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Diversity in adversity: reconciling the opposing forces in coral reef…

- - - - one-third of the corals have been lost in the past decade
      - there are only 19 reefs in the Category A (Excellent coral cover of >44%), while there were 34 reefs with at least 75% in the 1981 national assessment
      - the highest diversity is the Sulu Sea and lowest in the Eastern Seaboard -- more historical than human
      - 60% of our coral reefs have less than 22% coral cover, which is less than the average of the Philippine benchmark (Tubbataha) but about the same as the average in the Indo-Pacific
    - - anthropogenic (chronic)
        
        logging and mining that cause siltation
        
        construction (road, building, resort, residential)
        
        tourism
        
        garbage
        
        dredging
        
        illegal fishing practices
        
        aquarium-trade (poaching)
      - environmental (acute)
        
        typhoons/ storms
        
        earthquakes
      - environmental and human-induced
        
        climate change
        
        ocean-acidification
  - - - The diversity (Center of Marine Diversity in the Coral Triangle)
        
        sea turtles (Weeks et al., 2014)
        
        hard corals (Veron et al., 2009; Turak & DeVantier, 2010; Huang et al., 2015)
        
        marine shorefish (Carpenter & Springer, 2008)
        
        presence of rare species (Licuanan & Alino, 2008)
      - clear waters
    - - protection seems to be focused on coral reefs with high cover and high diversity (not just corals); hence those aesthetically pleasing
      - Protection does not seem to capture the range of the species of interest (i.e. single reefs are protected when they are aiming to protect species that are migratory -- dugong, sea turtles, and even corals and their larva)
      - other reefs (that are not as aesthetically pleasing), that may be of equal or greater importance are neglected
      - Tourism drives the aesthetic bias for protection because communities bank on it as alternative livelihood, which by itself also presents as a stressor on the reef
      - Protection is focused only on species of interest and not on the potentiality (which requires history) of the ecosystems
    - - Tubbataha (protected because of the campaign of tourist scuba divers)
      - Negros Oriental (Apo Island) selected based on "high quality corals"
      - Mabini, Tingloy, Batangas (also a tourist attraction as many scuba divers frequent the area)
      - El Nido and Calauit (managed because of the rare/ endangered mammals and also for tourism)
      - Great Barrier Reef
- - - - 1) All phenomena are impermanent
      - 2) All phenomena do not have a substantial existence
      - 3) Nirvana is tranquility
      - *dependent origination
    - - binary opposites in conservation
        
        adversity vs. diversity
        
        conservation of species vs. human activities
        
        poor vs. excellent reefs
        
        many vs. few
        
        active reef restoration vs. passive restoration
      - Yin-Yang dynamics
    - - Emptiness and something
      - Ecocentric living
      - Principles applicable to coral reefs
        
        texture: coral reefs are variegated much like the variety of organisms they contain. As such, their variety completes what other reefs lack
        
        defies the boundaries of benchmarks and categories: coral reefs, whether poor or excellent, has the potentiality to cradle a diversity of organisms
        
        colors: coral reefs, variegated as they are, contain a spectra of colors from the most subdued to the brightest invertebrates
        
        simple: coral reefs are naturally glamorous, as such, there is no need for human intervention to add anything more to what is already there
        
        space: corals occupy space to build the reefs that provide all these ecosystem services to the world -- they are part of the largest carbon sink in the world
      - Yin-Yang dynamics: dissolving in the background. Being part of the background
  - - - Two decades of change in the Calamian
        
        Range contractions of species
        
        lone species and local extinctions
        
        colonization of new coral reefs: species found where they were not reported from before
    - - Reefs in excellent condition have high diversity: Rich and diverse reefs are not necessarily in excellent condition. The benchmark of coral reefs (Tubbataha) has high coral cover but is spatially homogenous resulting to low generic diversity. Poor reef in Calamianes, which does not even have the elements of a true reef supports more species than Tubbataha has
      - High conservation values translate to highly diverse reefs: Reefs with the highest conservation values have evolutionarily distinct species, which outweighs the high diversity of other reefs in the area
      - reef categories of poor, fair, good, and excellent are illusory categories and do not go beyond expressing the current status of the reefs (also yin and yang as the reefs are all dynamic parts of a whole): Species of corals that colonize new reefs always involved the reefs regardless of health category, which may mean that the reefs provide refuge or stepping stones for the larvae from the pressures experienced in the poor reefs
    - - Conservation vs. human activities
        
        Map:Half the reefs in Category A and B (Excellent and Good); the other half is in Category C and D (Fair and Poor condition)
        
        Map: of the stressors and where the most intense pressures are (mostly human-induced in Coron)
      - Many versus few
        
        Less protected areas to accommodate human activities
      - Adversity vs. diversity
        
        more human activities are favored hence allowing adversity to prevail in expense of the diversity in the area
- - - - 1) Performance of duties of the managers to ensure proper policy implementation and that regulations are in place
      - 2) Letting go of the excessive human-related pressures on the reefs (Nirvana is tranquility) means providing alternative livelihoods that actually work to the community so that they do not go back to the reefs
      - 3) Doing less is doing more: Passive protection of the reefs to let them recover (Raymundo et al., papers on reef recovery of reefs that are left alone)
    - - Adversity goes against diversity (also invokes the 3rd Dharma seal)
        
        Adversity in the form of disturbances has been demonstrated to be beneficial at times when kept at an intermediate level – this means that adversity may be good at times because it gives the reef a chance to change its coral community, which may give space for new species to proliferate (Intermediate disturbance and lottery) (Licuanan et al., 2008 Proceedings of the International Coral Reef Symposium)
        
        Human activities on reefs are OK as long as they are regulated so as not to exceed the frequency towards the chronic-end of the spectrum
      - Conservation of species versus human activities
        
        Conservation actions are perceived to restrict human activities in favor of the preservation of habitats and endangered species. Conservation actions ARE human actions as well and are suggested to be fused to everyday human activities in order to achieve a more ecocentric way of living – reduction of carbon footprint.
        
        Conservation is not so much about holding-on to the species that are at the brink of extinction, but more of letting go of the excessive human activities on reefs. By doing so, ironically allows us to hold-on to these species longer than the rate at which we are losing them right now.
      - Poor reefs versus excellent reefs (invokes the concept of impermanence and succession of coral communities)
        
        Coral reef health categories are interconnected and part of the spectrum rather than a lesser version of the other as demonstrated by the coral reefs in the Calamianes
        
        Poor reefs are parts of the whole and dissolve into the background. Being in the company of excellent and good reefs means they have a high potential to recover as reefs are interconnected
      - Many versus few
        
        Concentrating on the reefs with the highest diversity means protecting less – there are only 19 reefs in the Philippines that meet the criteria of HCC Category A (excellent) and only 34 reefs in the HCC Category B (good) – total of 53 reefs and this is not even half of the representative reefs sampled during the national assessment and so focus on these reefs may not be an effective conservation strategy. In other words, will we neglect the rest of the reefs of the country in favor of 53 reefs? In the case of the Calamianes, that will mean protecting only
      - Active reef restoration versus passive protection
        
        Coral reefs can recover on their own with minimal human intervention – doing less is more. This gives poor coral reefs the opportunity to dissolve into the background. In a way, they are making use of what is already there without needing additional help from humans
        
        Papers of Raymundo et al., (reef recovery and resilience of protected coral reefs to coral disease)
    - - The iconic reefs set the standard of what a poor coral reefs and those in the lower categories can achieve
        
        In terms of management efforts—they are undoubtedly successful because: (dependent origination)
        
        There is proper implementation of the management policies
        
        There is cooperation from the community
        
        In terms of habitat condition
        
        Increased coral cover
        
        Increased coral diversity and its inhabitants
        
        Increased fish biomass
        
        Possible resilience from threats
      - As each reef is part of the whole, we may focus on protecting a network of coral reefs that are diverse in terms of coral reef health and evolutionary history. That way, reefs that are in poor condition may be given a chance to recover.