http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/
110511134221.htm

ScienceDaily (May 11, 2011) —Marine species facing threats from the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico far exceed those under legal protection in the United States, a new paper in the journal BioScience finds. University of New Hampshire professor Fred Short and others found 39 additional marine species beyond the 14 protected by federal law that are at an elevated risk of extinction. These species, which range from whale sharks to seagrass, should receive priority for protection and restoration efforts, the authors advocate.

“A lot of species in the Gulf of Mexico are going to be damaged by this oil spill but aren’t on the U.S. radar screen, although they’re threatened globally,” says Short, who is a research professor of natural resources and the environment at UNH. Along with lead author Claudio Campagna of the Wildlife Conservation Society and others, Short was a major contributor to the paper, “Gulf of Mexico Oil Blowout Increases Risks to Globally Threatened Species,” which appears in the Roundtable section of the May 2011 issue of BioScience.

“It is imperative to understand the global consequences of environmental disasters, as a local perspective under emphasizes the incidence on widely distributed species,” says the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Campagna.”The IUCN Red List data has an unmatched, so far neglected potential to inform policy decisions at a regional level.”

The researchers consulted the extensive species database of the International Union for Conservationof Nature’s (IUCN) Red List, which assesses species’ global survival status via a rigorous scientific process. They found 53 species with a distribution that overlaps the area of the oil spill that are categorized as critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable by the IUCN Red List. Of these, only 14 receive legal protection in the United States under the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, or the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

“There are species that are surely threatened that could be driven to extinction because of this oil spill,” says Short.

Among the Red List species that are not protected by U.S. law are the commercially valuable Atlantic bluefin tuna (western stock), 16 species of sharks, and eight corals. Many species are particularly vulnerable because they return to the Gulf of Mexico to spawn, and the oil spill coincided with peak spawning periods. The researchers also write that the whale shark, the largest fish in the world, is uniquely at risk from oil and oil dispersants because of its filter-feeding behavior; its long lifespan and slow reproductive rate compound the threat to its recovery. It is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List but not protected by the Endangered Species Act.

“Threatened species not yet listed in national legislation should nevertheless be the subject of damage assessments, targeted research, and monitoring, as well as recovery efforts when needed,” the authors write. The U.S.Natural Resource Damage Assessment, which is the primary legal authority for assessing damages and providing for recovery of coastal and marine species, may not account for injury to these globally threatened species.

Further, the authors advocate that environmental impact assessments conducted for future offshore oil and gas development should incorporate available data on globally threatened species, including species on the IUCN Red List.

“Next time this happens — and we know there will be a next time — we need to take this broader list into consideration,” says Short.

The above story is reprinted(with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by University of New Hampshire.

Journal Reference:

1. Claudio Campagna, Frederick T. Short, Beth A. Polidoro, Roger McManus, Bruce B. Collette, Nicolas J. Pilcher, Yvonne Sadovy de Mitcheson, Simon N. Stuart, Kent E. Carpenter. Gulf of Mexico Oil Blowout Increases Risks to Globally Threatened Species. BioScience, 2011; 61 (5): 393 DOI: 10.1525/bio.2011.61.5.8

University of New Hampshire (2011,May 11). Deepwater Horizon spill threatens more species than legally protected, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 11, 2011,from http://www.sciencedaily.com°© /releases/2011/05/110511134221.htm

Disclaimer: Views expressedi n this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

http://www.balidiscovery.com.

(5/7/2011)

5 hectares of coral surrounding Serangan island near Sanur in Bali have been destroyed by beach reclamations work done at the location in 1996. According to Beritabali.com, an estimated 20 years is now needed to rehabilitate the reef.

Wayan Patut, who is a an environmental activist and the head of the Sari Mertasegara fishing group, said: “When the reclamation was done in 1996 the reef, which is the breeding areas for a wide variety of sea life, was badly damaged. The original island measuring 112 hectares was expanded to become 481 hectares. You can just imagine how much coral reef was consumed in the process of creating new land areas.”

Patut told the press 5 hectares of coral reef was destroyed causing losses to local fishermen who live on Serangan island. “There’s no more fish that can be caught there due to the demolition of the reef by reclamation.”

In 2003 efforts began to rehabilitate the reef surrounding Serangan island. Fishermen who once contributed to the destruction of the reef are now working to rebuild coral through activities organized by the Sari Mertasegera fishing group.

Explained Patut: “Thus far, the fishing group at Serangan island has managed to plant 1.5 hectares of new coral from a targeted area of 10 hectares. The rehabilitation process will continue until the environment of Serangan island can be restored. This will take 20 years for the coral reef to regain its former status.”

© Bali Discovery Tours. Articles may be quoted and reproduced if attributed to http://www.balidiscovery.com. All images and graphics are copyright protected.

Dear colleagues,
Following up on the IUCN report of the Bonaire Marine Park, I would like to draw your attention to a recently published article in Bulletin of Marine Science:

“Coral community decline at Bonaire, Southern Caribbean”

Website: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/umrsmas/bullmar/pre-prints/8737;jsessionid=3qmvimw0g0nli.alice

Abstract:
We assessed the status of coral reef benthic communities at Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles, in December 2008 and January 2009 through aprox 5 km of photo transects taken at depths of 5, 10, and 20 m at 14 locations around the island. Univariate and multivariate analyses detected significant variation in benthic communities among depths and locations, as well as between leeward and windward sides of the island. Mean percentage cover of scleractinian corals ranged between 0.2 percent and 43.6 percent at the study sites and tended to be lowest at 5-m depth. The survey recorded 40 scleractinian coral species from 19 genera, within 10 families. Faviidae were by far the most abundant scleractinian family at all depths (predominantly Montastraea spp.), followed by Agariciidae at 20 and 10 m, and by Astrocoeniidae at 5-m depth. Macroalgal cover exceeded scleractinian coral cover at nearly all sites, averaging 34.9 percent (all samples pooled), compared with a pooled mean coral cover of 15.4 percent. Windward reefs were characterized by prolific growth of the brown algae Sargassum spp., and leeward reefs by growth of turf algae, Dictyota spp., Trichogloeopsis pedicellata (Howe) I. A. Abbott and Doty, and Lobophora variegata (Lamouroux) Womersley ex Oliveira. Damage from recent hurricanes was evident from the presence of toppled and fragmented corals, the movement of sand, and exposure of cemented Acropora cervicornis (Lamarck, 1816) rubble on the shallow reef platform. The combination of algal dominance and low to moderate coral cover are symptomatic of partly degraded reef systems, particularly as they coincide with elevated nutrients and reduced herbivory.

Regards,
Sander

Dr Sander Scheffers

Lecturer & Senior Research Fellow Southern Cross University
Honorary Research Fellow University of Queensland
Deputy Director Southern Cross Marine Science,
Associate Researcher Caribbean Research Institute for Management of Biodiversity (CARMABI), Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles)

Southern Cross University
PO Box 157, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
Email: sander.scheffers@scu.edu.au

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