National Committee on Marine Sciences (NCMS)
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- Through the boundaries: Environmental factors affecting reef benthic cover in marine protected areas in the PhilippinesPanga, Fleurdeliz M.; Anticamara, Jonathan A.; Quibilan, Miledel Christine C.; Atrigenio, Michael P.; Aliño, Porfirio M. (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-08-18)Philippine coral reefs have been on the decline since the 1970s, and this degradation has posed a risk to biodiversity, food security, and livelihood in the country. In an effort to arrest this degradation, marine protected areas (MPAs) were established across the country. MPAs are known to improve fish biomass, but their effect on live coral cover and other benthos is not yet well documented and understood. In this study, 28 MPAs across the Philippines were surveyed comparing benthic cover and indices between protected reefs and adjacent unprotected reefs. No consistent differences were found between reefs inside and outside MPAs through all the benthic categories and reef health indices considered that are indicative of protection effects or recovery within MPAs. However, there were notable site-specific differences in benthic cover across the study MPAs-suggesting that factors other than protection play important roles in influencing benthic cover inside and outside of MPAs. Storm frequency and proximity to rivers, as a proxy for siltation, were the strongest negative correlates to live coral cover. Also, high coastal population, a proxy for pollution, and occurrence of blast and poison fishing positively correlated with high dead coral cover. The lack of significant difference in benthic cover between reefs inside and outside MPAs suggests that protection does not necessarily guarantee immediate improvement in benthic condition. Correlations between benthic condition and storm frequency, siltation, and pollution suggest that it is necessary to augment MPAs with other management strategies that will address the multiple stressors that are usually indiscriminate of MPA boundaries. Supplementing long-term and systematic monitoring of benthic cover and biodiversity inside and outside of MPAs with data on other important environmental and human impact variables will help improve understanding of benthic cover and biodiversity dynamics inside and outside of MPA boundaries.We would like to thank RARE Philippines and USAID, in collaboration with the Marine Environment and Resources Foundation (MERF), for research funding, coordination, and support in the execution of this research. We would also like to thank the RARE Conservation Fellows and Local Government Units for logistical support and coordination on all of the MPAs studied. We would also like to thank the Fisheries team of the MSI Community Laboratory for the municipal profile data, and the MSI Physical Oceanography Laboratory for the storm frequency and relative exposure index used in the environmental correlation. We would also like to thank the rest of the MERF-RARE Team/MSI Community Ecology Laboratory who joined and supported the many months of data gathering, encoding, and data analysis.
- Spatial and short-term temporal patterns of octocoral assemblages in the West Philippine SeaLalas, Jue Alef A.; Lim, Romina Therese S.; Cabasan, Joey P.; Segumalian, Christine S.; Luciano, Rhea Mae A.; Valino, Darryl Anthony M.; Jacinto, Melchor R.; Arceo, Hazel O.; Baria-Rodriguez, Maria Vanessa (Frontiers Media SA, 2022-01-06)Octocorals are relatively understudied than other coral reef organisms despite their ecological and economic values. The Philippines is known to have high marine biodiversity, but information on octocorals is lacking. This study investigated spatial and temporal variations in the assemblage of octocorals in selected reef sites in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)- the Kalayaan Island Group (i.e., Pag-asa, Sabina, Lawak, and Northeast Investigator) and Ulugan in 2017 and 2019. Results showed high octocoral taxonomic richness (at least 10 families) in the study sites. Mean percent octocoral cover in WPS was 5.35% SE ± 0.55, with Sabina having the highest octocoral cover in both years. Significant differences in octocoral cover were observed among sites in both years, but among-station differences were only observed in 2017. Octocoral assemblage also differed among sites in both years (ANOSIM: R > 0.5, p < 0.05), wherein different octocoral taxa dominated in different sites. In particular, variations were driven by high cover of holaxonians, nephtheids, and coelogorgiids in Sabina, and clavulariids, tubiporiids, and xeniids in Northeast Investigator in 2017. In 2019, significant variations were driven by high cover of helioporiids in Pag-asa, while Sabina had higher abundance of holaxonians, nephtheids, alcyoniids, and xeniids. Short-term temporal variation on octocoral cover in monitoring stations in Pag-asa was not observed (Kruskal-Wallis, p > 0.05), although the overall mean octocoral cover increased from 1.23% ± SE 0.47 in 2017 to 2.09% SE ± 0.37 in 2019. Further, there was no significant change in the octocoral assemblage in Pag-asa between years (ANOSIM, R = 0.11, p = 0.07). This study highlights high octocoral taxonomic richness in the WPS relative to other sites in the Indo-Pacific Region and provides baseline information on the octocoral assemblages, which can be useful for future ecological studies and marine biodiversity conservation efforts.We would like to thank the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (DA-BFAR), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Municipality of Kalayaan, and the Philippine Navy for their assistance and support during the research expeditions in the West Philippine Sea. We also thank Lovely Joy Heyres for assisting in the field collection and image analysis, and Kevin Yatco and Socorro Rodrigo for assisting in the satellite product processing. We also thank the valuable insights and suggestions given by the editor and reviewers of this journal that helped improve this manuscript.
- Nearshore to offshore trends in plankton assemblage and stable isotopes in reefs of the West Philippine SeaYñiguez, Aletta T.; Apego, Gianina Cassandra May; Mendoza, Norman; Gomez, Norchel Corcia; Jacinto, Gil S. (Frontiers Media SA, 2022-01-25)Coral reefs are typified by their benthic components, and reef diversity and productivity are traditionally ascribed to the symbiotic association between corals and zooxanthellae, and other macroalgal forms. Less understood is the role of plankton and adjacent pelagic areas in contributing to reef productivity. Half of the reef benthos are filter or particle feeders, while a significant proportion of reef fishes are planktivorous. These organisms can serve as bridges between adjacent oceanic areas to the reef proper, and the pelagic and benthic realm. Here, we investigate the plankton trophic dynamics in two reef systems in the West Philippine Sea. Physico-chemical data, phytoplankton and mesozooplankton samples were collected from stations spanning offshore to reef areas per site. These were subjected to microscopic and stable isotope analysis to determine variability in plankton distribution, phytoplankton and zooplankton interactions, and gain insights into the trophic dynamics and productivity of reefs. Results showed distinct variations in plankton biomass and assemblage from offshore to reef areas, as well as between the reef systems. Phytoplankton distributions pointed toward filtering out of cells across the fore reef and reef flat areas, while mesozooplankton distributions could be mediated more by other factors. Isotopic signatures of δ13C and δ15N indicated the influence of different nutrient sources for phytoplankton and that mesozooplankton relied only partly on phytoplankton for food in most areas of the reefs. The mesozooplankton likely also obtain food from other sources such as the microbial and detrital pathways. More in-depth spatio-temporal studies on these bentho-pelagic interactions are recommended, which can provide more robust estimates of the trophic dynamics of these reefs that are situated in important fishing grounds and key biodiversity areas.We thank Cesar Villanoy and the Physical Oceanography laboratory for organizing the research cruise, the Philippine Navy and the BRP Gregorio Velasquez (AGR 702) for the help in sample collection during the research expedition conducted in the Kalayaan Group of Islands in 2017. We also thank the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Nuclear Research Institute for the collaboration in conducting the stable isotope analyses, John Kristoffer Q. Andres for identifying the zooplankton samples, and John Michael N. Aguilar for analyzing the samples for chemical parameters.
- Increased coral larval supply enhances recruitment for coral and fish habitat restorationHarrison, Peter L.; dela Cruz, Dexter W.; Cameron, Kerry A.; Cabaitan, Patrick C. (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-12-01)Loss of foundation reef-corals is eroding the viability of reef communities and ecosystem function in many regions globally. Coral populations are naturally resilient but when breeding corals decline, larval supply becomes limiting and natural recruitment is insufficient for maintaining or restoring depleted populations. Passive management approaches are important but in some regions they are proving inadequate for protecting reefs, therefore active additional intervention and effective coral restoration techniques are needed. Coral spawning events produce trillions of embryos that can be used for mass larval rearing and settlement on degraded but recoverable reef areas. We supplied 4.6 million Acropora tenuis larvae contained in fine mesh enclosures in situ on three degraded reef plots in the northwestern Philippines during a five day settlement period to initiate restoration. Initial mean larval settlement was very high (210.2 ± 86.4 spat per tile) on natural coral skeleton settlement tiles in the larval-enhanced plots, whereas no larvae settled on tiles in control plots. High mortality occurred during early post-settlement life stages as expected, however, juvenile coral survivorship stabilised once colonies had grown into visible-sized recruits on the reef by 10 months. Most recruits survived and grew rapidly, resulting in significantly increased rates of coral recruitment and density in larval-enhanced plots. After two years growth, mean colony size reached 11.1 ± 0.61 cm mean diameter, and colonies larger than 13 cm mean diameter were gravid and spawned, the fastest growth to reproductive size recorded for broadcast spawning corals. After three years, mean colony size reached 17 ± 1.7 cm mean diameter, with a mean density of 5.7 ± 1.25 colonies per m–2, and most colonies were sexually reproductive. Coral cover increased significantly in larval plots compared with control plots, primarily from A. tenuis recruitment and growth. Total production cost for each of the 220 colonies within the restored breeding population after three years was United States $17.80 per colony. A small but significant increase in fish abundance occurred in larval plots in 2018, with higher abundance of pomacentrids and corallivore chaetodontids coinciding with growth of A. tenuis colonies. In addition, innovative techniques for capturing coral spawn slicks and larval culture in pools in situ were successfully developed that can be scaled-up for mass production of larvae on reefs in future. These results confirm that enhancing larval supply significantly increases settlement and coral recruitment on reefs, enabling rapid re-establishment of breeding coral populations and enhancing fish abundance, even on degraded reef areas.We thank the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for funding this research: grant ACIAR/FIS/2014/063 to PH, PC and J. Bennett. Thanks to ACIAR staff Chris Barlow, Ann Fleming, and Mai Alagcan for their ongoing support. Sincere thanks to the Galsim Family for use of Tanduyong Island as a field research base during the coral restoration fieldwork. We also thank staff and students at the Bolinao Marine Laboratory, Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines, Diliman for their assistance with reef work: Elizabeth Gomez, Charlon Ligson, Rickdane Gomez and Fernando Castrence (including fish surveys), Marcos Ponce, Joey Cabasan, Sheldon Boco, Gabriel de Guzman, Albert Ponce, and Allan Abuan. We also thank Grant Cameron for field support and helping design, build and refine the prototype floating spawn catcher frames in 2016 and 2017.
- Individual and interactive effects of ocean warming and acidification on adult Favites colemaniTañedo, Mikhael Clotilde S.; Villanueva, Ronald D.; Torres, Andrew F.; Ravago-Gotanco, Rachel; San Diego-McGlone, Maria Lourdes (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-09-09)Tropical coral reefs are threatened by local-scale stressors that are exacerbated by global ocean warming and acidification from the post-industrial increase of atmospheric CO2 levels. Despite their observed decline in the past four decades, little is known on how Philippine coral reefs will respond to ocean warming and acidification. This study explored individual and synergistic effects of present-day (pH 8.0, 28°C) and near-future (pH 7.7, 32°C) scenarios of ocean temperature and pH on the adult Favites colemani, a common massive reef-building coral in Bolinao-Anda, Philippines. Changes in seawater temperature drive the physiological responses of F. colemani, whereas changes in pH create an additive effect on survival, growth, and photosynthetic efficiency. Under near-future scenarios, F. colemani showed sustained photosynthetic competency despite the decline in growth rate and zooxanthellae density. F. colemani exhibited specificity with the Cladocopium clade C3u. This coral experienced lower growth rates but survived projected near-future ocean warming and acidification scenarios. Its pH-thermal stress threshold is possibly a consequence of acclimation and adaptation to local environmental conditions and past bleaching events. This research highlights the importance of examining the susceptibility and resilience of Philippine corals to climate-driven stressors for future conservation and restoration efforts in the changing ocean.We are grateful to the Marine Biogeochemistry Laboratory and Bolinao Marine Laboratory of the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines for the valuable logistical and laboratory support provided. We would also like to thank Drs. Haruko Kurihara, Atsushi Watanabe, and Toshihiro Miyajima for the design of the mass flow controller used in the experiments. This is UP-MSI contribution number 484.
- Limited progress in improving gender and geographic representation in coral reef scienceAhmadia, Gabby N.; Cheng, Samantha H.; Andradi-Brown, Dominic A.; Baez, Stacy K.; Barnes, Megan D.; Bennett, Nathan J.; Campbell, Stuart J.; Darling, Emily S.; Gill, David; Gress, Erika; Gurney, Georgina G.; Horigue, Vera; Jakub, Raymond; Kennedy, Emma V.; Mahajan, Shauna L.; Mangubhai, Sangeeta; Matsuda, Shayle B.; Muthiga, Nyawira A.; Navarro, Michael O.; Santodomingo, Nadia; Vallès, Henri; Veverka, Laura; Villagomez, Angelo; Wenger, Amelia S.; Wosu, Adaoma (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-09-29)Despite increasing recognition of the need for more diverse and equitable representation in the sciences, it is unclear whether measurable progress has been made. Here, we examine trends in authorship in coral reef science from 1,677 articles published over the past 16 years (2003–2018) and find that while representation of authors that are women (from 18 to 33%) and from non-OECD nations (from 4 to 13%) have increased over time, progress is slow in achieving more equitable representation. For example, at the current rate, it would take over two decades for female representation to reach 50%. Given that there are more coral reef non-OECD countries, at the current rate, truly equitable representation of non-OECD countries would take even longer. OECD nations also continue to dominate authorship contributions in coral reef science (89%), in research conducted in both OECD (63%) and non-OECD nations (68%). We identify systemic issues that remain prevalent in coral reef science (i.e., parachute science, gender bias) that likely contribute to observed trends. We provide recommendations to address systemic biases in research to foster a more inclusive global science community. Adoption of these recommendations will lead to more creative, innovative, and impactful scientific approaches urgently needed for coral reefs and contribute to environmental justice efforts.We acknowledge the contributions of the many unrecognized and undervalued individuals in coral reef research whose efforts have made it possible for the field to progress. These scientists have collected data, translated across languages, coordinated field work, welcomed foreign visitors to their countries, shared ideas, trained and mentored students, become friends, inspired, and built the foundation for the discipline we know today. We acknowledge the work of all coral reef scientists who continue day after day to pursue equity, inclusion, and justice in the field and for their colleagues and themselves.
- Spatial planning insights for Philippine coral reef conservation using larval connectivity networksPata, Patrick R.; Yñiguez, Aletta T. (Frontiers Media SA, 2021-10-06)The marine habitats of the Philippines are recognized to be some of the most biodiverse systems globally yet only 1.7% of its seas are designated as marine protected areas (MPAs) with varying levels of implementation. Many of these MPAs were established based on local-scale conservation and fisheries objectives without considering larger-scale ecological connections. The connectivity of reefs through larval dispersal is important in the regional-scale resilience against anthropogenic disturbances and is considered a significant criterion in planning for MPAs. In this study, we provide insights into the delineation of ecologically connected MPA networks using larval dispersal modeling and network analysis. We characterized the network properties of the Philippine coral reefs, organized as 252 reef nodes, based on the larval connectivity networks of a branching coral, sea urchin, and grouper. We then evaluated the distribution of the existing 1,060 MPAs relative to the connectivity patterns. All reef nodes were found to be highly interconnected with a mean shortest path ranging from 1.96 to 4.06. Reef nodes were then ranked according to their relative importance in regional connectivity based on five connectivity indices. Despite the between-organism and between-index variability in rankings, there were reefs nodes, mostly located offshore and at major straits, which consistently ranked high. We found that the distribution of existing MPAs partially capture some of the regional connectivity functions but there is a spatial mismatch between the primarily coastal MPAs and the high-ranking reef nodes. Furthermore, network partitioning identified subnetworks and dispersal barriers. The existing MPAs were found to be disproportionately distributed to a few subnetworks and that the largest subnetworks do not contain the greatest number of MPAs. Considering these gaps, we suggest expanding the coverage of protected areas especially in underrepresented reef networks to meaningfully capture national-scale connectivity and meet global conservation objectives.We would like to thank Dr. Vera Horigue and Andrew Torres for constructive comments and suggestions during the early versions of this paper. We also thank the members of the Biological Oceanography and Modeling of Ecosystems (BiOME) Laboratory who assisted in running model simulations.
- Two hidden mtDNA-clades of crown-of-thorns starfish in the Pacific OceanYasuda, Nina; Inoue, Jun; Hall, Michael R.; Nair, Manoj R.; Adjeroud, Mehdi; Fortes, Miguel D.; Nishida, Mutsumi; Tuivavalagi, Nat; Ravago-Gotanco, Rachel; Forsman, Zac H.; Soliman, Taha; Koyanagi, Ryo; Hisata, Kanako; Motti, Cherie A.; Satoh, Noriyuki (Frontiers Media SA, 2022-04-27)Recurring outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) severely damage healthy corals, especially in the Western Pacific Ocean. To obtain a better understanding of population genetics of COTS and historical colonization across the Pacific Ocean, complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced from 243 individuals collected in 11 reef regions. Our results indicate that Pacific COTS (Acanthaster cf. solaris) comprise two major clades, an East-Central Pacific (ECP) clade and a Pan-Pacific (PP) clade, separation of which was supported by high bootstrap value. The ECP clade consists of COTS from French Polynesia, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Hawaii population is unique within this clade, while California COTS are included in EPC clade. On the other hand, the PP clade comprises multiple lineages that contain COTS from Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, GBR, Vanuatu, Fiji and French Polynesia. For example, a lineage of the PP clade, which has the largest geographic distribution, includes COTS from all of these locations. These results suggest two alternative histories of current geographic distributions of COTS in the Pacific Ocean, an ECP clade ancestry or Western Pacific clade ancestry. Although further questions remain to be explored, this discovery provides an evolutionary context for the interpretation of COTS population structure which will aid future coral reef research in the Pacific Ocean, and ultimately improve reef management of COTS.We thank the following people for their help with sample collection: Dr. Hugh Sweatman and the AIMS Bioresources Library for GBR samples, Dr. Molly Timmers for Hawaiian samples, Geoff Jones and Jeff Kinch for Papua New Guinean samples, Monal Lal for Fijian samples, Christina Shaw for Vanuatu samples, Hoang Dinh Chieu for Vietnamese samples, and Hiromitsu Ueno for Japanese samples. The DNA Sequencing Section and IT section of OIST are acknowledged for its expert help with genome sequencing and bioinfomatic analysis. Last, but not least, we acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands and sea country on which this research took place.
- Decadal stability in coral cover could mask hidden changes on reefs in the East Asian SeasChan, Y. K. S.; Affendi, Y. A.; Ang, P. O.; Baria-Rodriguez, M. V.; Chen, C. A.; Chui, A. P. Y.; Glue, M.; Huang, H.; Kuo, C-Y.; Kim, S. W.; Lam, V. Y. Y.; Lane, D. J. W.; Lian, J. S.; Lin, S. M. N. N.; Lunn, Z.; Nañola, C. L.; Nguyen, V. L.; Park, H. S.; Sutthacheep, M.; Vo, S. T.; Vibol, O.; Waheed, Z.; Yamano, H.; Yeemin, T.; Yong, E.; Kimura, T.; Tun, K.; Chou, L. M.; Huang, D. (Springer, 2023-06-10)Coral reefs in the Central Indo-Pacific region comprise some of the most diverse and yet threatened marine habitats. While reef monitoring has grown throughout the region in recent years, studies of coral reef benthic cover remain limited in spatial and temporal scales. Here, we analysed 24,365 reef surveys performed over 37 years at 1972 sites throughout East Asia by the Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network using Bayesian approaches. Our results show that overall coral cover at surveyed reefs has not declined as suggested in previous studies and compared to reef regions like the Caribbean. Concurrently, macroalgal cover has not increased, with no indications of phase shifts from coral to macroalgal dominance on reefs. Yet, models incorporating socio-economic and environmental variables reveal negative associations of coral cover with coastal urbanisation and sea surface temperature. The diversity of reef assemblages may have mitigated cover declines thus far, but climate change could threaten reef resilience. We recommend prioritisation of regionally coordinated, locally collaborative long-term studies for better contextualisation of monitoring data and analyses, which are essential for achieving reef conservation goals.
- Sea surface carbonate dynamics at reefs of Bolinao, Philippines: Seasonal variation and fish mariculture-induced forcingIsah, Raffi R.; Enochs, Ian C.; San Diego-McGlone, Maria Lourdes (Frontiers, 2022-11-11)Coral reefs are vulnerable to global ocean acidification (OA) and local human activities will continue to exacerbate coastal OA. In Bolinao, Philippines, intense unregulated fish mariculture has resulted in regional eutrophication. In order to examine the coastal acidification associated with this activity and the impact on nearby coral reefs, water quality and carbonate chemistry parameters were measured at three reef sites, a mariculture site and an offshore, minimally impacted control site during both the wet and dry season. Additionally, benthic community composition was characterized at reef sites, and both autonomous carbonate chemistry sampling and high-frequency pH measurements were used to characterize fine-scale (diel) temporal variability. Water quality was found to be poorer at all reefs during the wet season, when there was stronger outflow of waters from the mariculture area. Carbonate chemistry parameters differed significantly across the reef flat and between seasons, with more acidic conditions occurring during the dry season and increased primary production suppressing further acidification during the wet season. Significant relationships of both total alkalinity (TA) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) with salinity across all stations may imply outflow of acidified water originating from the mariculture area where pH values as low as 7.78 were measured. This apparent mariculture-induced coastal acidification was likely due to organic matter respiration as sustained mariculture will continue to deliver organic matter. While TA-DIC vector diagrams indicate greater contribution of net primary production, net calcification potential in the nearest reef to mariculture area may already be diminished. The two farther reefs, characterized by higher coral cover, indicates healthier ecosystem functioning. Here we show that unregulated fish mariculture activities can lead to localized acidification and impact reef health. As these conditions at times approximate those projected to occur globally due to OA, our results may provide insight into reef persistence potential worldwide. These results also underscore the importance of coastal acidification and indicate that actions taken to mitigate OA on coral reefs should address not only global CO2 emissions but also local perturbations, in this case fish mariculture-induced eutrophication.This paper is part of the master’s thesis of RI supervised by MS-M entitled “Carbonate chemistry dynamics on the Bolinao reef flat”. The authors are grateful to the Marine Biogeochemistry Laboratory and Bolinao Marine Laboratory of the Marine Science Institute, University of the Philippines for the valuable logistical and laboratory support provided. We thank Jay Burce, Ryan Carl Magyaya, Natasha Tamayo for their tremendous help in field activities and laboratory analyses. We thank Alice Webb for providing insights into improving the manuscript.