Participation "important for healthy marine parks"

From an article on Coral Reef Studies:

The involvement of locals is a key ingredient in the success of marine parks which protect coral reefs and fish stocks.

The largest-scale study to date of how coastal communities influence successful outcomes in marine reserves has found that human population pressure was a critical factor in whether or not a reserve succeeded in protecting marine resources – but so too was local involvement in research and management.

The team looked at how successful coral reef marine reserves were at conserving fish stocks. They studied 56 marine reserves from 19 different countries throughout Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Caribbean.

“About ¾ of the marine reserves we studied showed a positive difference in the amount of fish inside compared to outside – so most reserves we studied were working” says Dr Josh Cinner of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and James Cook University

“However, the differences weren’t always large. The most successful reserves showed really big differences of 14 times the amount of fish inside compared to outside, but that wasn’t always the case.

“What we were most interested in, was understanding what made some reserves more successful than others. One of the best predictors of how 'successful' a marine reserve was, is actually the size of the human communities around the reserve – but interestingly, this varied in different regions.

“In the Indian Ocean, for example, where reserves are government-controlled and moderate in size (around six square kilometres on average), having lots of people nearby had a positive effect. But this could be because marine resources outside the reserve are heavily degraded, accentuating the healthier state of those inside the reserve.

“In the Caribbean, we found the opposite. Large human populations near reserves led to poor performance of the reserve – which may be due to low compliance or poor enforcement in marine parks near population centers,” Dr Cinner said.

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Coral loss slowed, reversed by marine protected areas

From a news release issued by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

A new worldwide study shows marine protected areas (MPAs), underwater parks where fishing and other potentially harmful activities are regulated, provide an added bonus – helping coral reef ecosystems ward off and recover from threats to their health.

Researchers also found the protective effects of MPAs generally strengthen over time.

The findings, published in the Feb. 17, 2010, issue of the journal PLoS One, are the first comprehensive global study to gauge the impact of marine protected areas on the health of corals.

Such havens have proved successful in protecting fish, leading to optimism among researchers that they may also indirectly help corals by restoring reef-based food webs. Previous studies also suggested such conservation zones can directly protect reefs from problems such as overfishing, anchor damage and sediment and nutrient runoff pollution from adjacent land.

Marine scientists Elizabeth Selig, Ph.D., and John Bruno, Ph.D., from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, analyzed a global database of 8,534 live coral cover surveys conducted between 1969 and 2006.

They compared changes in coral cover in 310 marine protected areas to those in nearby unprotected areas, looking at 4,456 reefs in 83 countries. Coral cover, or the percentage of the ocean floor covered by living coral tissue, is a key measure of the health of coral ecosystems.

“We found that, on average, coral cover in protected areas remained constant, but declined on unprotected reefs,” said Selig, the study’s lead author, who completed the work for her doctoral dissertation at UNC. She is now a researcher with Conservation International.

Bruno, associate professor of marine sciences in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences, said the results also suggest the protective benefits of such areas increase with time. Initially, coral cover continued to decrease after protections were put in place. However, several years later, rates of decline slowed and then stopped.

For example, in the Caribbean, coral cover declined for about 14 years after protection began – possibly due to the time it took for fisheries to rebound – but then stopped falling and began to increase. In the Indo-Pacific, cover kept declining for the first five years after protections were established, then began to improve, eventually reaching growth rates of two percent yearly after two decades.

“Given the time it takes to maximize these benefits, it makes sense to establish more marine protected areas. Authorities also need to strengthen efforts to enforce the rules in existing areas,” Bruno said.

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Marine census grows near completion

From an Associated Press article by Randolph Schmid in the Seattle Times:

From pole to pole, surface to frigid depths, researchers have discovered thousands of new ocean creatures in a decade-long effort now nearing completion, and there may still be several times more strange creatures to be found, leaders of the Census of Marine Life reported Thursday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The effort has "given us a much clearer window into marine life," said Shirley Pomponi, executive director of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University in Fort Pierce.

The research, which has involved thousands of scientists from around the world, got under way in 2000 and the final report is scheduled to be released in London on Oct. 4.

Last fall the census reported having added 5,600 new ocean species to those already known. Ron O'Dor, a professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, said there may be another 100,000 or more to be found. "Add microbes and it could be millions," he said.

One benefit of learning more about ocean life is the chance of finding new medical treatments, Pomponi said.

For example, a chemical discovered in deep water sponges is now a component of the cream used to treat herpes infections, Pomponi said. Other research is under way on pain killers and cancer treatments based on ocean life.

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How tiny turtle hatchlings make their first steps

From a story on the BBC:

Scientists have uncovered how hatchling loggerhead turtles make their first steps across sand as they travel from their nests towards the sea.

This journey is treacherous: with every step, the tiny creatures face attack, and the unstable surface is notoriously difficult to walk on - especially for an animal with limbs that are adapted for a life at sea.

Now, after studying slow-motion footage, a team of researchers was surprised to find that the turtles do not "swim" through the sand.

Instead, with each step, a solidified block of sand forms behind their paddle-like flippers, allowing them to generate enough force to push forward towards the sea.

The research is published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, and was carried out by Nicole Mazouchova, Nick Gravish, Andrei Savu and Daniel Goldman from the Georgia Institute of Technology, US.

The story also includes video.

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Take action during International Year of Biodiversity

2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity (IYB), a unique opportunity to increase understanding of the vital role that biodiversity plays in sustaining life on Earth. Declared by the United Nations, IYB now has a multitude of international partners, will host many celebrations and events and provides key information about the importance of biodiversity.

The key message of the IYB is: Humans are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on. Human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate. These losses are irreversible, impoverish us all and damage the life support systems we rely on everyday. But we can prevent them. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. Let’s reflect on our achievements to safeguard biodiversity and focus on the urgency of our challenge for the future. Now is the time to act.

WILD is proud to be a partner of IYB and will continue to post news about biodiversity on the blog and in other publications throughout the year, especially the “Species of the Day,” which features a different IUCN red list species each day!

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Six-word turtle stories

Leading up to the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Goa, India, subscribers to NOAA's CTURTLE listserve have been writing six-word turtle stories:

I think I'm a turtle geek

Turtle conservation is a social endeavor

Turtle tumors take a toll too

Turtles, Great Ambassadors of Oceans’ Worldwide

Alas no more what Columbus saw

What'd Darwin say about black turtles?

Lean, mean post nesting migration machine

When I Saw Her Crawling There

Little Sea Turtle Workshop evolved: ISTS

Beach development destroys beaches....Goodbye Tortugas

Turtles need bycatch reduction, population recovery

Sea turtles: we know so little

Late nights, mosquitoes; best job ever

Eggs, hatchlings, decades, adult. repeat

Responding to conservation, requires further action

In saving turtles, we save ourselves

Creativity and artistry combine for conservation

What's next, sea turtle haiku competition?

All conservationists love sea turtles worldwide

New lives tumbling to water's edge

Take the time to turtle travel

Thirty symposia and still we study

Ancient, beautiful, serene; are turtles marine

Detritus, seagrass, macroalgae, green turtles, sharks

Freaks and geeks and turtle fanatics

Bags are for humans, not turtles

Que vivan las tortugas marinas! Jodido!!!

Caring for oceans cares for turtles

Progressing beyond turtle research and education

Ancient mariners magically navigating Earth’s oceans

Turtles worldwide, not yet world wearied

And all the turtles were free

Six word sea turtle stories rock

Turtles started when we were projects

They saw dinosaurs come and go

Tracking their future survival through satellite

Sea turtles. Global messengers. Get it!

Tortuguero's success feeds many Caribbean fisherfolk

Global marine turtles outlasting the dinosaurs

Ridleys galore, poaching and drowning avoid

Tortugueros no necesitan huevos de tortuga

The Tippling Turtler hatches many collaborations

Endearing dinosaurs teach lessons in persistence

Reproduce, bycatch, migrate, bycatch, forage, bycatch

Gang interested on sea turtle conservation

Worldwide gang conserving sea turtle species

Owned by none, belong to all

Critically Endangered and highly conservation worthy

Many minds working together solve problems

I do not eat turtle eggs

Turtles or people? People and turtles

Tortugas o Gente? Gente y Tortugas

The sea turtles are my heritage

Las tortugas marinas son mi legado

So many turtles, so litle time

Sea turtles thriving in unpolluted seas

Not Endangered; but still conservation worthy

Flipper kick – a mouthful of sand

I imagine throngs of sea turtles

Mystery millenarian navigators in magnificent oceans

Turtle passion, hopefully and future conservation

Blood sugar magic turtle's madness passion

EP hawksbills gone? Ask El Salvador

Keep walking, with patience and passion

Turtles: members of, not the, ecosystem

Turtles are dead without a TED

Ocean nomads guided by magnetism: Cool

That's a great animal, let's eat

No more left? That's too bad

Pickled Pigs Lips = Tip of Iceberg

Go ahead, eat one, there's plenty

Leatherback turtles belong to the world

Pacific leatherbacks need Baulas National Park

One day, 150 million years ago

I read So Excellent a Fishe

Sea turtles all the way down

Yes, leatherbacks really are in Canada

Working together, sea turtle survival assured!

Stars shining, eggs safe, heart content

Love and Care, Sea Turtle’s Tear

Endearing dinosaurs teach lessons in persistence

An old present to the future

Sea turtles in the oceans forever

United for sea turtle survival worldwide

Mama leatherback,tropic winters, Acadian summers

Underestimate Frank at your own peril

Zander Srodes for 50th ISTS president

My best memories: Turtles and friends

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US agency to review threats to 82 coral species

From an Associated Press article by David McFadden in The Washinton Post:

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- U.S. officials said Wednesday they have begun a review to determine if dozens of coral species off Florida, Hawaii and island territories of the Caribbean and Pacific should be listed as "threatened" or "endangered."

Currently, only reef-building staghorn and elkhorn corals are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, the first corals ever to receive such protection based on dramatic declines.

In the federal register Wednesday, the National Marine Fisheries Service said an Oct. 20 petition filed by a U.S. conservation group "presents substantial scientific or commercial information" indicating protection may be warranted for 82 additional species.

Among the list of 82 to be considered for protection is the mountainous star coral, once considered the dominant reef-building coral in the Atlantic. The majority of coral species included in the review belong to either the wider Caribbean or Indo-Pacific regions.

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