Within the next century, rising ocean temperatures around the Galápagos Islands are expected to make the water too warm for a key prey species, sardines, to tolerate. A new study by Wake Forest University biologists, published in PLOS ONE Aug. 23, uses decades of data on the diet and breeding of a tropical seabird, the Nazca booby, to understand how the future absence of sardines may affect the booby population.
Researchers have studied diet, breeding and survival of Nazca boobies as part of a long-term study at Isla Española in the Galápagos Islands for more than 30 years. In 1997, midway through the study, sardines disappeared from Nazca booby diet samples and were replaced by the less-nutritious flying fish.
As flying fish replaced sardines in the birds' diet, "reproductive success was halved," said Emily Tompkins, a Ph.D. student at Wake Forest and lead author of the study. "If the current links between diet and reproduction persist in the future, and rising ocean temperatures exclude sardines from the Galápagos, we forecast the Nazca booby population will decline," Tompkins said.
David Anderson, Wake Forest professor of biology and co-author of the study, said: "Few connections have been made between ocean warming and population effects in the tropics, making this study significant."
The study increases understanding of one species' response to climate change in tropical oceans, but also suggests that other Galapagos predators that do well when sardines are available must adjust to a new menu within the next 100 years.
Should people who profit from the cultural representation of wildlife pay towards conservation? That is the question asked in new research conducted by zoologists from Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU).
Writing in the journal Animals, they muse on whether organisations that profit in some way from wildlife imagery and popularity, could establish a corporate responsibility to contribute a portion of this income to the conservation of the animals represented.
Big cats for example, are a marketing dream. From catwalk trends to product branding and sports team representation, their likeness is everywhere and used to sell everything from patriotism to eggs. In fact, as the face of the British Lion Quality Seal, lions sell about 30 million eggs a day in Britain.
Using the product as an example, the paper argues that if a royalty system were introduced, and each lion stamp were to earn the species one tenth of a penny, then every day lion conservation could receive £28,900.That's £10.5 million a year.
But, the wildlife itself, is in crisis. Again, using lions as an example, the combined effects of everyday human conflicts with local African communities, poaching, habitat loss and trophy hunting mean there are now probably less than 25,000 left in the wild.
When you consider how much revenue could be made from egg sales alone, introducing a royalty for the use of wildlife imagery is both logical and highly lucrative way to fund conservation.
Caroline Good, WildCRU's Recanati-Kaplan post-doctoral fellow in Art and Conservation, said: 'Soccer is the most popular sport in the world and as a result one of the richest. The English Premier League uses a crowned lion as its logo. It is the richest of all the leagues and sells 5m strips a year. Even if the league contributed just £1 for every t-shirt sold per year, it would be enough to employ 4,000 local people to act as lion defenders each year, in areas where the species is under threat. It would also be good for the league's charitable footprint and buy them a lot of good publicity into the bargain.'
On paper it seems like a system that would benefit all involved. But, it requires significant consideration to be effective. A species royalty scheme would primarily benefit carnivorous species and mega fauna, but it would leave less charismatic, 'appealing' wildlife without a financial lifeline. But, as apex predators, who sit at the top of the food chain, all wildlife sharing their habitat stand to benefit from the protection of big cats and mega fauna.
Dr Dawn Burnham, co-author and a researcher at Oxford's WildCRU, said: 'The quest for new mechanisms to fund conservation is a matter of live or death for wildlife. We have increasingly sophisticated Payments for Ecosystems Services and REDD schemes, but its not enough. Our idea for a royalty adds another option and, remembering that so many endangered species are in very poor countries this idea could cost little to the donors while making a huge difference."
Professor David Macdonald, Director of WildCRU, said: 'When you consider the volume of animal symbols, prints, and logos that adorn clothes, food, branding, and buildings, we are heavily indebted to charismatic wildlife. For centuries these species have brought people feelings of luck and protection, helping shape personal, professional, and national identities. It is now our turn to protect them and their habitat.'
Aquacultures are polluting Chile's rivers with a cocktail of dissolved organic substances.
Salmon Farming, Chile. The waste water is conducted into the river through a pipe (center of picture). Credit: Norbert Kamjunke.
Salmon lead a fairly varied life. The adult fish live in the sea but swim upstream into rivers to reproduce and lay their eggs in gravel beds in the upper reaches. This is where the young hatch, grow for a while in the clean, oxygen-rich water, and then set off towards the sea. To breed the popular edible fish, farmers have to provide different living conditions depending on the age of the fish.
Chilean fish farmers base their approach on the natural life cycle of the salmon. In the clear rivers which flow from the central ridge of the Andes towards the Pacific, they have installed a few hundred hatcheries for the eggs and the youngest animals. Slightly larger salmon live in cages in the lakes of the South American country, and the adults then move into similar accommodation anchored in the sea just off the coast. In 2012, Chile's aquacultures used this method to produce some 820,000 tonnes of salmon with a total value of just under five billion US dollars. For years, the country has been ranked second behind Norway in the list of key salmon producers worldwide.
However, this has not been without an impact on the environment. The cages for the medium and larger fish leak excrement, food residue and other substances into the country's seas and coastal waters. The companies also draw water for their hatcheries from some of the extremely clean, natural rivers. They pump it through the tanks for the young salmon before reintroducing it to the river further downstream - where it is certainly not in good condition.
Rather than clear water, it is more like a fishy broth which flows downstream from this kind of facility - which is a burden for residents, tourists and aquatic organisms. "Completely turbid water is no longer allowed to re-enter the river," reports Dr Norbert Kamjunke, a biologist at UFZ. The number of particles contained in the water must be below certain limit values. The aquacultures are now using sedimentation tanks and rotary filters to clarify their waste water. However, there are no such regulations for dissolved substances which simply flow into the water as before without any treatment or monitoring. And in huge quantities.
In an earlier study, Norbert Kamjunke and his colleagues discovered that, in facilities of this kind, around 40 tonnes of dissolved organic substances end up in the rivers for every 50 tonnes of farmed salmon. These substances, which chemists group together as Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM), include the liquid excretions from the salmon, and dissolved residues of food and excrement. "It also contains disinfectants and antibiotics," he explains. But what compounds does this cocktail contain exactly? And what impact does it have on the water? Researchers have recently investigated this in detail for the first time.
To do so, they used state-of-the-art methods of chemical analysis. Using fluorescence measurements, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the researchers studied the waste water from four Chilean aquacultures and samples taken from sections of the river both upstream and downstream of the farms. They worked with colleagues from the Universidad Austral de Chile in Valdivia to take samples, with the subsequent measurements carried out at the Helmholtz Centre in Munich. "We were able to determine exactly what DOM molecules were present in the water and in what concentration," explains Norbert Kamjunke.
The investigation showed that each of the rivers naturally has a slightly different chemical fingerprint. If it flows through heavily forested areas, the water will contain a large amount of humic matter. By contrast, water in volcanic regions tends to have a high proportion of sulphur compounds. However, there are also similarities. Natural sections of river generally contain less dissolved organic material. And this limited load consists of compounds which are difficult for bacteria to break down. "Those areas are predominantly low in nutrients," summarises Norbert Kamjunke.
However, the picture changes when waste water from aquaculture is introduced. These facilities release large quantities of readily biodegradable compounds. In particular, much higher concentrations of carbohydrates, proteins and their building blocks, and lipids are present downstream of the facilities. The aquacultures therefore provide the low-nutrient rivers with a kind of fertilizer boost.
But what does this entail for the water and its inhabitants? The researchers also investigated this issue in their study. They used laser scanning microscopes to examine the slippery film that grows on stones on the river bed. Upstream of the aquacultures, these biofilms contained a large amount of microscopic algae. These organisms were much less abundant downstream, where there were many more bacteria. "But this changes the entire ecosystem," explains Norbert Kamjunke.
The algae on the bottom of the natural waters play a key role for several reasons. Firstly they produce oxygen, and secondly they provide food for countless minute grazing organisms. Gastropods, mayfly and stone fly larvae all graze this film. And they in turn are eaten by fish. "The basis of the entire food web would disappear if this algae didn't exist," explains Norbert Kamjunke. But this is not the only way in which the waste water from the aquacultures alters living conditions in the river. The bacteria downstream of the facilities use up a large amount of oxygen to break down the dissolved organic matter. Excessively low oxygen concentrations can spell the end of many species which have adapted to life in clean flowing water.
However, the high level of bacterial activity that the team measured downstream of the salmon hatcheries also cleans the water. "Nevertheless, rivers should not be misused as natural sewage treatment plants," emphasises Norbert Kamjunke. For one thing, clean and unpolluted waters and their inhabitants deserve special protection. For another thing, the water downstream of the facilities has to flow quite a distance downstream until it is clean again. The length of this stretch depends on the external circumstances. The miniature water purifiers work most effectively at high temperatures and low flow rates. An earlier study by researchers from Magdeburg showed that the bacteria had broken down the pollution around 2.7 kilometres downstream of the facility. "In winter, however, they need a much longer section of river," says Norbert Kamjunke. And this is not always available to them in the short rivers of the Andes.
The researchers therefore advocate the introduction of limit values for the DOM concentrations entering the river. Their findings in relation to the activities of the bacteria could help to specify these values in order to avoid overloading the river. The aquacultures would then have to clean their waste water more effectively before re-introducing it to the river - for example using biological filters. In principle, these are large pipes filled with stones on which biofilm grows. The waste water enters at the top and leaves at the bottom, having been clarified by the bacteria in between. "Our results also show how large these facilities would have to be," explains Norbert Kamjunke. The measured degradation rates can be used to calculate how much stone surface area is required for the desired purification efficiency.
The researchers also draw another conclusion from their study. They do not consider it advisable to install any further aquacultures on Chilean rivers. The authorities have already imposed a moratorium on new salmon farms in the country's lakes. Operators are now considering the option of moving the farming of medium-sized salmon from the lakes to the rivers. "In theory that could work," believes Norbert Kamjunke. "But from an ecological perspective, it would not be a good idea."
The findings of a study by Swansea and Cardiff University scientists highlights the need for boating activities along the UK's beautiful coastlines to be conducted in a more environmentally friendly manner.
Seagrass meadows are an important marine habitat in support of our fisheries and commonly reside in shallow sheltered embayments typical of the locations that provide an attractive option for mooring boats. Research led by scientists at Swansea University provides evidence for how swinging boat moorings have damaged seagrass meadows throughout the UK (and globally) and create lifeless halos within the seagrass. The creation of these halos devoid of seagrass fragments the meadow and reduces its support for important marine biodiversity.
The seagrass Zostera marina (known as eelgrass) is extensive across the northern hemisphere, forming critical fisheries habitat and creating efficient long-term stores of carbon in sediments. This is the first research to have quantified this impact on eelgrass.
The study "Rocking the Boat: Damage to Eelgrass by Swinging Boat Moorings", was led by Richard Unsworth and Beth Williams at Swansea University where it formed the basis of Beth's MSc thesis. The research was conducted in conjunction with Benjamin Jones and Dr Leanne Cullen-Unsworth of Project Seagrass and the Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University has been published in the Open Access journal Frontiers in Plant Science.
Lead author Dr Richard Unsworth, said; "In the present study we examined swinging chain boat moorings in seagrass meadows across a range of sites in the United Kingdom to determine whether such moorings have a negative impact on the seagrass Zostera marina at the local and meadow scale. "We provide conclusive evidence from multiple sites throughout the UK that Z. marina is damaged by swinging chain moorings leading to a direct loss of at least 6 ha of United Kingdom seagrass. Each swinging chain mooring was found to result in the loss of 122 m2 of seagrass. Importantly loss was found to be restricted to the area surrounding the mooring and the impact did not appear to translate to a meadow scale. This loss of United Kingdom seagrass from boat moorings is small but significant at a local scale. This is because it fragments existing meadows and ultimately reduces their resilience to other stressors (e.g. storms, anchor damage and poor water quality).
"Boat moorings are prevalent in seagrass globally and it is likely this impairs their ecosystem functioning and resilience. Given the extensive ecosystem service value of seagrasses in terms of factors such as carbon storage and fish habitat such loss is of cause for concern". "Our research highlights the need for boating activities in and around sensitive marine habitats such as seagrass to be conducted in a sustainable fashion using appropriate environmentally friendly mooring systems" stated Dr Unsworth.
An aeolid nudibranch moves along coral in Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
The Government of Fiji has made a commitment to gazette two large Marine Managed Areas (MMAs) within Fiji's Vatu-i-Ra Seascape -- a highly diverse and productive area vital to both people and wildlife alike.
During his address at the United Nations Ocean Conference in New York City, Fiji's Minister for the Ministry of Fisheries, Mr. Semi Koroilavesau announced that Fiji is committed to scaling up MMAs in Fiji, including the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. The Ministry is working to designate the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs, spanning an area of 13,650 square kilometers.
The move will help protect a host of wildlife species that use the ecologically unique and bountiful Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. This includes migratory humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to the area to breed, colorful vibrant corals, sharks, rays, more than 200 fish species and regionally significant seabird populations. A second commitment on protecting marine mammals in Fiji reinforces the commitment to gazette the Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs to, protect and sustainably manage known humpback whale migration, breeding and calving areas.
"The area boasts a remarkably biodiverse array of species, both permanent and transient," said Dr. Sangeeta Mangubhai, Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Fiji Country Program. "The seascape provides for the plants and animals, and the plants and animals provide for the people in the form of food, livelihoods, coastal protection and reduction of climate change impacts."
Among some of the other benefits provided by Vatu-i-Ra Seascape are annual tourism dollars US $22.8M and fisheries valued at US 11.6 M. There are seamounts of cultural importance, and breeding grounds for sharks, rays, turtles and a range of coral reef and pelagic fish species.
Soft corals, crinoids and anthias fish are in the Vatu-i-Ra Seascape. Photo by Cat Holloway.
However, unsustainable harvesting of fish, an increasing human population, growing demand for goods, and market access has led to increased pressure on the area's natural resources. Unless overfishing and land-based impacts is addressed, the seascape is projected to rise to a medium to high threat level by 2030, according to the global assessment "Reefs at Risk" by the World Resources Institute.
The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will contribute to an ecological network of MMAs in Fiji aimed at restoring and preserving the health, productivity, and diversity of Fiji's coastal and marine systems.
Said Dr. Mangubhai, "With our community partners and the government of Fiji, we celebrate this special announcement. It is critical that we decrease the pressure we are putting on our ocean, and create a sustainable balance."
"The Bligh Waters and Central Viti MMAs will be the first for Fiji's archipelagic waters and will contribute an additional 1.2 percent to Fiji's international commitments under the Convention on Biological Diversity, "said the Honorable Mr Semi Koroilavesau, Minister for Fisheries. "The MMAs showcase Fiji's drive to attain key achievements on protected areas and efforts towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 to Conserve and Sustainably Use the Oceans, Seas and Marine Resources for Sustainable Development. "This is our home-our health, wealth and wellbeing is intricately connected to the health of our ocean."
An international team of scientists has concluded that "highly protected" marine reserves can help mitigate the effects of climate change and suggests that these areas be expanded and better managed throughout the world.
Globally, coastal nations have committed to protecting 10 percent of their waters by 2020, but thus far only 3.5 percent of the ocean has been set aside for protection - and less than half of that (1.6 percent) is strongly protected from exploitation. Some scientists have argued that as much as 30 percent of the ocean should be set aside as reserves to safeguard marine ecosystems in the long-term.
"Marine reserves cannot halt or completely offset the growing impacts of climate change," said Oregon State University's Jane Lubchenco, former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator and co-author on the study. "But they can make marine ecosystems more resilient to changes and, in some cases, help slow down the rate of climate change.
"Protecting a portion of our oceans and coastal wetlands will help sequester carbon, limit the consequences of poor management, protect habitats and biodiversity that are key to healthy oceans of the future, and buffer coastal populations from extreme events," Lubchenco said. "Marine reserves are climate reserves."
The scientists say marine reserves can help protect ecosystems - and people - from five impacts of climate change that already are taking place: ocean acidification, rising sea levels, an increase in the severity of storms, shifts in the distribution of species, and decreased ocean productivity and availability of oxygen.
Lead author Callum Roberts, from the University of York, said that many studies already have shown that marine reserves can protect wildlife and support productive fisheries. The goal of this peer-reviewed literature-study was to see whether the benefits of marine reserves could ameliorate or slow the impacts of climate change.
"It was soon quite clear that they can offer the ocean ecosystem and people critical resilience benefits to rapid climate change," Roberts said.
The benefits are greatest, the authors say, in large, long-established and well-managed reserves that have full protection from fishing and mineral extraction, and isolation from other damaging human activities.
The study notes that ocean surface waters have become on average 26 percent more acidic since pre-industrial times, and by the year 2100 under a "business-as-usual" scenario they will be 150 percent more acidic. The authors say coastal wetlands - including mangroves, seagrasses and salt marshes - have demonstrated a capacity for reducing local carbon dioxide concentrations because many contain plants with high rates of photosynthesis.
"Unfortunately," Lubchenco said, "these ecosystems are some of the most threatened coastal areas and have experienced substantial reductions in the past several decades. Wetland protection should be seen as a key element in achieving greater resilience for coast communities."
Coastal wetlands, along with coral and oyster reefs, kelp forests and mud flats, can help ameliorate impacts of rising sea levels and storm surge. The average global sea level has risen about seven inches since 1900, and is expected to increase nearly three feet by the year 2100, threatening many low-lying cities and nations. The dense vegetation in coastal wetlands can also provide protection against severe storms, which are increasing in intensity in many parts of the world.
Climate change already is having a major impact on the abundance and distribution of marine species. Phytoplankton communities are changing in response to warming, acidification and stratifying oceans, and upper trophic level species are being affected, threatening global food security. Climate change interacts with and exacerbates other stressors like overfishing and pollution, the researchers say.
Reducing some stressors can increase the resilience of species and ecosystems to impacts of other stressors.
"We have seen how marine reserves can be a haven for some species that are under duress from over-fishing or habitat loss, and as a 'stepping-stone' for other species that are recolonizing or moving into new areas," Lubchenco said. "Reserves also promote genetic diversity and provide protection for older fish and other marine organisms. In short, reserves are one of the most powerful tools in our adaptation toolbox. Reserves enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems, and thus our resilience."
Lubchenco, who recently completed a two-year term as the first U.S. Science Envoy for the Ocean, has been involved in research at Oregon State on the interactions between people and marine ecosystems. She has led pioneering studies on coastal hypoxia (so-called "dead zones") and innovative ways to achieve sustainable fishing and other uses of the ocean.
The authors point out that effectiveness of marine reserves is often challenged by lack of staff, equipment and funding; inconsistent management; lack of communication with industry and local communities; and concerns about displacing fishing activities. But, they point out, these challenges can be resolved. Their findings that reserves enhance the resilience of marine ecosystems suggests that reserves may offer the best hope to adapt to a changing climate.
"Marine reserves will not halt, change or stop many of the threats associated with climate change affecting communities within their boundaries," they write. "We contend, however, that existing and emerging evidence suggests that (marine reserves) can serve as a powerful tool to help ameliorate some problems resulting from climate change, slow the development of others, and improve the outlook for continued ecosystem functioning and delivery of ecosystem services."
Largest study of larval dispersal to inform optimal sizing and spacing of marine reserves.
As part of the largest, most comprehensive study of larval dispersal ever conducted, scientists were able to determine that most of the juvenile clownfish stayed relatively close to home, settling at mean distances of 10-15 kilometers from their natal reefs. Photo by Simon Thorrold, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Marine reserves -- sections of the ocean where fishing is prohibited--promote coral reef sustainability by preventing overfishing and increasing fish abundance and diversity. But to be effective, they need to be sized right, and in a way that accounts for how far juvenile fish travel away from their parents after spawning.
Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), along with researchers from Australia, France, and Saudi Arabia, have successfully measured the dispersal distances of two coral reef fish species across a 3,000 square mile section of the ocean -- an area the size of Yellowstone National Park. The study, published in the May 8, 2017, issue of the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, marks the largest, most comprehensive study of larval dispersal ever conducted and has important implications for the sizing and spacing of marine reserves.
"How far fish will disperse in their lifetimes is critical when you start thinking about how marine reserves should be designed," said Simon Thorrold, co-author of the study and a senior scientist at WHOI. "This is the first time we've been able to measure dispersal distances on spatial scales that are relevant to marine reserves, which means we can now provide data that informs management on optimal spacing and sizing."
Size matters
Marine reserves come in many shapes and sizes. But if a reserve is too small, it can't accommodate enough larvae to sustain populations. And if it's too big, larvae will simply stay within the confines of the reserve without contributing to surrounding fisheries -- a critical secondary role marine reserves need to play to improve fisheries management.
To get a read on fish dispersal in the past, scientists relied on population genetics approaches that lacked the power to measure dispersal over space and time scales relevant to protected areas of the ocean. More recently, ecologists have turned to computer-generated models of water currents to track particles through virtual oceans. According to Thorrold, this approach also has limitations since there was no way to verify the accuracy of the models. "The software can generate a lot of cool-looking graphs, but it was impossible to test the skill of those models in any real way."
How far fish will disperse in their lifetimes is critical when you start thinking about how marine reserves should be designed, according to WHOI biologist Simon Thorrold, co-author of the new study. The research team found that butterflyfish dispersed further than clownfish, averaging distances of 43-64 kilometers before settling into their new habitats. Photo by Simon Thorrold, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
An empirical approach
To overcome these limitations, Thorrold and his colleagues took direct measurements of dispersal distances in the field. They collected DNA samples from thousands of adult and juvenile clownfish and butterflyfish throughout Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, in 2009 and 2011. The entire sampling process occurred underwater, with the 30-person science team spending thousands of man-hours on SCUBA over several weeks in the field each year.
When the scientists returned to the lab, they used DNA parentage analysis, a sequencing technique that allowed them to match the juveniles up with their parents based on the DNA samples and spawning and settlement location data. From that, they were able to determine that most of the juvenile clownfish stayed relatively close to home, settling at mean distances of 10-15 kilometers from their natal reefs. The butterflyfish dispersed further, averaging distances of 43-64 kilometers before settling into their new habitats.
"Since we knew the respective locations of the adults and babies, we were able to come up with the exact linear distances that the larvae had dispersed. We're no longer talking about estimates," said Thorrold.
Benefits beyond design
In addition to helping inform the design of protected areas, the measurements can help to test the ability of reserves to perform key conservation functions. For example, one way a marine reserve network may improve fish population sustainability is through the so-called "rescue effect." In theory, if fish in a reserve suffer catastrophic mortality, the reserve can be repopulated by larvae from other reserves within the network. Thorrold and colleagues were able to track larvae from one reserve to another in the study area, confirming that rescue effect is likely to occur in real-world reserve networks.
The dispersal measurements could also allow fisheries managers to monitor the effectiveness of existing reserves, helping answer the question of whether or not a particular reserve is contributing to fish populations beyond its boundaries. This, according to Thorrold, has been a big unknown.
"If you can trace larvae from one reserve to a place that's fished, you can come up with a direct measure of how many fish the reserve is contributing to exploited populations beyond the reserve," he said. "This helps when trying to convince fishermen that networks of marine reserves are a good management tool."
Future work
According to Thorrold, as coral reef seascapes continue to face pressure from man-made stressors, marine reserves will continue to serve as an important conservation management tool. As such, it will become increasingly important to be able to provide direct measurements of larval dispersal, and find ways to apply the information to other regions of the ocean.
"The next thing we are working on is developing a coupled bio-physical model of the area that will allow us to take the results from this study and generalize them to other coral reef seascapes around the world," he said. "Limited resources for ocean management, particularly in the developing world, means that we need to maximize the chances of successful conservation outcomes from these efforts. These types of scientific insights will be critical for ongoing efforts to promote resilience of coral reef ecosystems in the face of human exploitation and climate change."
Situated 250 miles off the coast of Yemen, Socotra is the largest member of an archipelago of the same name, a four-island ellipsis that trails off the Horn of Africa into the Gulf of Aden. Socotra, an island of roughly 50.000 people, was colonised by the ancient Greeks who named it the Island of Happiness. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the Socotra archipelago is home to hundreds of endemic or endangered plant and animal species. In the 1990s, a team of United Nations biologists conducted a survey of the archipelago’s flora and fauna. They counted nearly 700 endemic species, found nowhere else on earth; only Hawaii and the Galapagos Islands have more impressive numbers.
The Unesco World Heritage Site listing describes the Socotra Archipelago, as being in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden, 250 km long and comprised of four islands and two rocky islets which appear as a prolongation of the Horn of Africa. The site is of universal importance because of its biodiversity with rich and distinct flora and fauna: 37% of Socotra’s 825 plant species, 90% of its reptile species and 95% of its land snail species do not occur anywhere else in the world. The site also supports globally significant populations of land and sea birds (192 bird species, 44 of which breed on the islands while 85 are regular migrants), including a number of threatened species. The marine life of Socotra is also very diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp.
Lately, Socotra's delicate paradise is witnessing an unprecedented level of destruction, depletion, abuse and irreparable damage caused by foreign investment in developing its tourism industry and exploiting its natural resources. Massive construction of residential cities, ports, hotels, roads and gas stations has begun as well as exploitation of the archipelago's fish fish reserves. An international appeal to the UNESCO has been initiated by a group calling themselves the "Save Socotra International Team". The appeal is asking UNESCO to "use all peaceful, possible, diplomatic and political means to stop the invasion by foreign powers, investors and speculators, and to save the great patrimony of biodiversity, which has been developed over millions of years on the Yemeni island of Socotra, of being lost forever". You can review the appeal at this website. This International Team has also prepared a video presentation in support of their appeal.
"Twilight Zone" reefs provide habitat, bolster biodiversity.
Washington State University marine biologists for the first time have documented a wealth of fish in the "vastly underexplored" deep coral reefs off Hawaii Island.
The study gives fishery managers a more complete picture of fish species and habitat around the Big Island, home to a thriving aquarium fish trade, as well as other deep waters around the globe, said Cori Kane, a doctoral student at WSU Vancouver.
"These efforts show that deep coral reefs provide essential habitat for many shallow coral reef fishes," Kane said. "With shallow coral reefs around the world in jeopardy, these deep reefs might play important roles to conserve reef fish biodiversity."
The research appears in the journal Coral Reefs. Kane's co-author is Brian Tissot, a WSU Vancouver adjunct faculty member and director of both the Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory and the Humboldt Marine and Coastal Science Institute.
Entering the Twilight Zone
Kane and a host of student divers documented fish on reefs more than 100 feet below the surface, a depth known as mesophotic, as opposed to shallow. Less formally, it's called the "Twilight Zone."
For decades, users of scuba gear were confined to relatively shallow depths, as diving below 100 feet risked exposing them to nitrogen narcosis and decompression sickness. The adoption of trimix, a breathing gas of oxygen, nitrogen, and helium, in the late 1980s opened up deeper waters and the discovery of new species and ecosystems.
Unique, endemic species
Earlier mesophotic work by Kane and colleagues found that nearly half the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands reef fish are endemic, species found nowhere else. That's nearly twice as high as any other tropical region.
Kane's new research is the first comprehensive study of mesophotic coral reefs on Hawaii island, and the first to document reefs below 65 feet around Hawaii's big islands, Kane said. The island has some of the healthiest reef systems in the Hawaiian archipelago, she said, drawing recreational divers from around the world.
The island also accounts for most of Hawaii's aquarium fish exports. The new information will add to reef managers' knowledge of aquarium fish, filling gaps about the distributions and abundance of many heavily collected species.
Fishes in the upper regions of the mesophotic reef system, between 100 and 165 feet, are largely the same as those fishes found in shallow waters, Kane said.
"Reefs at these depths are vastly underexplored," she said, "and this study shows that these deep reefs provide additional critical habitat for shallow reef fishes."
Atlantic reef similarities
Researchers have seen similar distribution patterns of reef fish in the Atlantic Ocean and Red Sea, suggesting "universal trends where deep coral reefs provide extensive critical habitat for important shallow reef fish species, and may act as refuge space from human and environmental impacts that are decimating shallow coral reefs."
One key difference of the deeper waters is that herbivorous fish critical to healthy coral reefs "are nearly absent in mesophotic reefs."
SECORE International, the California Academy of Sciences and The Nature Conservancy join forces to implement larger-scale coral restoration.
Healthy Caribbean reef site, Eastpoint, Curacao. Photo by Paul Selvaggio.
With the Global Coral Restoration Project, SECORE International, the California Academy of Sciences and The Nature Conservancy seal their commitment to help rehabilitate coral reefs and preserve them for future generations. This project aims to study and apply coral restoration techniques and practices on a larger scale, integrating coordinated conservation, education and outreach efforts. By "seeding" reefs with sexually reproduced coral offspring, this project aims to help maintain corals' genetic diversity which in turn maximizes their ability to adapt to future conditions. Furthermore, working with sexual coral restoration has the great potential to produce huge numbers of coral offspring from one coral spawning event. The project includes training for partners from island nations and territories, including organizations capable of translating their efforts into local management plans that support this large-scale coral restoration initiative. The Global Coral Restoration Project starts in the Caribbean and is planned to expand into the Pacific region after its initial phase.
"Alarmed by the catastrophic state of their coral reefs, people have made various attempts to restore coral cover with restoration measures," says Dr. Dirk Petersen, Executive Director and Founder of SECORE. "However, outcomes have often been short-lived and lacked an integrated concept. Moreover, the true capabilities of coral restoration have not been exhausted yet. With our joint Global Coral Restoration Project we aim at changing that."
Spawning of the endangered elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata. Photo by Paul Selvaggio.
A Caribbean start
Coral reefs are hotspots of diversity that host countless plants and animals. They are a source of livelihood for millions of people and function as essential coastal protection against the frequent tropical storms. Today, coral reefs are on the decline worldwide and doomsday scenarios of their fate have been spreading broadly in the media. In the Caribbean, coral reefs have been seriously degrading over the last three decades, with hurricanes, disease outbreaks and mass die-offs taking their toll. Key reef-building species, such as the elkhorn and staghorn corals, are critically endangered?one focus of this collaborative project is to assist in the rehabilitation of those species.
The first phase of the Global Coral Restoration Project will focus on the Caribbean. Scientists of the three key-partner organizations have gathered profound knowledge about coral reproduction and how to restore and conserve corals of the Caribbean, and plan to use a wide array of tools to implement coral restoration on largerscales.
"The Nature Conservancy has been working throughout the Caribbean for over 40 years, helping to establish millions of acres of marine protected areas and learning from multiple coral restoration efforts including our own," says Dr. Luis Solorzano, Executive Director Caribbean Division, The Nature Conservancy. "Through this collaboration with SECORE and the California Academy of Sciences, we will accelerate the science and innovation required for scaling up coral restoration efforts. Our efforts can help to ensure healthy and resilient Caribbean reefs."
Within the frame of the Global Coral Restoration Project, hands-on practices will be shared with local stakeholders, in turn enabling a more comprehensive approach to assist in the rehabilitation and active restoration of coral reefs. During the past few years, the project partners have studied how to raise large numbers of delicate coral larvae of several Caribbean species, practiced less labor-intensive ways of seeding coral recruits on reefs, developed protocols to choose suitable restoration sites and learned how to efficiently monitor ongoing restoration success.
How to restore reefs on larger scales
Over the last decade, SECORE and partners have pioneered the study of sexual coral restoration applications, a relatively young research discipline. Taking advantage of the corals' sexual reproduction has the potential of producing huge numbers of genetically unique coral recruits--millions, if done correctly. Those coral recruits could be raised from one spawning event: coral gametes are collected in the wild or at the laboratory and fertilized in vitro. The resulting larvae are cared for and provided with settlement substrates when they are ready to metamorphose into a coral polyp.
SECORE is currently developing and testing techniques to raise and handle large amounts of coral offspring. The time and manpower required to handle coral offspring and plant them onto wild reefs often limit restoration efforts. Accordingly, SECORE and partners have designed coral settlement substrates that self-attach to the reefs, enabling seeding coral recruits to join the reef in meaningful numbers. SECORE and partners are currently conducting pilot projects for larger-scale sexual coral restoration on Curaçao and in Mexico.
Preconditioning of 'coral seeding units,' ready to function as settlement substrates for coral recruits. Photo by Paul Selvaggio.
Education and sharing knowledge
Through this partnership, three capacity-building centers will be established in the Caribbean: in Mexico, Curacao, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. At each location, a local team of experts will test and refine sexual reproduction techniques, and share these through capacity-building trainings and workshops with coral reef practitioners around the world. In addition, local communities will be actively involved in the process, providing local partners with outreach tools to facilitate community engagement. Integrating the communities that are impacted by this work is critical to making any restoration and conservation efforts successful in the long-term.
"Our capacity building centers will foster research and technology development, exchange of knowledge and expertise, and provide training courses and outreach", says Dirk Petersen. "We will host annual training workshops for Caribbean stakeholders. The centers will function as bases to expand our network and to guide local restoration practitioners who have been fighting the decline of their reefs on their own. By joining forces and coordinating efforts in many places around the Caribbean, we can make a real change for the survival of coral reefs."
The first task of the new alliance will be the kick-off workshop entitled "New techniques for coral restoration in the Caribbean" on Curaçao this May. Representatives of stakeholders throughout the Caribbean and scientists from various disciplines will meet to learn hands-on practices--including collecting and fertilizing coral gametes and practicing the handling of larvae to be seeded onto degraded reefs--and share theoretical background knowledge. Each workshop will build on the last, incorporating lessons learned and refining the techniques that enable lasting, larger-scale coral restoration.
Project Partners
SECORE International is a coral conservation and restoration organization, based in USA and EU that works in a network of scientists, aquarium professionals and partners around the globe to give coral reefs a future.
The California Academy of Sciences is a renowned scientific and educational institution dedicated to exploring, explaining and sustaining life on Earth. Based in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, it is home to a world-class aquarium, planetarium, and natural history museum, as well as innovative programs in scientific research and education. The Academy recently launched Hope for Reefs, a monumental investment in reversing the potential collapse of coral reefs worldwide.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, they create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges, so that nature and people can thrive together. Working in more than 65 countries, they use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners.
