8 ms·

The Fight to Save Coral (2017)

182 points by vezycash 8y ago

rmbryan 8y ago
How is this an accident? The technique called “microfragmenting” works by essentially cutting living corals into 1-5 smaller polyps using a specialized saw.
- scapegoat444 8y ago
  This is something the reef tank community has been using for years, in fact there are whole businesses built around the practice of fragging and selling corals... to the point that there is already equipment made for this purpose. From "frag tanks" built wide, long, and shallow to allow light to have an easier time reaching the corals, to "frag plugs" made from ceramics that allow people to glue coral frags to to slot into existing rock, egg crate, etc. I think maybe the accidental discovery was that the researcher found that this very common procedure to cultivating aquarium corals ended up also promoting the growth speed too.
  - crazydoggers 8y ago
    Well dime size is generally smaller than most hobbyists frag. Obviously fragging coral is done rather often in the reef tank hobby, but usually for the purpose of trimming growth, aquaculture, and sharing colonies. Plus, Ive been in the hobby for 8 years, and I’ve never heard of purposely placing frags from the same colony next to to each other so they fuse. I’m unaware of anyone studying the impact of fragging specifically on growth rate in this way. Edit: I’ve found some discussion of at least one reef hobbyist experimenting with the method based on this research. So yes this was somewhat novel. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-microfragging-sps-experiment.488187/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-microfragging-sps-exper...
- dang 8y ago
  Ok, we've replaced that bit with the name of the technique above. Also, if someone can find a better article about this, we can change the URL. The current article is short on information and looks lifted from other sources.
  - coderintherye 8y ago
    It's from 2017, but this article is more informative and discusses the accident that led to the discovery: https://scienceline.org/2017/03/fight-save-coral/ https://scienceline.org/2017/03/fight-save-coral/
    - scapegoat444 8y ago
      This article mentions that he accidentally discovered this in 2009... here's an article from 2006 mentioning fragging https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/3/aafeature3 https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/3/aafeature3 that also mentions that folks were doing it in the 90's I think the thing that isn't being covered in these articles is that it's the fusion of these fragments that are what is resulting in the explosive growth. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614846/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614846/ It sounds like you can fragment a larger coral, put them close together, and as they grow they'll actually fuse together, instead of competing, and becoming sexually mature much sooner. Typically speaking, and based off a very small amount of experience of my own keeping a nano coral tank years ago, coral of the same type (zoanthids of different colors in my case) would run into each other, compete for the same space, and sometimes kill or drive back the other.
    - dang 8y ago
      Ok, we've changed to that from http://www.theoutliar.com/2019/01/19/marine-scientists-accidental-discovery-can-make-corals-grow-25-40-times-faster/ http://www.theoutliar.com/2019/01/19/marine-scientists-accid.... Thanks!
- arendtio 8y ago
  The accident is explained in the video: https://youtu.be/qHKpcnn5Tws?t=202 https://youtu.be/qHKpcnn5Tws?t=202 (starting 3:23)
eloff 8y ago
Oceans are in fact largely great blue deserts. Occupying less than one percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to more than twenty-five percent of marine life. And 90% of all ocean life is found in coastal waters. To me this means that we should invest a focused effort in planting coral reefs in protected areas (and protecting additional areas for the same.) This would have the effect of creating more marine sanctuaries safe from human fishing pressure, which will seed surrounding fishery areas and become a win-win. New Zealand has done this to great effect (creating protected areas, not planting reefs.) I think however the typically human reaction is see a coral reef that's dying and try to use re-planting to bring it back to life. Unless that's coupled with re-planting higher-temperature corals, that's neither going to work or be sustainable as the Oceans continue to warm for hundreds of years to come. I would rather see more resistant corals being planted, or coral reefs being planted in colder waters. Lastly, while it is a great tragedy that the coral reefs are dying, it should be noted that the Earth has been here before and come back from it at the end of the last ice age when sea levels rapidly rose 400 feet and drowned all of Earth's reefs at the time. That doesn't make things any less tragic, or absolve us of the blame, but perhaps helps frame things by remembering that Earth is not a steady-state system but a rather a system of constant flux and adaptation. I hope that in the same way humans have been having massive negative effects on nature and the climate, we can also pool together and create some equally impressive positive effects on the natural world.
- r00fus 8y ago
  > Earth has been here before The Earth may be effectively eternal (from a human standpoint), but human species is not. More likely, humans will be around, but modern human society would likely suffer an extinction event at some point with our trajectory. I like your idea of higher-temp corals. Are you aware of efforts to repopulate corals based on varieties that are temperature resistant?
  - eloff 8y ago
    Humans are not likely to go extinct anytime soon - anything that can wipe out the most adaptable and one of the most numerous and widely distributed species - would leave the Earth uninhabitable to pretty much all higher life forms. That doesn't mean we can't trash the place or experience massive drops in population. There does appear to be hope on the higher temperature corals, but I don't know of any plan to actually plant reefs like that. Australia, which benefits economically from tourism to the great barrier reef should take a serious look at it: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2018/aug/13/ai-identifies-heat-resistant-coral-reefs-in-indonesia https://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2...
burlesona 8y ago
This website is “the out liar dot com.” Seems fishy.
erkose 8y ago
Forum had a segment, "Bay Area Scientists Work to Grow Coral, Restore Imperiled Reefs", today. https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101870644/bay-area-scientists-work-to-grow-coral-restore-imperiled-reefs https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101870644/bay-area-scientists...
somishere 8y ago
Live and work on the GBR, for a reef non-profit. Should be noted the mass bleachings were 16/17 and unprecendented in scale and frequency. We fortunately havent had any events of this magnitude since. Huge amount of work being done, but should be noted the only real solution involves tackling climate change. There are a whole bunch of interesting coral restoration projects happening on the GBR right now with some new ones (with unique methodologies) kicking off soon. We work with a bunch of them here @citizensGBR, including the 'larval restoration project' which is a collaboration between a number of universities and other conservation-focussed orgs. Interactive project-explainer: https://citizensgbr.org/p/larval-restoration-project/ https://citizensgbr.org/p/larval-restoration-project/

182 points by vezycash 8y ago

How is this an accident? The technique called “microfragmenting” works by essentially cutting living corals into 1-5 smaller polyps using a specialized saw.

scapegoat444 8y ago
This is something the reef tank community has been using for years, in fact there are whole businesses built around the practice of fragging and selling corals... to the point that there is already equipment made for this purpose. From "frag tanks" built wide, long, and shallow to allow light to have an easier time reaching the corals, to "frag plugs" made from ceramics that allow people to glue coral frags to to slot into existing rock, egg crate, etc. I think maybe the accidental discovery was that the researcher found that this very common procedure to cultivating aquarium corals ended up also promoting the growth speed too.
- crazydoggers 8y ago
  Well dime size is generally smaller than most hobbyists frag. Obviously fragging coral is done rather often in the reef tank hobby, but usually for the purpose of trimming growth, aquaculture, and sharing colonies. Plus, Ive been in the hobby for 8 years, and I’ve never heard of purposely placing frags from the same colony next to to each other so they fuse. I’m unaware of anyone studying the impact of fragging specifically on growth rate in this way. Edit: I’ve found some discussion of at least one reef hobbyist experimenting with the method based on this research. So yes this was somewhat novel. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-microfragging-sps-experiment.488187/ https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/my-microfragging-sps-exper...
dang 8y ago
Ok, we've replaced that bit with the name of the technique above. Also, if someone can find a better article about this, we can change the URL. The current article is short on information and looks lifted from other sources.
- coderintherye 8y ago
  It's from 2017, but this article is more informative and discusses the accident that led to the discovery: https://scienceline.org/2017/03/fight-save-coral/ https://scienceline.org/2017/03/fight-save-coral/
  - scapegoat444 8y ago
    This article mentions that he accidentally discovered this in 2009... here's an article from 2006 mentioning fragging https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/3/aafeature3 https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2006/3/aafeature3 that also mentions that folks were doing it in the 90's I think the thing that isn't being covered in these articles is that it's the fusion of these fragments that are what is resulting in the explosive growth. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614846/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4614846/ It sounds like you can fragment a larger coral, put them close together, and as they grow they'll actually fuse together, instead of competing, and becoming sexually mature much sooner. Typically speaking, and based off a very small amount of experience of my own keeping a nano coral tank years ago, coral of the same type (zoanthids of different colors in my case) would run into each other, compete for the same space, and sometimes kill or drive back the other.
  - dang 8y ago
    Ok, we've changed to that from http://www.theoutliar.com/2019/01/19/marine-scientists-accidental-discovery-can-make-corals-grow-25-40-times-faster/ http://www.theoutliar.com/2019/01/19/marine-scientists-accid.... Thanks!
arendtio 8y ago
The accident is explained in the video: https://youtu.be/qHKpcnn5Tws?t=202 https://youtu.be/qHKpcnn5Tws?t=202 (starting 3:23)

eloff 8y ago

Oceans are in fact largely great blue deserts. Occupying less than one percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs are home to more than twenty-five percent of marine life. And 90% of all ocean life is found in coastal waters. To me this means that we should invest a focused effort in planting coral reefs in protected areas (and protecting additional areas for the same.) This would have the effect of creating more marine sanctuaries safe from human fishing pressure, which will seed surrounding fishery areas and become a win-win. New Zealand has done this to great effect (creating protected areas, not planting reefs.) I think however the typically human reaction is see a coral reef that's dying and try to use re-planting to bring it back to life. Unless that's coupled with re-planting higher-temperature corals, that's neither going to work or be sustainable as the Oceans continue to warm for hundreds of years to come. I would rather see more resistant corals being planted, or coral reefs being planted in colder waters. Lastly, while it is a great tragedy that the coral reefs are dying, it should be noted that the Earth has been here before and come back from it at the end of the last ice age when sea levels rapidly rose 400 feet and drowned all of Earth's reefs at the time. That doesn't make things any less tragic, or absolve us of the blame, but perhaps helps frame things by remembering that Earth is not a steady-state system but a rather a system of constant flux and adaptation. I hope that in the same way humans have been having massive negative effects on nature and the climate, we can also pool together and create some equally impressive positive effects on the natural world.

r00fus 8y ago
> Earth has been here before The Earth may be effectively eternal (from a human standpoint), but human species is not. More likely, humans will be around, but modern human society would likely suffer an extinction event at some point with our trajectory. I like your idea of higher-temp corals. Are you aware of efforts to repopulate corals based on varieties that are temperature resistant?
- eloff 8y ago
  Humans are not likely to go extinct anytime soon - anything that can wipe out the most adaptable and one of the most numerous and widely distributed species - would leave the Earth uninhabitable to pretty much all higher life forms. That doesn't mean we can't trash the place or experience massive drops in population. There does appear to be hope on the higher temperature corals, but I don't know of any plan to actually plant reefs like that. Australia, which benefits economically from tourism to the great barrier reef should take a serious look at it: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2018/aug/13/ai-identifies-heat-resistant-coral-reefs-in-indonesia https://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2...

burlesona 8y ago

This website is “the out liar dot com.” Seems fishy.

erkose 8y ago

Forum had a segment, "Bay Area Scientists Work to Grow Coral, Restore Imperiled Reefs", today. https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101870644/bay-area-scientists-work-to-grow-coral-restore-imperiled-reefs https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101870644/bay-area-scientists...

somishere 8y ago

Live and work on the GBR, for a reef non-profit. Should be noted the mass bleachings were 16/17 and unprecendented in scale and frequency. We fortunately havent had any events of this magnitude since. Huge amount of work being done, but should be noted the only real solution involves tackling climate change. There are a whole bunch of interesting coral restoration projects happening on the GBR right now with some new ones (with unique methodologies) kicking off soon. We work with a bunch of them here @citizensGBR, including the 'larval restoration project' which is a collaboration between a number of universities and other conservation-focussed orgs. Interactive project-explainer: https://citizensgbr.org/p/larval-restoration-project/ https://citizensgbr.org/p/larval-restoration-project/