Ancient Corals Hold New Hope For Reefs; 'Remarkably Successful In Surviving Large Environmental Disturbances'

QUEENSLAND, Australia -- Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are providing fresh hope that coral reefs may be able to withstand the huge stresses imposed on them by today's human activity.

Reef ecosystems were able to persist through massive environmental changes
imposed by sharply falling sea levels during previous ice ages, an international scientific team has found. This provides new hope for their capacity to endure the increasing human impacts forecast for the 21st century.

In the world's first study of what happened to coral reefs when ocean levels sank to their lowest recorded level – over 120 meters below today's levels – a study carried out on eight fossil reefs in Papua New Guinea's Huon Gulf region has concluded that a rich diversity of corals managed to survive, although they were different in composition to the corals under more benign conditions.

“Of course, sea levels then were falling – and today they are rising," said Professor John Pandolfi of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and The University of Queensland.

"But if we want to know how corals cope with hostile conditions, then we have to study what happens under all circumstances.

“We've seen what happens to corals in the past when sea levels rose and conditions were favorable to coral growth: we wanted to see what happened when they fell and conditions were adverse.

“When sea levels drop you get a catastrophic reduction in coral habitat and a loss of connectivity between reefs.

"Well, those circumstances are in some respects similar to what corals are experiencing today due to human impacts – so there are useful parallels.”

“Although it is little asked, the question of where reef species go when faced with extreme environmental situations is highly relevant for understanding their prospects of survival in the future – and what we need to do to give them the best chance,” Professor Pandolfi said.

In the Huon region, the team found, coral reefs survived the hard times low of sea levels with as much richness of species – but with a different composition to what they had during the good times.

“As a rule the coral colonies during the period of low sea levels were closer to the sea floor and slower-growing in comparison with times of high sea levels.”

“What we have found suggests that reef systems are able to survive adverse conditions given suitable shallow rocky habitat.

"An interesting finding of this study is that complex coral ecosystems were maintained during the less optimal periods of low sea level. These may have been critical to the re-establishment of nearby reefs once environmental conditions began to improve.”

“The fossil record shows that reefs have been remarkably successful in surviving large environmental disturbances.

"However, the combination of drastic environmental changes that we're seeing today, such as degraded water quality, depleted fish stocks, coral bleaching, ocean acidification and loss of habitat are unprecedented in the history of coral reefs.

"Although this study clearly highlights the resilience of reef ecosystems, it is important not to underestimate the magnitude of the challenges that reefs are currently facing. “

Professor Pandolfi says we somehow have to find ways of preventing or offsetting each of these impacts if we expect our reefs to ride out the major climatic changes of the 21st century in as good condition as they have in the past.

Their paper: “Community dynamics of Pleistocene coral reefs during alternative climatic regimes”, by Danika Tager, Jody M. Webster, Don Potts, Willem Renema, Juan C. Braga and John M. Pandolfi appears in the latest issue of Ecology 91(1), 2010.

Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=21008471395

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Corals Partner Up With Heat-Resistant Algae

Corals around the world, already threatened by pollution, destructive fishing practices and other problems, are also widely regarded as among the ecosystems likely to be first — and most — threatened with destruction as earth’s climate warms.

But there is reason to hope, researchers are reporting. The scientists, from Penn State University and elsewhere, have produced new evidence that some algae that live in partnership with corals are resilient to higher ocean temperatures. One species, Symbiodinium trenchi, is particularly abundant – “a generalist organism,” the researchers call it, able to live with a variety of coral hosts.

Corals and algae live together in what scientists call a symbiotic relationship. Coral polyps shelter the algae and as the tiny plants photosynthesize they produce sugars the corals rely on for food. When water warms, though, reefs’ brown or green algae partners die, leaving the reefs white. These so-called bleaching events have become more common as ocean waters warm.

The new research focused on corals in the Andaman Sea, in the northeastern Indian Ocean, but other scientists have made similar algae findings in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

Heat-resistant algae are not enough to save corals, most researchers agree, but their presence may buy time for some reefs. Other researchers have suggested that unusual periods of warm water may allow heat-resilient algae to proliferate, to the long term benefit of corals.

Unfortunately, though, heat-resilient algae do not necessarily occur in corals everywhere. And it is not clear whether importing the algae to threatened reefs would work to save them. “You never know what the effects might be of introducing an organism into an ecosystem in which it is not well established,” Todd LaJeunesse, one of the Penn State researchers said in a statement reporting the new work.

Also, while the algae findings offer a glimmer of hope, there remain plenty of reasons to worry. Perhaps chief among them is the fact that as ocean waters absorb carbon dioxide they become more acidic, threatening the coral skeletons.

source: http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/corals-partner-up-with-heat-resistant-algae/

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Study: Coral Loss Slowed, Reversed By Marine Protected Areas; 'Cumulative Effects Could Be Substantial'

CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina -- A new worldwide study shows marine protected areas (MPAs), underwater parks where fishing and other potentially harmful activities are regulated, provide an added bonus – helping coral reef ecosystems ward off and recover from threats to their health.

Researchers also found the protective effects of MPAs generally strengthen over time.

The findings, published in the Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010, issue of the journal PLoS One, are the first comprehensive global study to gauge the impact of marine protected areas on the health of corals.

Such havens have proved successful in protecting fish, leading to optimism among researchers that they may also indirectly help corals by restoring reef-based food webs. Previous studies also suggested that such conservation zones can directly protect reefs from problems such as overfishing, anchor damage and sediment and nutrient runoff pollution from adjacent land.

Marine scientists Elizabeth Selig, Ph.D., and John Bruno, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, analyzed a global database of 8,534 live coral cover surveys conducted between 1969 and 2006. They compared changes in coral cover in 310 marine protected areas to those in nearby unprotected areas, looking at 4,456 reefs in 83 countries. Coral cover, or the percentage of the ocean floor covered by living coral tissue, is a key measure of the health of coral ecosystems.

“We found that, on average, coral cover in protected areas remained constant, but declined on unprotected reefs,” said Selig, the study’s lead author, who completed the work for her doctoral dissertation at UNC. She is now a researcher with Conservation International.

Bruno, associate professor of marine sciences in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, said the results also suggest the protective benefits of such areas increase with time. Initially, coral cover continued to decrease after protections were put in place. However, several years later, rates of decline slowed and then stopped.

For example, in the Caribbean, coral cover declined for about 14 years after protection began – possibly due to the time it took for fisheries to rebound – but then stopped falling and began to increase. In the Indo-Pacific, cover kept declining for the first five years after protections were established, then began to improve, eventually reaching growth rates of two percent yearly after two decades.

“Given the time it takes to maximize these benefits, it makes sense to establish more marine protected areas. Authorities also need to strengthen efforts to enforce the rules in existing areas,” Bruno said.

From 2004 to 2005, the most recent complete year in the database, coral cover within protected areas increased by 0.05 percent in the Caribbean and 0.08 percent in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. In contrast, coral cover on unprotected reefs declined by an average of 0.27 percent in the Caribbean, and 0.41 percent and 0.43 percent in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, respectively.

The paper noted that the results may even be a conservative estimate of the benefits because regulations aimed at controlling fishing, poaching and other activities in many MPAs in the tropics are poorly enforced. In addition, most areas have only recently been established (almost 60 percent of the surveys in the analysis were from areas less than 15 years old).

“Although the year-to-year changes in coral cover may seem trivial over the short term, the cumulative effects could be substantial over several decades,” Selig said.

However, Selig and Bruno said it remains to be seen whether the observed benefits of MPAs are sufficient to offset coral losses from major disease
outbreaks and bleaching events, both of which are predicted to increase due to climate change. That concern is backed by their finding that widespread warming events like the strong El Niño climatic event of 1998 drastically reduced the positive effects of protective zones. “Marine protected areas are clearly a key tool for coral reef conservation, but we will still have to focus on implementing policies that will reduce climate change,” they said.

The research was supported by funding from UNC, the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=02410961875

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We are an international non-profit organization with members in over 60 countries, spanning 6 continents with 1 mission; healthy aquatic ecosystems free from human abuse and neglect. Oceanic Defense teaches people to protect our oceans by acting responsibly as consumers and by making smart decisions in our daily lives. Whether we are buying groceries, commuting to work, planning a vacation or advocating within our own communities; each action we take or decision we make either helps or hurts our oceans. We empower people to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem and work together to protect our blue planet.

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Lawsuit Filed To Protect 83 Coral Reefs

SAN FRANCISCO, California -- The Center for Biological Diversity has formally notified the National Marine Fisheries Service of its intent to sue the agency for its failure to respond to a petition seeking to protect 83 imperiled coral species under the Endangered Species Act. These corals, all of which occur in U.S. waters ranging from Florida and Hawaii to U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific, face a growing threat of extinction due to rising ocean temperatures caused by global warming, and the related threat of ocean acidification. The Endangered Species Act requires that the National Marine Fisheries Service respond to the petition within 90 days, and this initial finding is delinquent.

“Within a few decades, global warming and ocean acidification threaten to completely destroy magnificent coral reefs that took millions of years to build,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Timing is of the essence to reverse the tragic decline of these vitally important reefs, and we can’t afford any delays in protecting corals under the Endangered Species Act.”

Scientists have warned that coral reefs are likely to be the first worldwide ecosystem to collapse due to global warming; all world’s reefs could be ruined by 2050. When corals are stressed by warm ocean temperatures, they are vulnerable to bleaching and death. Mass bleaching events have become much more frequent and severe as ocean temperatures have risen in recent decades. Scientists predict that most of the world’s corals will be subjected to mass bleaching events at deadly frequencies within 20 years on our current emissions path.

Further, ocean acidification, caused by the ocean’s absorption of carbon dioxide, impairs the ability of corals to grow and build their protective skeletons. Therefore, global warming and ocean acidification are an overriding threat to coral reefs that have already experienced population declines from threats such as destructive fishing, agriculture runoff, pollution, abrasion, predation, and disease.

Leading coral biologist Charlie Veron warned in a recent scientific paper that at current levels of CO2 in the atmosphere (387 ppm) most of the world’s coral reefs are committed to an irreversible decline. Other scientists have warned that CO2 concentrations must be reduced to levels below 350 ppm to protect corals and avoid runaway climate change.

“The coral conservation crisis is already so severe that preventing the extinction of coral reefs and the marine life that depends upon them is an enormous undertaking. The Endangered Species Act has an important role to play in that effort,” added Sakashita. “But without rapid CO2 reductions, the fate of the world’s coral reefs will be sealed.”

Protection under the Endangered Species Act would open the door to greater opportunities for coral reef conservation, as activities ranging from fishing, dumping, dredging, and offshore oil development, all of which hurt corals, would be subject to stricter regulatory scrutiny. Additionally, the Endangered Species Act would require federal agencies to ensure that that their actions do not harm the coral species, which could result in agencies approving projects with significant greenhouse gas emissions to consider and minimize such impacts on vulnerable corals.

Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=81510930267

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About Oceanic Defense
We are an international non-profit organization with members in over 60 countries, spanning 6 continents with 1 mission; healthy aquatic ecosystems free from human abuse and neglect. Oceanic Defense teaches people to protect our oceans by acting responsibly as consumers and by making smart decisions in our daily lives. Whether we are buying groceries, commuting to work, planning a vacation or advocating within our own communities; each action we take or decision we make either helps or hurts our oceans. We empower people to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem and work together to protect our blue planet.

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MARES Initiative To Provide Comprehensive View Of South Florida Marine Ecosystems

MIAMI, Florida -- Marine and Estuarine Goal Setting for South Florida (MARES) is a new collaborative initiative, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), designed to guide regional resource managers in protecting the fragile marine coastal environment in South Florida. Through MARES academic scientists, federal and state agency experts and non-governmental organizations will work closely with federal and state environmental managers, private industry and the general public to develop comprehensive ecosystem models and reach consensus as to feasible management goals for the South Florida coastal ecosystem from Charlotte Harbor south to the Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas and the lower East Coast up to the St. Lucie. The three-year study will also develop an annual report card (Total Marine Ecosystem Assessment Report) that allows resource managers to evaluate their management strategies to adequately protect the local ecosystem.

"Here in South Florida we have a unique subtropical environment – we are home to the only coral reefs in the continental United States, most of our population lives along the coast and our economy hinges on the protection of our marine environment," said Dr. Peter Ortner, professor of biological oceanography at the University of Miami and director of the Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS). "Human society is part of the larger ecosystem. A unique feature of MARES is the specific consideration of societal processes through the inclusion of human dimensions science, to study what is taking place within the ecosystem and how we are impacting its sustainability."

Input from agencies and the community will be gathered during a series of public meetings leading to a "Total Marine Ecosystem Assessment Report". The first in a series of technical workshops to develop the groundwork for the report is scheduled to take place in Miami, December 9 and 10, 2009 at FIU's MARC Pavillion. Additional information for public meetings throughout the region will be publicized as they are scheduled.

MARES builds upon NOAA's 15 year commitment to improve the understanding of the South Florida coastal ecosystem and associated changes resulting from Everglades Restoration activities. The outcomes from MARES will be used to focus and prioritize future research and management of South Florida coastal waters for NOAA and the other federal and state agencies.

"This is the first time a "Total Marine System" analysis will be developed as a resource management tool", said Joseph Boyer, Director of the Southeast Environmental Research Center at Florida International University. "The results of this effort will also assist South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force managers in 'defining success' with respect to Everglades Restoration."

Source: http://www.underwatertimes.com/news.php?article_id=68411030259