[Coral-List] cross-ocean coral transplantation idea

[Contessa Ricci]

Hello list serve and Dr. Matz,

I realize you requested private correspondence on this Dr. Matz but I
personally find this a matter for public discussion as this is not simply
an idea but a serious consideration you are proposing (most likely
governments) to take action with.

I know the idea has been circulating for a while that we can just
transplant corals and we’ll save the reefs. This is exactly the kind of
talk that was happening circa 1800s when we thought we could fix all the
ecological damage we caused by introducing invasive around the world
(agriculture, hitchhikers, etc) - we thought we could just “
fix it by also artificially introducing the native predators. We know that
was a horrible idea now and these actuons
Are blamed for A LOT of ecological devastation around the world.

I do not like that this idea is being circulated seriously again and I
believe this idea needs to be met with a lot more caution and criticism. I
think it is also a very important thing to consider that this idea is being
circulated primarily by Western researchers versus researchers with
heritage and ancestry from the actual places that coral reefs exist. In my
view, as one of these people, this is a short sighted and lazy solution
that can only result in a major ecological devastation - rather than
finding solutions to make the environment more hospitable for the species
that are supposed to be there, you are essentially advocating for turning
our very important, productive, and necessary and tropical ecosystems into
Florida ecosystems (ecosystems completely defined by the presence of
devastating invasive species). This is not a solution for saving coral
reefs. This is not a solution for preserving the ecological function of
cora reefs. This is simply a way for us to not feel so sad about what we
are doing to the ecosystems.

Thank you,
Contessa Ricci

On Sat, Jan 27, 2024 at 6:15 AM Mikhail V Matz via Coral-List <
coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> wrote:

> Hi colleagues - I have been away from this list for a while and I heard
> there was quite a bit of confusion and negativity here regarding recent
> article in Nature News section (
> https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00102-y). This is about the
> idea that we might need to import Indo-Pacific corals to rescue the
> ecological function of Caribbean reefs.
>
> I’d like to explain myself - my argument is a bit more nuanced that the
> Nature article had it.
>
> Here is a short thread I made about it on twitter/X:
> https://x.com/heatshok/status/1746927500075106495?s=20
>
> And here is the copy of the actual presentation I gave at SICB 2024:
> https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AnNOklpFIsvtIe0lh4yona8GAeGHdvBSq6Byl2_UyEo/edit?usp=sharing
>
> Long story short:
> - it is not about just moving some corals over, it is about bringing a new
> “super-recruiter” life history type, which gives reefs high resilience in
> the Indo-Pacific but has never evolved in Caribbean.
> - it is not a call to just start plopping corals from one ocean into
> another. It is a call to carefully consider this idea and initiate research
> to make sure it can be done safely and efficiently, if it ever comes to
> that. I surely hope it won’t, but if it does, we must be ready.
>
> Please let me know what you think. I’d appreciate if you emailed me
> directly to matz at utexas dot edu .
>
> cheers
> Misha Matz
>
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