Pristine Reef Wanted Dead or Alive

Presented at the 2017 edition of the fellows symposium of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama.
https://bookdown.org/maurolepore/sfs

Transcript

1. Mauro Lepore & Aaron O'Dea bookdown.org/maurolepore/sfs Pristine Reef Wanted Dead or Alive
2. May be true, but unhelpful and dangerous Because it promotes giving up on a problem before seeking solutions Rachel Nuwer, 8 February 2016, BBC.
3. We need a pragmatic definition of 'pristine' Shift focus from problems to solutions Mauro Lepore and Aaron O'Dea
4. Pattern Most coral reefs in the Caribbean are degraded Decline caused by overfishing and disease (last 40 yrs; Jackson et al.,2014).
5. Exceptions Bright spots Bright spots among the world's coral reefs (Cinner et al., 2016).
6. Define 'pristine' reefs with data Test if the general pattern confirms decline If there is any exeption, reveal it What is pristine & reefs' status?
7. Define 'pristine' reefs & evaluate their condition Pragmatic approach: The Natural Range of Variation (NRV) Adapted from Symstad & Jonas (2014).
8. Sampling in Colon Is. (Bocas, Caribbean Panama) mid-Holocene: 16 comm. from 4 sites; subrecent: 22 comm. from 5 sites Age: Sweet Bocas: 6400-6700 yr, n = 4; Lennond (~2km SE): 5700-7200 yr, n = 9 (Fredston et al. 2013).
9. Definition of 'pristine' reefs Ecological variation among mid-Holocene communities (NRV) Summary (2D) of Bray-Curtis dissimilarities among 16 mid-Holocene coral communities.
10. Pattern Subrecent reefs differ from pristine Subrecent sites show similar variation but dramatically different ecological structure (adonis, p < 0.01).
11. Exception Following our pragmatic definition, Punta Caracol reef is 'pristine' Punta Caracol vs. other subrecent sites: p < 0.01; vs. mid-Holocene sites: p = 0.05.
12. Exception Without A. cervicornis, Punta Caracol is still different Punta Caracol is still different from other subrecent sites (p < 0.01). (Versus mid-Holocene sites p = 0.01.)
13. Conclusion
14. Conclusion Punta Caracol is an exception to the regional pattern of reefs' decline We show how to pragmatically evaluate human impact on coral reefs This sets the road to ID bright spots and to learn why they are possible
15. Thanks maurolepore@gmail.com - odealab.com John Pandolfi | Andrew Altieri | Short Term Fellowship program | Donors bookdown.org/maurolepore/sfs