[Coral-List] coral reef decline

Sat Sep 2 19:48:07 UTC 2023

A couple of comments on the thread of aquariums as refuges for genetic diversity of corals:

In 1999, I published these concluding comments in an article in American Zoologist:

"The fact that an aquarium is not, and probably never will be, an exact simulation of nature, should not detract from its potential power to detect biological responses to extreme environmental changes. In this respect, aquariums are analogous to mathematical models, which are not exact simulations of nature but can offer predictive power and insight into the nature of biological systems. Corals do survive and often thrive in these artificial environments. This opens up a wide range of opportunities, including the culture of genetically identical colonies (clones) for bioassay studies (potentially the same genetic strain might be available for decades or perhaps indefinitely); "designer colonies" may be developed...; if reefs continue to disappear, genetic diversity of some species may be maintained in thousands of public aquariums, home aquariums, and research laboratories for possible future reintroduction to the wild when environmental conditions improve; and the rapid recolonization of denuded reefs might be facilitated by the mass culture of corals on coral farms. Coral farms may also produce much of the coral in demand for home aquariums and thereby reduce the negative effects from over-harvesting on coral reefs" (Amer. Zool. 1999. 39:44-55).

Nearly a quarter-century after I wrote those comments, I have mixed feelings that so much of what I speculated has come to pass so quickly. Researchers are indeed working on "designer corals” with the ability to better survive changing environmental conditions; coral farms are mass-producing new corals (both asexually and sexually); and reef restoration projects have grown exponentially worldwide. Sadly and with urgency, public aquariums and marine laboratories are indeed bringing corals into captive environments to preserve diversity, especially for species faced with extinction, e.g., Dendrogyra cylindricus.

I agree with Phillip Dustan, who recently suggested, as I did in my paper, that hobbyists, too, may have a role in preserving corals for the future. But that will require organization, oversight, and probably a collaboration among public aquariums, marine labs, and hobbyists to ensure that particular corals are appropriately tagged, tracked, and maintained for future reference. However, aquarium hobbyists are constantly in flux, making such an effort difficult vis-a-vis public aquariums and marine labs that endure for decades and usually maintain continuity through meticulous record-keeping and staff training. Nonetheless, hobbyists could play an important role, but someone has to take the initiative to organize and manage such a program if it is ever to happen. 

And, in regards to the exchange between Martin Moe and Austin, I agree with Martin that there could be a role for a dedicated facility to be developed solely to maintain a significant diversity of corals in a safe, controlled environment not unlike the frozen seed banks created for plants. The Great Barrier Reef Legacy Living Coral Biobank is already underway with this goal. While the start-up of these facilities requires significant capital, they could be maintained like public aquariums where visitors pay a fee to cover operating costs and generate additional revenue for research and conservation programs. Most public aquariums today operate this way and significantly contribute to field conservation programs. Aquariums also offer a wide range of education programs for school children and adults, as well as the presention of graphic displays in the exhibit halls, all to help people get out of that "bubble" that Austin mentions and see the world beyond the walls, and to understand the role each person can play in helping change the current trends we are witnessing in nature. 

Aquariums, big and small, can be a powerful inspiration for good and for change. My friend, Dr. Randall Kosaki, grew up keeping aquariums at home, and was motivated to become a marine scientist. He once said about the impact of aquariums: "A picture may be worth a thousand words, but an aquarium is worth a thousand pictures." 

Bruce Carlson
Georgia Aquarium - retired
Waikiki Aquarium  -retired
Aquarium Biologist - always

> On Aug 25, 2023, at 4:40 PM, Austin Bowden-Kerby via Coral-List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
> Dear Martin,
> 
> Thanks for posting.  I appreciate your post as a teaching moment into the
> reality of others who share the same concerns.  With no disrespect
> intended, what I see in your post reflects the reality of a bubble, it is a
> post from someone inside a bubble- while it is not on the moon or on mars,
> it is just as walled off from the reality of the majority of the planet as
> if it were.  The energy and commercial production and trade systems that
> maintain your bubble is what is causing the collapse of coral reef
> ecosystems everywhere on the planet, not just inside your bubble.  Most of
> those who read this are inside your prosperous bubble, which in order to
> maintain itself is killing the rest of the planet.
> 
> If the carbon and plastics and forever chemicals industries were not
> enough, immense damage has occurred from invasive species introduced via
> the marine ornamentals trades. It leaves us wondering which species will be
> introduced next that will leak out of your bubble and cause more
> destruction to the region?  In the perspective of saving the coral reefs
> both inside and outside your bubble, rather than a focus on restoring such
> badly degraded environments where root causes have not been solved, might a
> more effective use of your resources be to focus on solving the underlying
> problems, as well as the problems that the marine aquarium industry
> continues to create for the wider region?
> 
> I believe that rather than working so hard to keep the reefs inside your
> bubble alive, we need a global perspective and all hands on deck- to focus
> on preventing the collapse of the wider system.  Like the firefighters in
> Canada who lost their own homes while fighting to save entire cities, we
> need those like you in your prosperous bubble to look up and see what is
> coming, and to own the problem. Restoration practitioners working in
> largely intact but threatened ecosystems not so far away are badly
> underfunded, and so I see your proposal to spend even more resources on
> Florida as "throwing good money after bad".
> 
> You want to make a difference, which is commendable, but in order for
> you to be effective, you and so many others must look up.  The reality now
> is that what happens in Belize and Cuba is more important to the long term
> future of Florida's reefs than what actually happens in Florida, because
> keeping the reefs of these more intact and ecologically functional systems
> over the coming decades might actually be possible.  But sadly not at
> present levels of funding and support.
> 
> The earth must become one sustainable bubble in order to survive. These
> smaller bubbles that separate us must all pop!
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Austin
> 
> 
> Austin Bowden-Kerby, PhD
> Corals for Conservation
> P.O. Box 4649 Samabula, Fiji Islands
> 
> https://www.corals4conservation.org
> Publication on C4C's coral-focused climate change adaptation strategies:
> https://www.mdpi.com/2673-1924/4/1/2/pdf
> Film on our "Reefs of Hope" coral restoration for climate change adaptation
> strategies:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG0lqKciXAA
> https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/
> <https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/emergency-response-to-massive-coral-bleaching/>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 6:44 AM Martin Moe via Coral-List <
> coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> Our world,oceans, continents, and the life that they support are all
>> declining more rapidlythan we can repair them, certainly with just our
>> present state of developingeffective repairs. But we must do the best we
>> can and save all that we can.Around 2005 I lived in the Florida Keys and I
>> gave up working on breedingmarine tropical fish and switched over to
>> Diadema sea urchins. It took over 10 years but I was successful at rearing
>> them in large numbers. There’s a bookout on my efforts and also three
>> articles in the July/August 2022 issue of CORALmagazine. The following is
>> the last section of the last article, and itpertains to the current topic
>> on the Coral List.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> What we cando
>> 
>> The firstproject would be set up as experimental, we still need to learn a
>> great dealabout coral reef restoration and ecosystem restoration through a
>> stepwiseprocess. There could be two interactive parts to the first project.
>> 
>> We haveestablished aquatic areas, National Sanctuaries, where coral reefs
>> areprotected from exploitation, and we have planted coral frags over
>> extensiveareas. And we are working hard on ecosystem restoration. This is
>> good, but wecan take this a step further.  We couldselect smaller areas of
>> decaying coral reefs that can be established as ‘coralreef educational and
>> experimental ecosystem restoration preserves’ where theobject is not only
>> replacement of basic coral species but also includesreestablishment and
>> monitoring of functional coral reef keystone speciesincluding herbivores
>> (Diadema), certain algae such as coralline algae,some sponges, some crabs,
>> even some reef fish, and other organisms that arefunctional in coral reef
>> ecosystems. These small preserves would becooperatively maintained and
>> operated by governmental and educationalinstitutions. The difference
>> between these and existing sanctuaries would beintensive, continued, and
>> fully fiscally supported long-term, permanent activitiesaimed at ecosystem
>> research and restoration contained in a manageable andwell-defined area.
>> Coral diseases that may occur can be controlled and researchedwithin a
>> limited area that is frequently and intensively examined andmaintained
>> under the care of experienced and knowledgeable personnel.
>> 
>> The secondarm of such a project would be the establishment of a
>> controlled, large,land-based facility where a contained artificial coral
>> reef environment couldbe created. These large near-natural coral reef
>> ecosystems would providedevelopment and control of the chemical, physical,
>> and biological elements ofcoral reefs. The purpose would be to maintain,
>> preserve, reproduce and providecorals to aid the research and development
>> of experimental ecosystems.Physical, chemical, and biological parameters
>> would be controlled to provide ahistorically accurate replicate of the
>> environment of a coral reef before humandegradation. The technology to
>> create large contained marine environments thatreplicate natural coral
>> reefs has already been created in basic structures forlarge public aquarium
>> facilities. The basic technology for the creation of alarge, contained, and
>> environmentally controlled system for a coral reefalready exists.
>> 
>> This wouldcreate fully controllable marine coral reef environments, and
>> also provide asanctuary for the species of plants and animals that create
>> coral reefecosystems, including living corals that are now critically
>> endangered in thewild. This preservation of coral reef ecosystems would
>> serve active researchindependent of the vagaries and environmental hazards
>> that plague our existingand declining coral reefs. Successful propagation
>> of corals in these artificialreef environments would also provide a source
>> of coral “seeds” and otherspecies of marine life necessary to establish
>> natural reefs when these reefsare in the process of renewal and
>> restoration. There would be close cooperationbetween the experimental
>> restoration of a natural coral reef and the establishmentof a synthetic,
>> land-based experimental coral reef ecosystem. This is withinour current
>> technical capability of building and controlling physical andchemical
>> marine environments but on a larger scale.
>> 
>> It wouldpreserve the essence of the biological ecosystems of coral reefs
>> that would beinstrumental in actual coral reef restoration. It would be a
>> tragedy if thecoral reefs of the future were only to be found in land-based
>> artificialecosystems. It would be a much greater tragedy if the coral reefs
>> of the futurejust did not exist.  I hope humanity hasnot already made the
>> choice between investing in coral reefs and the environmentalrepair and
>> protection that will provide a healthy future for the ecosystems ofour
>> planet; the alternative is to dance with abandon as our ecosystems decayand
>> our wars and pleasures destroy not only what we might have done, but
>> alsowhat we have already done to enhance the future of our presence on this
>> planet.
>> 
>> Yes, itwould be costly, but even at this present time, we are now, not
>> later, NOW,faced with the decision to go all out with the preservation and
>> repair of ourplanet, no matter what the cost….. or accept the results of
>> humanoverpopulation, uncontrollable pollution of land and sea, destruction
>> ofnatural resources, and a long list of existential horrors waiting in the
>> wingsfor humanities near future. Near future? Yeah, we’ve been around for
>> about 300,000years, 100, even 500 years, is just the blink of a temporal
>> eye.
>> 
>> But if theoceans continue to degrade, and without a successful effort to
>> repair oceanicenvironmental damage and prevent their continued use as a
>> food source with noend and a waste receptacle with no bottom, it probably
>> won’t take 60 years forplanet Earth to reject our industrial presence,
>> maybe only 20 or 30.  if so, we’ll never be able to build andoccupy a base
>> on the moon, or Mars, and maybe not even on Earth. Can we restorethe oceans
>> and also have a base on the moon? Live on the moon, mine its resources,and
>> have clean oceans filled with life?
>> 
>> Maybe…
>> 
>> Assuming wewant humanity to get civilized and survive, could we afford the
>> research anddevelopment needed to preserve our oceans and coral reefs?
>> Well, we can nowafford things that cost much more, like professional
>> football, just to pointout one of many nonessential expenditures.
>> Professional football, anonessential expenditure? Well, yeah. I know, now
>> I’m in big trouble, but accordingto Forbes the NFL league’s 32 franchises
>> were worth a combined sum of more than$91 billion in 2019, and that year
>> the average NFL franchise had a valuation of$2.86 billion. And that’s just
>> football. And war, and preparing for war? Howmuch does that cost? If
>> humanity really wanted to survive and eventuallyexplore other planets and
>> the solar system, and control the climate and life onearth, which we could
>> do, the track we are on now ends in a dead-end.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> The Marineand Reef Aquarium Hobby and Industry
>> 
>> The aquariumhobby and industry have a great interest and an existential
>> need in therestoration of freshwater and marine ecosystems throughout the
>> world. Perhapsthe major difference between marine and freshwater hobbyists
>> and the rest ofthe world’s populations is that the hobbyists are well aware
>> of the great lossand human tragedy that awaits us when the ecosystems that
>> birthed and supportedthe origin and development of humanity are no longer
>> functional.
>> 
>> And where isthe Marine Reef and Aquarium Hobby in the overall picture of
>> coral reef declineand possible restoration? Well, it’s kind of like looking
>> at the highways androads of all the world and trying to discern the reason
>> why each of all thosevehicles is on those roads. Actually, this isn’t
>> possible, is it? But prettymuch every vehicle on these roads has rules and
>> regulations that they mustfollow to have a successful journey. However,
>> there is a commonality. Everydriver is responsible for the results of their
>> journey. And every aquarist isresponsible for the success, or failure, of
>> the aquarium that they manage. So,the marine aquarium hobby has a
>> collective responsibility to do all that ispossible to maintain and
>> preserve the aquatic ecosystems that provide theessence of their endeavor.
>> Even if just being aware of the problems thataquatic environments all over
>> the world are experiencing and supporting therepair of the world’s aquatic
>> environments is the only thing that is possible,it is something that should
>> be done. And there is power in numbers, power inclubs and associations. If
>> we don’t help, who will?
>> 
>> Martin Moe
>> 
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