji sites had begun bleaching,
at "watch" stage!  The ocean had become 30C, and even higher in the
nearshore.  Fortunately the weather has since become very cloudy and
horrifically rainy- worse anyone can remember for this time of year,
cooling the ocean to 29C and the nearshore even more, and so the corals
have mostly recovered.   But we are sitting on the edge of our seats, with
predictions of worse to come for February through April.  But something is
off.... cyclones formed in New Caledonia and Vanuatu, but strangely failed
to develop any strength in spite of the warm water.  I wonder if the
reported increase in temperature of the stratosphere, due to the injection
of masses of water vapor by the Tonga volcano a year ago, are impacting
cyclone formation, reducing convective processes?  I suppose we will soon
find out.   At least Mother Nature has alternative ways to cool off her
ocean when it gets too hot, but the heavy rains and dark clouds day after
day can get rather depressing- LOL!

Regards,

Austin


Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
Corals for Conservation
P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands

https://www.corals4conservation.org
22 minute summary of climate change adaptation strategies
https://youtu.be/arkeSGXfKMk
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
<https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/>








On Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 5:56 AM Douglas Fenner via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Reefs are in trouble.  Can scientists nurture more resilient coral?
>
>
> https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2023/0123/Reefs-are-in-trouble.-Can-scientists-nurture-more-resilient-coral
>
> No mention that if we don't get climate change under control, we will
> likely not only lose most natural corals but may lose some or a lot of
> corals these projects produce.  Also, no mention that no matter how many
> corals these projects grow, it will be a tiny amount compared to the number
> of natural corals and the numbers that have been killed.
>
> 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
>
> Degrowth can work - here's how science can help
> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04412-x
>
> CoP 27, CoP 17, the party's over https://www.petersalebooks.com/?p=3324
>
> 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
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>