Applying forest restoration principles to coral reef rehabilitation

• 1. Forest restoration through silviculture (gardening) programs revives productivity, biodiversity, and stability. As in silviculture approaches, the coral ‘gardening’ strategy is based on a two‐step protocol.
• 2. The first step deals with the establishment of in situ and/or ex situ coral nurseries in which corals are farmed (originating from two types of source material: asexual [ramets, nubbins], and sexual [planula larvae, spat] recruits).
• 3. The second is the reef rehabilitation step, where maricultured colonies are transplanted into degraded sites.
• 4. We compare here the rationale of forest restoration to coral reef ecosystem restoration by evaluating major key criteria. As in silviculture programs, a sustainable mariculture operation that focuses on the prime structural component of the reef (‘gardening’ with corals) may promote the persistence of threatened coral populations, as well as that of other reef taxa, thus maintaining genetic diversity. In chronically degrading reef sites this may facilitate a halt in biodiversity depletion.
• 5. Within the current theoretical framework of ecosystem restoration, the recovery of biodiversity indices is considered a core element since a rich species diversity provides higher ecosystem resilience to disturbances.
• 6. The gardening measure may also be implemented worldwide, eliminating the need to extract existing colonies for transplantation operations. At degraded reef sites, the coral gardening strategy can assist in managing human and non‐human stakeholders' requirements as is done in forest management.

Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nubbing of Coral Colonies: A Novel Approach for the Development of Inland Broodstocks

The establishment of large numbers of ramets from any individual coral genet can be used as a valuable source of material for the trade in ornamental marine organisms and in physiological and ecotoxicological studies. Here we discuss the rationale and the applicability of rearing ex situ large numbers of nubbins (minute fragments, down to the size of a single polyp). Nubbins taken from colonies of the branching Red Sea coral Stylophora pistillata show high survivorship under ex situ conditions and fast growth rates (5- to 6-fold increase in polyp numbers within 3 months) of the basal plates which revealed a significant correlation between tissue surface area and polyp numbers. Nubbins from branch tips and mid branches grew at a similar rate, but growth was affected by different light regimens. This approach requires further experimentation to elucidate optimal conditions.     

Sulfentrazone adsorbed on micelle-montmorillonite complexes for slow release in soil

Interactions of the herbicide sulfentrazone with the cationic surfactants octadecyltrimethylammonium (ODTMA), hexadecyltrimethylammonium (HDTMA), and benzyldimethylhexadecylammonium (BDMHDA) have been studied for the design of slow-release formulations based on sulfentrazone adsorbed on a micelle-montmorillonite complex. Adsorbed amounts of sulfentrazone on ODTMA- and BDMHDA-montmorillonite complexes were 99.2-99.8% of that added, and desorption of herbicide in water during 24 h was low. After 10 washings in funnels with soil, only 2.6% of herbicide was released from ODTMA-montmorillonite formulations versus 100% release from the commercial formulation. The strong binding of sulfentrazone to micelles was confirmed by pH and spectroscopic measurements and was explained by the formation of ionic pairs between cationic surfactant and anionic herbicide. The ODTMA-clay and commercial formulations of sulfentrazone yield almost complete and 40% growth inhibition of green foxtail, respectively, at 700 g of active ingredient/ha. Hence, the slow release from micelle-clay formulations of sulfentrazone promotes its biological activity and reduces environmental contamination.     

Ex situ Culture of Colonial Marine Ornamental Invertebrates: Concepts for Domestication

The worldwide market for ornamental saltwater invertebrates supplies the needs of millions of aquarium hobbyists, as well as for public exhibition (zoos, aquaria), universities, and research institutions. The large-scale continuous collection of marine organisms is responsible, in many places, for the destruction of habitats, including coral reefs. The perceived expansion of the animal trade further threatens these fragile habitats. In the present paper, several concepts for the domestication of marine ornamental invertebrates (mainly colonial species) are discussed, offering an alternative commercial approach. The major rationale is based on future ex situ propagation, not field collections; a strategy aimed to circumvent the need for wild-harvested animals. This strategy is based on: (1) collection, settlement and metamorphosis of large numbers of larvae from marine organisms or of naturally shed germ cells under aquarium conditions, where survivorship exceeds several orders of magnitude than that in nature; (2) fragmentation of very small pieces (such as the size of a single polyp in colonial corals or blood vessel ampullae in tunicates) for the production of new colonies; (3) the development of replicates and inbred-lines from chosen ornamental species; (4) the use of cryopreservation of larvae and germ cells which will support the supply of material year-round; (5) several concepts for husbandry methods. Some benefits and deficiencies associated with the strategy for ex situ cultures are discussed, revealing its importance to the future of the trade.     

Does a Synoptic Classification Indicate the NO x Pollution Potential? The Case of the Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv, Israel

This study examines the synoptic conditions controlling NO _x pollution in the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, using a semi-objective synoptic classification for the eastern Mediterranean. A day in which NO _x concentration exceeded the Israeli standard in ≥1 of the seven monitoring stations was defined an “exceeding day” and in ≥5 as an “extensive exceeding day”. For 1998–2004, 19% and 3% of the days were found exceeding and extensive exceeding days, respectively, over 85% of them in the winter months, November–March. The inter-annual variation in the occurrence of the synoptic types was found to explain 72% of the variations in the number of exceeding days. A significant negative trend in the occurrence of types with high pollution potential explained the decrease of 10% per year in the number of exceeding days during 1998–2004. The Red Sea Trough, though being cyclonic system, contributed 51% of the exceeding days, while highs, though being more frequent, contributed only 35%. The “pollution potential” of a synoptic type was defined as the percentage of exceeding days belonging to this type. The majority of synoptic types with the highest pollution potential were cyclonic, most being the Red Sea Trough with western axis, with 82% potential. Our findings indicate that the identity of the synoptic system as cyclonic or anticyclonic is not the key factor for the pollution potential in the study region, but rather, the ambient atmospheric conditions they induce, i.e., high temperatures, static stability, and weak easterly offshore flow. Local processes are the direct cause of the pollution and that the role of the synoptic conditions is to enable, or even to reinforce, the supportive meso-scale processes. This study is a first step in downscaling synoptic features to local NO _x pollution potential, constituting a basis for alarming against pollution events, based on the predicted synoptic conditions.     

Induced resistance of cucumber seedlings caused by some non-pathogenicRhizoctonia (np-R) isolates

Among 153 isolates ofRhizoctonia spp. obtained from 95 soil samples collected from different fields in the USA, 42 (27.5%) isolates were hypovirulent or non-pathogenic on cabbage (tested on tap water agar plus 250 μg/ml chloramphenicol plates). Of these, 14 (33.3% of the np-R) isolates protected >60% of the cabbage seedlings againstR. solani, and the best eight isolates protected 73–95% of the cucumber seedlings. The np-R isolates RU56-8 (AG-P) and RU89-1 [AG-B(o)] induced the highest resistance against hypocotyl challenge inoculation with virulentR. solani (38.3–85.7%), whereas most of the challenged control seedlings (85–100%) collapsed. Similarly, isolates RU56-8 and RU89-1 induced the highest resistance (22.2–87.5%) against hypocotyl challenge inoculation withPythium aphanidermatum, whereas most of the challenged control seedlings collapsed (90–100%). Isolates RU56-8 and RU89-1 significantly reduced the lesion numbers and area/leaf (to 8.9–42.0% of the control) caused by challenge inoculation of the first true leaves withPseudomonas syringae pv.lachrymans. No np-R isolate could be recovered from the upper hypocotyls or from the leaves, indicating that there was no contact between the inducer and the pathogen. Root colonization with some np-R increased seedling tolerance to low soil moisture levels.     

Cyperus esculentus L. — A new weed in Israel

Cyperus esculentus L., a cosmopolitan noxious weed, has been recorded for the first time in an agricultural irrigated field in Israel. Hand-weeding, herbicides and soil disinfestation methods were only partially effective in controlling the weed. The distribution map of the weed is unknown, and it is unclear how the weed has been introduced into Israel. We estimate thatC. esculentus has a high risk potential to spread further and cause damage to Israeli agriculture, and therefore its spread should be restricted. http://www.phytoparasitica.org posting May 18, 2005.     

Aquarium Maintenance of Reef Octocorals Raised from Field Collected Larvae

The development of standardized and sustainable aquaculture techniques for the cultivation of marine organisms offers many advantages: it would help reduce the quantity of living material harvested from coral reefs; it could be used as an efficient means of rehabilitating impoverished reef ecosystems (e.g. by reseeding depleted natural stocks of corals); it would provide an educational and research tool for the intensive study of marine animal biology under controlled laboratory conditions.Here, we present the results of aquarium maintenance of 3 Red Sea soft coral species (Clavularia hamra, Nephthea sp., Litophyton arboreum) raised from field collected larvae. Planulae settlement was enhanced when dead coral fragments and stones freshly collected from the sea were added to the settlement dishes. Young colonies (n=106, 258, 60; respectively) were monitored for 307, 475 and 207 days, respectively. The survival rate at the end of the observations ranged between 17% and 30%. Growth rates of colonies differed and showed species-specific variations. The most successful growth was recorded in Nephthea where the average colony size reached 324.5 polyps. Current aquaculture techniques for alcyonarian corals not only reveal that these organisms can thrive in aquaria but also provide significantly improved yields of colonies, as compared with yields under field conditions. Our studies have shown that various steps involved in the cultivation of young corals in captivity may need to be specifically tailored to suit the coral species in question.