Predatory domino effect can save coral reefs


	Predatory domino effect can save coral reefs
JohnWaterman
7-22-2008 7:45 PM
300 views
Add a Comment
Login to Comment. Not a member yet? Sign up
View the Top Clips from July 22, 2008
Embed This Clip In Your Site...
<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/286f1df3-5889-4fd6-9705-dd971b7d46b8/A948BF93-661E-4F80-B496-3311226D54E0/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">A complete ban on fishing can save coral reef communities in more ways than one</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">coral trout</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">have protected the corals from a predatory starfish</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">The <A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crown-of-thorns_starfish">crown-of-thorns starfish</A> (Acanthaster planci) is a voracious hunter of corals and a massive problem for reef conservationists</blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CrownofThornsStarfish_Fiji_2005-10-12.jpg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CrownofThornsStarfish_Fiji_2005-10-12.jpg" style="font-size: 11px;">en.wikipedia.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CrownofThornsStarfish_Fiji_2005-10-12.jpg"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/en.wikipedia.org/img/0E891A3D-64DA-44FE-8631-D0372DBE5D99" alt="Image:CrownofThornsStarfish Fiji 2005-10-12.jpg" /></div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crown_of_Thorns-jonhanson.jpg" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crown_of_Thorns-jonhanson.jpg" style="font-size: 11px;">en.wikipedia.org</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Crown_of_Thorns-jonhanson.jpg"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/en.wikipedia.org/img/4C9CEACD-BF4E-408B-8A89-E54CDD926E3B" alt="Image:Crown of Thorns-jonhanson.jpg" /></div></blockquote><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/clip-icon.gif" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php" href="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php" style="font-size: 11px;">scienceblogs.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php"> it digests the underlying coral by extruding its stomach out through its underside</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">From time to time, their numbers swell into plagues of thousands that leave behind the dead, white skeletons of corals in their wake</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php"> found that these outbreaks are much less frequent in the "no-take marine reserves", where fishing is absolutely forbidden</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">but the coral trout, whose populations have boomed in the no-take reserves, specialise in hunting fish not starfish</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">big fish like coral trout controls the numbers of smaller fish like wrasse. That puts less pressure on the populations of small invertebrates that in turn, feed on baby starfish</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php">sounds convoluted, but other studies in recent years have provided examples of similar domino effects</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2008/07/fishing_bans_protect_coral_reefs_from_devastating_predatory.php"><div align="center"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/scienceblogs.com/img/78E4C55F-BD7D-4AC0-8B38-9762B362A22B" alt="800px-Crown_of_torns.jpg" /></div></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/A948BF93-661E-4F80-B496-3311226D54E0/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>
Clipmarks: Home; New Clips; Top Clips; Dashboard
Popular Topics: News; Life; Science; Technology; Entertainment
Get Started: Sign Up; Install Clipping Tool; How Clipping Works; Clip-to-Blog™; ClipSearch
Tools and Resources: FAQ; ClipWeek; Top Clippers; Top Tags; Site Map
About Clipmarks: About Us; Contact; Blog; Copyright; Privacy; EULA
Search Options

Related Clips

More clips from JohnWaterman

Today's Top Clips
