Science topic

Coral Reefs - Science topic

Marine ridges composed of living CORALS, coral skeletons, calcareous algae, and other organisms, mixed with minerals and organic matter. They are found most commonly in tropical waters and support other animal and plant life.
Questions related to Coral Reefs
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
6 answers
In the Red Sea (Egypt) we have found that virtually all coral reefs that protrude into the open sea have a straight line boundary. It also turned out that all rectilinear boundaries can have only 6-7 directions (angles). I do not want to impose my opinion because there may be more correct explanations.
Maybe there are ideas?
Relevant answer
Answer
Hi Boris,
Yes, coral reefs rely on clear water and tend to develop less in murky water, rivers outlets are numerous in Moz and corals are less near the river mouths. BUt Mozambique has long extensions of true tropical coral reefs (about 1800 km2).... we definitely have beautiful reefs too, as you can see on the photos attached. It is home to the 2nd hotspot of reef biodiversity in the world after the coral triangle (over 300 nominal species, and probably as much to be described still).
Anyhow, yes, the reefs follow the coastline and there is a strong depth relation, explaining most of the rectilinear patterns you talk about.
Cheers,
Erwan
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
5 answers
How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, the biosphere, the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
The ongoing process of global warming is also causing, among other things, an increase in the temperature of the seas and oceans. This increase in temperature and the increase in the scale of water pollution in the seas and oceans is causing the death of coral reefs, which have formed over millions of years and have developed the most biodiverse ecosystems of the seas and oceans.
In view of the above, I address the following question to the esteemed community of researchers and scientists:
How can instruments and systems for the conservation of nature, of the biosphere, of the highly biodiverse coral reef ecosystems of the seas and oceans be improved?
What is your opinion on this?
What do you think about this topic?
Please reply,
I invite you all to discuss,
Thank you very much,
Best regards,
Dariusz Prokopowicz
Relevant answer
Answer
Polluting shipwrecks are the ticking time-bomb at the bottom of our oceans
"At the bottom of the oceans and seas lie more than 8,500 shipwrecks from two world wars. These wrecks have been estimated to contain as much as 6 billion gallons of oil, as well as munitions, toxic heavy metals and even chemical weapons.
For decades, these wrecks have largely lain out of sight and out of mind. But all this time, their structures have been degrading, inexorably increasing the chances of sudden releases of toxic substances into the marine environment.
In parts of the globe, climate change is exacerbating this risk. Rising ocean temperatures, acidification and increasing storminess accelerate the breakdown of these wrecks...
How many of these wrecks pose a threat to people’s safety, to coastal communities and to the environment? What can be done – and why haven’t we done it sooner?...
Mapping the problem is the key.
Work by researchers such as Paul Heersink have drawn together different datasets to help visualise the scale of the challenge. Yet these figures, and the position of dots on maps, may also give a false sense of certainty...
There is an ongoing global push to improve our mapping of ocean space under the auspices of the Seabed 2030 project, which is looking to reach a universal resolution of 100x100m. That means one “pixel” of information would be equivalent to about two football pitches. This will be transformative for our understanding of the ocean floor, but will not reveal the detail of all those things that you could hide within those two football pitches (which includes quite a few wrecks)...
Advances in subsea drones known as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs), which are fitted with an array of sensors to measure the seabed and detect pollutants, could help enhance our knowledge about the locations of wrecks, what they’re carrying and their state of deterioration. AUVs can provide relatively cheap, high resolution data that produces fewer emissions than a comparable survey campaign conducted from a large research vessel...
Action is needed now, driven by a robust regulatory and funding framework, and technical standards for remediation. A global partnership – codenamed Project Tangaroa – has been convened to stimulate that framework – but political will and financing is required to make it a reality.
Through targeted archival and survey work, and by sharing data and ideas, we can chart a course to a future where the sea is not a place where we ignore things today that will threaten us tomorrow..."
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
4 answers
I found that there has been no 'reef sites' section in the 'Coral Reefs' journal since the 2019 edition. In my opinion, the 'reef sites' section is very interesting, especially with its brief presentation of images and descriptions. Has the journal discontinued this type of article? If so, can anyone please suggest me similar article types in other journals?
Thank you
Relevant answer
Answer
It is disappointing that “Coral Reefs” does not publish “Reef Sites” any longer, but you can submit “Reef Sites” type articles to the following journals:
“Galaxea, Journal of the Coral Reef Studies” publishes Photogallery: GalaxeaSubmitGLineENG_2022.pdf (jcrs.jp)
“Diversity” publishes ‘Interesting Images’: Diversity | Instructions for Authors (mdpi.com)
“Marine Biodiversity” publishes ‘Oceanarium’: Submission guidelines | Marine Biodiversity (springer.com)
There may be others.
Cheers,
Tom
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming. In the ocean, rising temperatures increase the risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems. Live coral reefs, for instance, have nearly halved in the past 150 years, and further warming threatens to destroy almost all remaining reefs.
Relevant answer
In microbial ecology, diversity (high richness and evenness) is believed to act as an insurance against perturbations, according to the insurance hypothesis. This increases community resistance and resilience.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
2 answers
Do coral reefs and phytoplankton and fish have major impacts on the energy budget of snowpack, and drought and global climate change and global warming?
Relevant answer
Answer
Dear Boris Kapuchkin
Hello, thank you very much. Abbas
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
10 answers
I guess artificial coral reefs don't grow well in some places. In other places they grow even worse. I would be glad if I see an example of an artificial reef that is not inferior to the natural one. According to my observations, on a natural coral reef, areas of rapid development coexist with dead reefs. The distance between such sites can be less than 100 m. I have observed when a flowering coral reef has degraded in less than 10 years. Attached is a photo of the reef.
I propose to discuss a quote from the article "When are payment for ecosystems services suitable for coral reef derived coastal protection?: A review of scientific requirements": "Payment for Ecosystem Services is an emerging tool intended to solve a range of ecosystem management inefficiencies, by linking conservation action to payment. Such schemes have not been tested to our knowledge, for coral reef derived coastal protection, which is a key Ecosystem Service for many nations bordered by tropical coral reefs.".
The subject of discussion is that if we introduce a tax, then we must have effective mechanisms for influencing the situation. These mechanisms should guarantee its improvement. There are currently no such mechanisms. We do not even have a complete list of the causes of reef degradation. If there is no way to restore the reef with a tax, then there is no reason to collect such a tax.
First, we need to consolidate scientific research and develop an effective mechanism. While it is not available, it is advisable to use the experience of Egypt in creating reserves in the most flowering areas of the reef. The meaning of creating a reserve: "I know little about the ecosystem, about environmental conditions, about transboundary transfers .... For this reason, I" freeze "the situation so as not to harm."
Where am I wrong?
Relevant answer
Answer
Coral reef restoration has been with us for some time. If you are looking at examples where coral reef restoration has worked please have a look at the work that has been done by the Coral Guardian in Indonesia:
There are many other projects, some with innovative approaches, that create initial 'artificial reef' over an area of coral reef that has been damaged. In Bali, they are using coconut shells to rear corals ((PDF) Coral diversity on artificial reef from coconut shells in northern Bali, Indonesia (researchgate.net), in Lombok they are using Biorock technology (Biorock Reefs Bounce Back After Coral Bleaching: Gili Trawangan Video And Photos By Delphine Robbe - Global Coral Reef Alliance) with success. There are other examples. This being said, it is ESSENTIAL that in all areas where this type of coral reef restoration work is taking place great emphasis has to be placed on maintaining good environmental water quality by managing all anthropogenic activities in a sustainable manner. Maintaining good water quality is very important.
To my knowledge there have not been any large-scale (>km2) coral reef restoration projects using artificial reefs, but many small scale (at 100s of m2) projects have been successful, at least within a short period of time.
I am attaching a list of papers that anyone interested in coral recovery will find useful.
Cheers.
Tom
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
14 answers
Coral reefs are very interesting natural objects, which, with their features, still ask scientists many questions. The possibility of observing them remotely (from artificial Earth satellites) shows, in particular, that their location in space most often has a linear form (we exclude coral islands). An example of relatively recently discovered coral reefs near the mouth of the Amazon is shown in the attached file.
Please express your opinions on this matter.
I hope for an interesting discussion that will bring us closer to understanding other issues related to many features of the formation, development and degradation of this natural “phenomenon”.
Natalia Kucherenko.
Коралловые рифы - очень интересный природный объект, который своими особенностями до сих пор задает ученым много вопросов. Возможность наблюдения за ними дистанционно показывает, в частности, что их расположение в пространстве чаще всего имеет линейную форму (исключим коралловые острова ). Пример относительно недавно открытых коралловых рифов близ устья Амазонки показан на прикрепленном файле.
Прошу высказать свои мнения на этот счет.
Надеюсь на интересную дискуссию, приближающую нас к пониманию и других вопросов, касающихся многих особенностей формирования, развития и деградации этого природного «явления».
Наталия Кучеренко.
Relevant answer
Answer
Dear Tomas,
I give my geologist point of view: many reefs have linear shape because they grew on top of past coastal areas (such as deltas) for example during the last deglaciation, when sea level rose from -120m to present level. There are many examples around the world (Belize barrier reef, Great Barrier Reef, including reefs offshore the Amazone river), some of them having been drowned during this very rapid sea-level rise (around 40mm/year). They grew on top of ancient deltas because these areas offered stable substrates and high-energy settings when they started to be flooded.
This is why some reefs have shapes looking as linear coastal/siliciclastic systems (some of them being still preserved: past fluvial channels being modern tidal inlet in lagoons). In other words they mimic the underlying morphologies!
Hope this will help.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
The Atlantic Ocean has minimal coral reef area (Map 1) and minimal fish and shellfish coral biodiversity. Could this be a consequence of the maximum hydrothermal activity of the Atlantic Ocean? Look at the map of deep water acidity [CO32-] SW to the ocean (Map 2).
How true is this?
Relevant answer
Answer
I want to give a fragment from the discussion "The location of coral reefs in space most often has a linear shape. What is it connected with?". Here about the straightness of the bottom topography in the shallow areas of the tropical zone.
«It is generally accepted that for the formation of a coral reef, clear water is necessary (photosynthesis of zooxinela is impossible in muddy water) and warm water (in cold water, a polyp cannot form an external carbonate skeleton). In addition, it is desirable to have a solid substrate for fixing the polyp at the bottom and sea currents that bring food to the polyp are desirable.
In tropical seas, these conditions are everywhere, but coral reefs are not formed everywhere. The reason is that the tropical zone of the ocean is oligotrophic. For the first time, we have included in the list of necessary conditions a fluid dynamic process in tectonic faults of the earth's crust. You can see the link: https://magazine.neftegaz.ru/articles/geologorazvedka/443409-flyuidodinamicheskie-anomalii-kaspiyskogo-morya/.
This led to the need to formulate a new paradigm for the formation of coral reefs. We did this in the second volume (Spatial patterns of coral reef formation) of the monograph "A new paradigm of accumulative relief formation in shallow areas of oceans and seas" (2021).
It was shown for the first time that in the oligotrophic tropical zone of the ocean, solutions of phosphates and nitrates enter the bottom layer only along tectonic faults. Without these substances, phytoplankton cannot form. Without phytoplankton, zooplankton (polyp food) cannot arise. We used the theory of structure formation of the solid shell of the Earth.
Block sizes change discretely (… 35x35 km, 70x70 km, 140x140 km, 280x280 km, 560x560 km, 1120x1120 km …). The orientation of the block structure is discrete (0° and 270°; 17° and 287°; 35° and 305°; 45° and 315°; 62° and 332°; 77° and 347°).
Solutions of nitrogen and phosphorus enter the oligotrophic waters of the ocean only along straight faults. Linear fault directions can only have six azimuths. Coral reefs only form along faults. Let's apply a new coral reef formation paradigm to a coral reef in the Amazon Delta. I have attached a diagram of this reef and a satellite image of the Amazon Delta with our additions. (Scheme of a coral reef from an open Internet resource).
The grid of tectonic blocks is like a chessboard. The white squares are up and the adjacent black squares are down. On the satellite image, I put a yellow line (approximate position of the coral reef). To this line, I leaned a square with dimensions of 1120x1120 km with an azimuth of 35° and 305°. The line of the coral reef and the northeastern boundary of the tectonic block coincided.
The correctness of drawing a tectonic block on a satellite image has several practical confirmations. The arrow in the image shows a tectonic fault, which manifested itself in the configuration of the ocean coast. The bay has an azimuth of 35 degrees. In the north-west direction, at a distance of about 560 km, you can see a similar bay (tectonic fault). This is natural, since the tectonic block 1120x1120 km is divided into 4 blocks. The adjacent block is shown in red. It is shown in the terrain as an uplift. I think it's convincing.
If there are doubts about the theory of fluid dynamics, I will provide additional evidence. In the picture, I showed in blue a tectonic block, which has dimensions of 560x560 km. It has a different spatial orientation (77° and 347°). Along the northern and western borders of the block, you can see straight riverbeds. This can be explained only by the theory of fluid dynamics of the lithosphere. All riverbeds coincide with tectonic faults. Thank you for watching.
Sincerely, Boris.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
4 answers
Recently, as a result of an increase in water temperature and a decrease in the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the water, whitening of corals has been recorded (death of algae in the symbiosis of algae and polyps). Why have colonies of algae colonized coral reefs in the Red Sea in recent years? What is the reason for this contradiction?
Relevant answer
Answer
I think the most important thing to consider is the type or species of algae colonising those coral reefs and the optimal growth conditions. Some (especially tropical) algae are highly invasive and can withstand highly hostile conditions. Moreover, corals are sensitive to the slightest changes in their environment.
Perhaps, the thriving species are invasive one that have been introduced through the common pathways, such as ships, accidental discharge and fishing gear.
Or maybe, the situation is similar to terrestrial weeds vs flowers or vegetables in a garden or farm. There is not only competition for nutrients; the death of the corals could be contributing to the aggressive growth of existing algae in the Red Sea.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
1 answer
Dear researchers,
I need certain full name definition of my acropora coral. Can anyone help me?
Relevant answer
Answer
Dear Gokhan.
Taxonomy position of Acropora is the following:
Phylum Cnidaria
Subphylum Anthozoaria
Class Anthozoa
Sub Class Hexacoralla(= Zoantharia)
Order Scleractinia (=Madreporaria)
Genus Acropora
May be the species Acropora robusta
Good lucky
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
6 answers
We have seen many coral reefs. Some of these are algae staple because they are rich in nutrients. However, in such a situation we observed a coral reef dominated by Sponges. Physical and other parameters of the water indicate that it should also be an algae-dominated reef rather than a sponge-dominated coral reef. We can't understand why this happened.
Relevant answer
Answer
It may be related to the luminosity in the location. Sponges may be in advantage on low light environments.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
5 answers
During the past few years a number of papers have been published on the coral reefs of St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh. I would like to invite our colleagues working in the northern Bay of Bengal to have a look at our recent comment on the subject. Our comment can be found at:
Kind regards,
Tom
Relevant answer
Answer
Dear colleagues,
I have recently come across a conference presentation by Ara et al. (2020) that was given at the 2020 International Conference on Earth and Environmental Sciences & Technology for Sustainable Development in Dhaka.
Deleted research item The research item mentioned here has been deleted
Sadly the study contains some very serious misinformation regarding the presence of "coral reefs" on St. Martin's Island. Here I am attaching a PDF file with a series of figures that illustrate the misclassification of a sedimentary rocky reef as a "coral reef" by Ara et al. (2020). I have also left a short comment on Ms. Ara's ResearchGate web page.
Cheers,
Tom
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
We are launching a Ph.D. research looking at the effect of salinity and temperate increase on the bioerosion rates in coral reefs in the northern Persian Gulf. In doing so, artificial and natural blocks will be submerged along a gradient of salinity and temperature where hypersaline water from the desalination plant discharges into the sea. We are planning to use two types of natural and artificial blocks including (1) natural blocks by segmenting dead massive corals (e.g., Platygyra sp.); and (2) artificial blocks made of carbonate calcium.
But wonder how to make artificial blocks that need to be identical to natural blocks in terms of porosity and texture. Can we use crushed dead corals that have been blocked by a glue? If yes? What type of glue?
Wondering if anyone has experience in making such artificial blocks.
Best regards
Mohammad
Relevant answer
Answer
Agree with Mr. António Godinho.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
5 answers
I am trying to assess chlorophyll-a content from coral tissue using spectrophotometry (with SPECTROstar Nano, BMG). However, I always seem to obtain some negative values in my optical density raw data which then affects the chl-a calculations (Ritchie, 2008)
My extraction solvent is 95% etOH (laboratorios Roldan) and I use this as a blank (one blank well at the end of each line of wells filled with the samples)
I have tried different protocol settings in the spectrophotometer but still getting negative values:
Usual protocol settings:
Endpoint
BMG 96-well microplate
wavelengths: 632,649,665,696
Path length corr.ection off
well scan: spiral average (4mm diameter)
settling time 0.5s
No. of flashes: 30
Shaking before plate reading: orbital 500rpm for 5s
Variation:
well scan: orbital
settling time: 0.1
No. of flashes: 21
Thanks so much for your thoughts!!
Relevant answer
Answer
I'm not familiar with using wells for this type of application. However, by analogy with using conventional cells in a spectrophotometer, it sounds like mismatching and or contamination.
What happens if you fill the wells of a couple of plates with solvent and the wells of a couple more plates with the same chlorophyll extract?
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
Until this morning, when I viewed a 5-second film clip of a coral growing as tall as the Empire State Building on a national network television "Today" news broadcast, I thought that Global Warming is causing ocean waters to get too hot, as evidenced in the destruction of major coral reefs, which have already turned white, and presumably died, because of higher temperatures caused by Global Warming. Does this finding of an exceptionally tall coral formation indicate a different or new species of coral? Or is this thriving coral evidence of a positive result from the increased levels of carbon in Earth's atmosphere, or from some other factor that is not related to Global Warming? For more information, please see the Internet: " Standing taller than the Empire State Building’s 443 metres, the reef rises up to 40 metres deep. Research leader Robin Beaman, from James Cook University (JCU), described the pinnacle of the reef as a ‘thriving coral community.’ "
Relevant answer
Answer
I thank you very much for sharing your expertise as a scientific researcher and I am pleased to answer your question regarding the thriving coral reef. You are absolutely right in asking if this healthy coral reef is "of a different species"! It has been steadily growing upward, and has the shape almost of a gigantic cactus, while, in striking contrast, the main barrier reef that is losing its characteristic color covers the sea floor horizontally. I do not know if its flat configuration is the same as it was when it was healthy, but it is clear that it was never as tall as the adjacent coral reef that is still growing in its midst. Your mentioning of the temperature in this particular environment certainly appears to be a strong factor in the new reef's ability to survive even when water temperature is rising. Although it seems to be a remote possibility, I wonder if the new reef might be an example of Darwin's theory of adaptation. Maybe an "offspring" of the old reef underwent a genetic adaptation to the heat stress, which caused it to avoid the heat stress caused by rising water temperatures by growing vertically, more like a cactus in the desert might grow upward to counteract the hot ground at night and process stout and sturdy vertical growth via photosynthesis activated during the daytime. Your comment about the sensitivity of coral reefs to even a small rise in water temperature may help to explain why the new coral grows in extraordinary spurts upward without taking time to be stout and sturdy like the cactus typically does. The precipitous snake-like shooting upward growth suggests almost an emotional response, one of fear followed by flight, in the old and dying coral reef, which generated a new species by altering the deoxyribonucleic acid code, which succeeded on a small scale for some of the molecular matter contained in the old coral reef. Thus, can a coral reef species regenerate some cells that are not typically differentiated, like in humans that may propagate offspring with different hair and eye colors, but, because of the heat stress, genetically adapt by generating a slightly altered, hence new species of coral reef that is coded to organize propagation of cellular growth vertically up into the air, instead of growing laterally and remaining submerged in the life-threatening hot water?
Furthermore, if this pattern that I am trying to articulate is possible, might this coral reef genetic modification example, if it is hypothetically possible, also be consistent with the idea that birds evolved from fishes that adapted to their environmental changes by metamorphosing their fins into wings, which permitted them to vacate adverse conditions in their water habitat and to survive in the form of birds empowered to take flight and inhabit the air?
Thank you for your patience, and, I hope, your comprehension.
Best regards and wishes.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
5 answers
Ha logrado alguno críopreservar exitosamente los ovocitos de alguna especie de coral? Solamente he encontrado un caso para una gorgónea (Junceella juncea) por medio de vitrificación (Tsai et al. 2015, adjunto abajo). Se que algunos investigadores (comunicaciones personales) han logrado en algunos casos descongelarlas y reactivarlas después de realizar las inmersiones o el almacenamiento en nitrógeno líquido, sin embargo, pese a que los ovocitos salen 'vivos', estos pierden su capacidad de ser fertilizados (quedan infértiles).
Agradezco de antemano su apoyo y colaboración compartiendo sus respuestas y experiencia en este asunto.
Relevant answer
They may have been frozen too quick? Slow freeze and fast thaw is best, I think :)
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
Hi everyone, I am using ENVI to analyze landsat footage of the Great Barrier Reef to analyze the change in coral health from 1990-2017. I am trying to analyze the coral bleaching trends, sea surface temperatures, and turbidity as variables. I have figured out temperature but does anyone know how to allocate software or know how I can modify my landsat files to view these variables? I also have this website https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/satellite/hdf/index.php , with available FTP (.nc) files but do not know how to convert this into something readable by ENVI. I am fairly new to ENVI so any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Relevant answer
Answer
Hi Trevor,
FTP (.nc) files (or NetCDF) can be converted into a raster file using ArcGIS if you have access to that (see https://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/netcdf/exercise-1-displaying-a-raster-layer-from-a-netcdf-file.htm#ESRI_SECTION1_EBF9F2717E9D4349B7173EE7EF23A893). Once you convert the netCDF to raster you should be able to import it into ENVI.
There are also ways to do this with QGIS (see http://www.ggiuliani.ch/download/netcdf_qgis_GG.pdf).
I hope this helps.
Best,
Dylan
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
I am trying to find the 'model' of coral reef ecosystem functioning. I have seen in the literature different models according to the various research questions. Nonetheless, I want to find an ecological functioning model where all the functional groups and its interactions are clearly explained.
If you could give some hint, I would highly appreciate it,
Ameris
Relevant answer
Answer
The attached PDF should have valuable references pertaining to numerous aspects of the model you might like to build.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
4 answers
Do you think ten years is enough to make any changes to coral erosion?
Relevant answer
Answer
Are you asking if bioeroders can erode an otherwise healthy reef in 10 years, or if coral reef erosion can occur over 10 years? There are lots of examples of reefs that have experienced disturbance that subsequently experience rapid both physical and biological erosion. The Galapagos post-ENSO disturbance and Mo’orea post COTS and typhoon are two examples that come to mind.
Whether bioeroders can directly affect the health of otherwise healthy corals I’m less clear on. There may be some other examples from the Galapagos and elsewhere of overfishing echinoid predators that are pertinent?
Dan
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
3 answers
I am currently conducting a coral conservation project where we 1) rescue corals (loose and broken fragments/branches) 2) transplant on cement+glass plates in nursery site 3) send them back to natural site to recover damaged/patchy reefs.
My question is, are there any specific distances when placing corals from each other?
The 2 pictures below are some of the corals that we placed at the damaged and patchy reef site.
I would normally refer to reference sites to estimate suitable density of transplant and the distance from each other. But i'm not sure if it can be applicable at restoration sites to reduce competition/stresses among growing corals.
Appreciate the recommendations and comments
Relevant answer
Answer
Hi, To a large degree the distance between the coral transplants will depend on the life history strategies of the species you select for your conservation project. The following paper should give you some ideas how to proceed:
Here is another paper that recommends that distance between coral transplants of branching species should be greater than 0.5 m, and greater than 0.2 m for massive species.
There are many manuals out there on coral transplant techniques, but the following one from Seychelles is one of the best. See page 44 for recommended densities of coral transplants.
file:///C:/Literature/Coral%20Reefs/Recovery/2018-Toolkit-CoralReefRestoration.pdf
I hope this helps a bit.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
2 answers
As the aragonite becomes undersaturated in deep water, will exposed coral skeleton completely dissolve, or is it only a part of the structure (the aragonitic elements) that will dissolve? I am trying to work out how ocean acidification may affect structural complexity on deep water coral reefs, and coral rubble habitats
Relevant answer
Answer
Get in touch with me and I can suggest some publications and direct researcher contacts to get numerical answers.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
4 answers
we are looking at the effect of salinity and temperature increase on bioerosion rates in coral reefs in the northern Persian Gulf of the Persian Gulf for 18 month. To that end, we are planing to use natural ( dead massive coral parts) and artificial blocks made of carbonate calcium. we want artificial blocks be identical to natural blocks in term of texture and porosity.
can we use iceland spar crystals as artificial blocks that bioeroded by macroborers?
Relevant answer
Answer
Rapid bioerosion in a tropical upwelling coral reef - Plos
https://journals.plos.org › plosone › article › journal.pone.0202887
by A Wizeman -- can be consulted
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
4 answers
I've read that benthic calcifiers like coral reefs and shellfish are producing most of the carbonate in coastal areas in the ocean. About 2.5 Gt of carbonate a year. Reef calcifiers are the most important which produce about 7,250 t CaCO3 km/yr. Further that corals dominate carbonate production with 73%.
On the other hand we have all the pelagic calcifiers like many zooplankton species using carbonate for building their shells.
Therefore, i would like to know if this is right and if this whole process plays an important role for the second tropic level in the ocean by supplying the oceans with carbonates? If it plays a role reefs should be especially important in times of an acidifying ocean, which is reducing the amount of free carbonates or am i wrong here?
I ask this, because we have already a huge impact on zooplankton in the oceans and i would like to know if dying reefs will also impact the second tropic levels negatively through this diminishing meachanism.
Thanks for any answer
Sheers
Jan
Relevant answer
Answer
Hi Jan,
Global calcium carbonate production in the world’s oceans has been estimated to be about 5 Gt/year. You are correct, about half of the carbonate accumulates on tropical shelves, banks and coral reefs. Total carbonate production of benthic and planktonic foraminifera amounts to about 1.4 Gt/yr, which is about 25% of the present‐day carbonate production of the oceans.
When it comes to coral reefs it has often been assumed that they are sinks for atmospheric CO2. However, the precipitated of calcium carbonate actually generates CO2. I have attached a paper by Ware et al (1991) that goes into more detail on the question whether coral reefs are sources or sinks of atmospheric CO2.
Another good paper for you to read is by Eyre et al (2014) that looks at coral reef calcium carbonate dissolution in an acidifying ocean. The paper by Iglesias-Rodrigues et al (2002) will give you a nice review of the progress made in our understanding of ocean’s calcium carbonate budget. Finally the paper by Langer (2008) will give inform you about the contribution of pelagic calcifiers like foraminifera in the global ocean carbon production.
I hope that some of these papers will lead you to additional literature that will shed more light on this complex issue.
Cheers, Tomas
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
7 answers
Dear All
I am beginning a project to understand the impact on climate change on fish diversity and implications for coral reefs at the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. I am targeting top predators of commercial importance (groupers) and I would like to work on groupers traits. Can any one suggest any comprehensive database?
Best
Relevant answer
Answer
An alternative source of information is "http://www.fishtraits.info/".
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
8 answers
Hi,
I had originally thought that distinguishing between fixed and random factors was relatively self explanatory, however, having read an article on this very subject, I am now not so certain.
The author's decision tree (see below), particularly the part stating that any factor with 2-4 levels 'must' be fixed left me especially confused.
"A) Can I talk you out of including it? (solved – drop it from the model)
A) No I can’t talk you out of it? too bad. Go to B
B) Is it a continuous variable or has only a few levels (e.g. 2-4) → has to be fixed
B) OK, a choice is possible – go to C.
C) Do you want estimates of s1, s2,…,sn (perhaps because you have lots of data and so lots degrees of freedom to burn and are curious how sites differ)? →Fixed
C) Do you want estimates of σ2, perhaps because it saves you degrees of freedom you really need or perhaps because the variance is more interesting (or useful for variance partitioning) than a bunch of estimates of site effects nobody will ever look at? go to D
D) can you either keep the design really simple or are willing to give up p-values→Random
D) You’re kind of out of luck. Change one of your answers and try again"
The article also links to a discussion regarding the recommended number of groups for a factor to be random, which conforms with much of what he has said in his article.
I'm no statistician, so much of this goes straight over my head.
For my particular research question, I'm looking at differences in the composition and abundance of fishes associated with three different coral colony states (live, dead, overgrown by a particular 'coral-killing' sponge species).
I've collected my data from 6 sites, split between two islands. I've also recorded the particular growth form of each coral colony.
To summarise, my factors are as follows:
Colony state (live, dead, overgrown)
Growth form (encrusting, submassive, columnar)
Site (6; nested in Island)
Island (2)
I had originally performed Permanova (in Primer7) using colony state and growth form as fixed factors, with site and island as random. However, as per the advice of the aforementioned articles, I tried again with all four factors as fixed, which produced very different results from my original design. I've tried other combinations of fixed/random, which again, produce very different results.
Basically I'm just looking for any advice as to the correct way to proceed with this, and if anyone could provide a more definitive answer with how to determine the appropriate effect for one's factors.
Thanks in advance.
Relevant answer
Answer
Hi Joseph, I'm not sure if this is quite what is meant by Brian McGill. I will review the article again but I felt that his comments were concerned with
  1. parametric analysis of data and the associated assumptions made about that data; and
  2. making the distinction between blocking factors which could confound the results.
So from your description of your data and the factors:
  1. At a superficial level, the categorical values you have mentioned cannot be considered as blocking factors as they are not continuous values.
  2. The use of non-parametric analysis also removes the imposition of assumptions of distribution.
  3. The issue with categorical values is they sometimes represent an aggregation of information which may confound the results of analyses (and this is where the article is focused).
  4. The selection of sites in any experimental design is assumed to be random and therefore they should be considered as random factors in the analysis.
  5. The State and Growth factors are interesting. If I understand correctly, they are to be considered as potential determinants in fish diversity and abundance. If so, they should be regarded as fixed factors. If they are regarded as random factors, the relationship between fish diversity and abundance and those factors becomes substantially more complicated.
  6. You probably know this better than anyone, but results of statistical analyses tend to pose more questions than answers. So the iterative process will required you to look at the results and re-analyse.
It really does come down to your understanding of the ecosystems in which you sampled, and the variable you have collected. Investigating the independence of the factor you have collected prior to any construction of models or multivariate analyses is important. If they are independent, the assumption is that they are not confounding (or "blocking") factors and relationships between them can be compared as causal (or not, as the case may be).
From my point of view, I do not think you have done anything untoward in relation to considering all factors as random in the original PERMANOVA analysis. You could play with the Growth and State factors. However, I would suggest that you consider Bayesian analyses to determine the "degree of belief in an event" because (taken straight from Wikipedia but I've never seen expressed more clearly).
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
5 answers
I am working on a concept related to the formation of coral reefs and I need to demonstrate the concept in the form of a visual model that changes over time. I am fairly new to this area of computer generated modeling and coding, but I'm ready to learn if you can help me find a suitable and easy to use software for this purpose. Your help will be much appreciated.
Relevant answer
Answer
There is always R. It is for free and there is a very large and expanding R-users community, as well as endless manuals and resources online. There are several manuals on analysis of time series and spatial analysis with R. The learning curve is steep but I'd check it out if I was you.
Good luck!
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
8 answers
We know that some modern and also ancient coral reefs and carbonate mounds may be intimately associated with the sub-surface hydrology. To the west of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), there is located a massive groundwater basin trapped in The Great Artesian Basin (GAB). Even though there is a mountain chain between these two entities, there may be a possiblity that some of the artesian water may be leaking out on the seafloor immediately below or adjacent to parts of the GBR.
For a discussion of similar aspects, please see: Hovland (1990) and Hovland (2008) provided attached.
Relevant answer
Answer
Karst as well as fractured substrates can sometimes differ from surface hydrology boundaries, and discharge under pressure as mentioned. While in Missouri, I was in contact with Tom Alley who did fluorescent dye studies in karst terrain. He found instances where dye was added to underground spring network, and portions showed up in an adjacent stream system outside of the conventional surface hydrology boundary. Karst water quality springs often have a signature related to flow. My researchgate paper on Missouri spring water quality in karst geology may be of some interest. I have commented to similar questions of other researchers related to the possibility of Karst springs with marine or estuarine connections. We also had a few artesian springs that discharged to upland marine terraces on the Francis Marion National Forest in coastal SC, USA (this area in geologic time was several hundred feet under water). I do not know specifics of your area of interest, so consultation with geologist or hydrogeologist might help evaluate the potential for or help develop plan to assess connectivity, or help determine if there are other potential sources.
  • asked a question related to Coral Reefs
Question
2 answers
I am Prof. N. Rajeshwara Rao from the Department of Applied Geology, University of Madras. I have been working on Foraminifera from diverse ecosystems such as the littoral zone, inner shelf, continental slope, deep-sea, mangroves, coral reefs, backwaters and estuaries for the last 30 years. Currently, my team is working on forams from a seamount in the Arabian Sea (water depth of ~520 m). I'm interested in working on forams from the core you have documented. Please let me know if you are willing to have a collaboration with me.
Best regards.
RAO
Relevant answer
Answer
Dear RAO,
All information on cores from this - and similar - expeditions can be found on the web (www.pangaea.de - search GeoB...". Here you can also see what kind of investigations already exist. In general, all cores recoverd by Bremen scientist during cruises are available for additional cooperations. They are stored in our repository at 4C. For specific interests, you have to fill out and send a specific request formular, which can be downloaded from the MARUM page.
Cheers,
Matthias