Phillip Dustan via Coral-List
\n4:59 PM May 27, 2021
\nto Steve, coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov<\/p>\n
Ecological Infrastructure is at the heart of this issue.
\nTranslating that to scientists is hard, to politicians more so, and nearly
\nimpossible to the average westerner.
\nNative people understand it intuitively.
\nReefs are sensitive because they are biological entities at the edge of
\ntheir evolutionary success.
\nBy this I mean they are superbly adapted to their environmental limits, but
\nnot to conditions they have not experienced the wrath of Natural Selection.
\nNow humans are increasing the “evolutionary goalposts” faster than
\nevolution allows for adaptation – or maybe not.
\nBut it is clear we are witnessing (monitoring) a global selection
\nexperiment with humans providing the selection pressures.
\nI see it much like the evolution of drug resistance bacteria; which
\nspecies\/ecosystems\/etc will survive humanity?
\nIf only Humanity would embrace a Lovelockian perspective and realize we
\ncan’t make it without the rest of the Biosphere as a support mechanism.<\/p>\n
I would start by teaching that life is a process, not a thing.
\nEcosystems represent the emergent properties of processes and are not
\nthings to plunder.
\nThey cannot be “restored” unless the selection pressures that “guide” these
\nprocesses are restored first, not as an afterthought.
\nYou cannot build a bridge without a foundation. The same goes for a house,
\nroad, financial system, an army, or a nation.
\nThe foundations of ecosystems are physical and biological, just like the
\nfoundations for a nation are physical and social.
\nHumans will (maybe and hopefully) accept these ideas and integrate into
\nnature.<\/p>\n
Biogeochemistry and the evolved conservative properties of natural systems
\nare what I would want people to appreciate.
\nWesterners might be able to understand this in terms of garbage picking:
\nSomeone puts their old microwave on the curb for the trashman because they
\ngot a new one for their birthday.
\nTHe next bloke that comes along sees the old one and thinks. “Oh, a
\nmicrowave! I always wanted one but…”
\nHe takes it home where it lasts for many years.
\nThe moral is that someone’s junk is another’s treasure.
\nIt happened with oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, and the list goes on and on
\nthroughout the food web driving the biological arms race.<\/p>\n
Reefs evolved in the sea where there was lots of energy and almost no
\nnutrients, so selection favored the efficient capture and retention of
\nnutrients.
\nA few hundred million years of evolution in a benign, stable, and
\npredictable place and it is no wonder that nitrogen from sewage and runoff
\nis like crack cocaine to zooxanthellae……….
\nAnd all those fish we catch for food are equivalent to airplane mechanics
\nthat keep our fancy jet planes flying.
\nIt’s no mystery why fishing them off the reef leads to an ecological
\ncrash…….
\nThe list goes on as long as we care to make it.
\nSo how do we become more aware?
\nMaybe try doing one thing each day to help the Biosphere heal.
\nMaybe vote with your dollars.
\nRemember, the ocean begins at your front door….<\/p>\n
Phil<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Phillip Dustan via Coral-List 4:59 PM May 27, 2021 to Steve, coral-list@coral.aoml.noaa.gov Ecological Infrastructure is at the heart of this issue. Translating that to scientists is hard, to politicians more so, and nearly impossible to the average westerner. Native people understand it intuitively. Reefs are sensitive because they are biological entities at the edge of … Continue reading Coral List: functional extincetion of D. cylindrus (Pillar Coral) on the Florida Reef Tract<\/span>