Where are the Reefs Going?

[Grinder0909]

Would like to start a discussion on this and see what ya'll think about it.  I've traveled to a lot of places in the Caribbean and just got back from a trip to Guadeloupe.  I went snorkeling and was appalled by the lack of diversity there, same as places in Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras, Mexico, Belize, DR, and even Hawaii, although Hawaii had the best diversity that I've seen.  

 

To keep this short, my opinion is this:

 

1) Acidification of the oceans is occurring due to the uptake of CO2, resulting in a reduction of: salt water pH, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation states of calcium carbonate minerals.

 

2) Pollution due to debris (plastics, trash), fertilizer run off, and tourism mainly people using Sunscreen and it washing off in the ocean only for them to reapply thus creating a terrible cycle of non-stop additions of reef harming chemicals.

 

3) We are changing the way reefs work, an ecosystem that took millions of years to evolve, being destroyed in 1 century due to man's inability to make a change.  This will result in creating robust and less diverse reefs, dominated by sponges, invertebrates and softies.  All the LPS & SPS corals will die, only to exist in the aquarist's living room.

 

4) I see no way to reverse this anytime soon, and believe its our duty to maintain our systems to proliferate aquaculture so that these species can eventually be placed back into the oceans when we fix things.

 

Any opinions would be great, maybe someone to refute me so I may have some hope :(

Edited January 21, 2016 by Grinder0909

[Origami]

1) Rising atmospheric CO2 in the last 100 years appears to be well documented. The elevated CO2 in the atmosphere shifts the carbonate species equilibrium (dissolved CO3--, HCO3-, and CO2) in the oceans, lowering the pH. Lowered pH may negatively impact coral growth (though the impact may vary with species). Rising temperatures may have an even greater impact at this point. Hard to say. But temperature seems to be at or near the core of a lot of bleaching events. This makes me wonder, though, if we might begin to see coral planula settling in waters that once were too cold to be viable habitats. We seem to be on the sidelines of a global experiment, watching the impact.

 

2) Not a good situation, but I'm not sure that it's a primary factor in the global threat to reefs. I think that it's more likely to have an effect at a regional level. Just my thoughts.

 

3) I wonder if the rate of change of the environment will challenge the ability of this ecosystem to adapt. 

 

4) It's hard to predict how tanks maintained by hobbyists will function as an "ark" but people have certainly floated that possibility over the last few years. (I've heard it from Ret Talbot, for example.)

 

I'd love to hear from our scientist-types that work in fields closer to this than the rest of us.

[Grinder0909]

Thanks for the reply.  

 

1)  Very interesting your opinion that raising temps will impact greater than lowering pH levels, I would like to hear some other thoughts on this, I have seen first hand bleaching, especially of monitpora colonies and Faviidae colonies.  Since its already happening, one should question if the temp fluctuation of +/- 1 degree would start this or if other factors are involved.

 

2)  More specifically I have read about the impacts of sunscreens on reefs.  For example, when I was diving in Hawaii they wouldn't let us use sunscreen and would only sell "reef" safe sunscreen.

 

3)  I was trying to bring up the idea that maybe, only certain types of "hardy" corals will live through this change in environments, and in the next 100 years we will see reefs with less diversity dominated by corals that can handle lower pH and higher avg temps.

 

4)  This is where my hope is, and feel that not only as hobbyists but as aquarists we will keep the fragile corals proliferating through aquaculture and reef farms.

 

Anyone else's input would be interesting to hear, thanks for your response Tom.

[gmerek2]

things will have to get incredibly bad in order for our corals to be put back in the ocean. Scientist don't want them back in the ocean due to pests/species from other parts of the world being introduced. Imagine Florida SPS coming down with the flatworms can't dip that!. Or pyramid snails introduced to new area. A wamas speaker had briefly mentioned this a couple years ago.

[AlanM]

Thanks for the reply.  

 

1)  Very interesting your opinion that raising temps will impact greater than lowering pH levels, I would like to hear some other thoughts on this, I have seen first hand bleaching, especially of monitpora colonies and Faviidae colonies.  Since its already happening, one should question if the temp fluctuation of +/- 1 degree would start this or if other factors are involved.

 

2)  More specifically I have read about the impacts of sunscreens on reefs.  For example, when I was diving in Hawaii they wouldn't let us use sunscreen and would only sell "reef" safe sunscreen.

 

3)  I was trying to bring up the idea that maybe, only certain types of "hardy" corals will live through this change in environments, and in the next 100 years we will see reefs with less diversity dominated by corals that can handle lower pH and higher avg temps.

 

4)  This is where my hope is, and feel that not only as hobbyists but as aquarists we will keep the fragile corals proliferating through aquaculture and reef farms.

 

Anyone else's input would be interesting to hear, thanks for your response Tom.

 

That "reef safe" sunscreen often has the very same ingredients that they say harms the reefs.  I don't have the link anymore, but the one I read recently on it was pitching a reef safe product that also had avobenzone or oxybenzone in it...

 

I think your point 3 is about right, and what Brian says is true.  Most people don't want non-scientists to try to help out because we can do more damage than help since we don't have all the information about what needs to be avoided and the care that is required to introduce something back into nature.

[Jon Lazar]

Lots of good points here for conversation.

 

I've snorkeled in several places throughout the Caribbean the last several years.  I've always enjoyed it, but I don't remember ever being impressed with the diversity.  Mostly gorgonias and maze-type corals, with a few acropora staghorns in some locations.  These were commercial snorkeling sites; not dive sites though.  So I'd be interested to know whether Caribbean coral diversity used to be better, or whether it's been that way for the last hundred years

 

Also, I'm very skeptical that our tanks are a good long-term "ark" for corals.  If we're honest, I think that as a hobby we kill far more corals than we grow.  We're a large club with an active forum exchanging current techniques, but it's still common to see tank crash posts.  I consider myself a moderately successful reef aquarist, yet I remember the 5gal bucket I used to throw my coral skeletons into.  And what we see are just the coral deaths from the very end of a long supply chain that has significant mortality throughout.  I hope our hobby educates non-reefers, inspires other reefers, and helps advance captive breeding and husbandry in the future.  But I'm realistic about the impact the hobby has today.

[Keraxis]

I tend to believe its runoff that does it.  Fertilizer increases algae growth and is actually causing dead zones all over the world.  Once you lose the urchins it typically means the reef is close behind

[zygote2k]

Maybe we need to start a coral bank....

[mogurnda]

One thing that seems to make a huge difference is sewage.  So many islands, including many of the Florida Keys, use septic systems.  That makes little sense when you live on a limestone island with porous rock.  Nitrogen and phosphorous move rapidly into the ocean.  One of the things the Dutch government did when Bonaire went back to being part of the Netherlands was to install a proper sewage treatment system.  We have been amazed at how much better the reefs look after a few years, especially the Acropora.  The reefs are subject to many insults, as people have described above, but the nutrients from untreated sewage can have a large impact.

[treesprite]

I don't understand why people are still taking so much coral from the reefs when there is so much aquaculture. Is it because they are so impatient to wait for frags to grow that they don't mind risking the death of large colonies?

[Jon Lazar]

The demand for wild corals is high because it's cheaper and there's a wider selection of corals.  Wild corals are more widely available for retail purchase.  Also, not all hobbyists are educated about the origin and sustainability of wild vs aquacultured corals.  Not all hobbyists belong to a major, active club like WAMAS with easy access to aquacultured frags.

 

I've read that the US imports something like 25 million corals a year.  In the big scheme of things, I don't think there is "so much aquaculture" available yet.  But it's good to see the supply growing.

[treesprite]

It seems to me like there is a great deal of aquaculture, by which i mean both home grown and commercially grown.

 

However, it is true, I guess, that we are in a special bubble of which I guess most of the world is not. Really, with all the stuff we cumulatively grow in our tanks and give/sell/trade to each other for nothing to dirt cheap, none of us needs to buy anything that came straight from the ocean to have a vast and beautiful array of species in every tank. Why DO people in clubs like this buy wild-caught corals? (I guess that's a topic for another thread, if someone is interested in it).