Coral Zombies!

[+brian.srock]

'Coral zombies' may spell doom for coral reefs around world

http://flip.it/W6cak

[jolt]

I hate reading these things ....

[FarmerTy]

I'd be embarrassed if my name was associated with that study.

How does sexually barren = zombies?

Zombies = reanimated dead (has nothing to do with their sexual viability to reproduce or not)

The corals never died, they are just sexually barren. They will still asexually bud off and reproduce that way. They called the corals the walking dead... corals don't even walk! Absurd!

Plus, I haven't seen one movie that has demonstrated that zombies are sexually barren. For all we know, the little zombie kids you see in walking dead could have been born. Those people have been on the run from zombies for a lot of seasons now. Maybe those zombie kids are natural born zombie kids?

In I am Legend, the zombies had a family structure to them. Possible zombie kids down the road? In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, there is a cognitive response with some zombies. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil the movie. Anybody watched Z nation? Murphy? Need I say more?

Thank you all for listening to my absurd rant this morning. Its occasional fun to argue the merits of absolutely ridiculous arguments just for fun.

[+JoseZ]

I'd be embarrassed if my name was associated with that study.

How does sexually barren = zombies?

Zombies = reanimated dead (has nothing to do with their sexual viability to reproduce or not)

The corals never died, they are just sexually barren. They will still asexually bud off and reproduce that way. They called the corals the walking dead... corals don't even walk! Absurd!

Plus, I haven't seen one movie that has demonstrated that zombies are sexually barren. For all we know, the little zombie kids you see in walking dead could have been born. Those people have been on the run from zombies for a lot of seasons now. Maybe those zombie kids are natural born zombie kids?

In I am Legend, the zombies had a family structure to them. Possible zombie kids down the road? In Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, there is a cognitive response with some zombies. I won't say more because I don't want to spoil the movie. Anybody watched Z nation? Murphy? Need I say more?

Thank you all for listening to my absurd rant this morning. Its occasional fun to argue the merits of absolutely ridiculous arguments just for fun.

That coffee sure did its job this morning huh.

[FarmerTy]

This is me without coffee sadly. [emoji53]

[Neon Reefer]

In I am Legend, the zombies had a family structure to them

Ty in this movie they were mutants not zombies

Just saying

I imagine just "budding off" reproduction is vastly smaller than the egg sperm swarm method that spreads the coral to the ocean currents

[jolt]

Well, bad metaphors aside, to me the more interesting research question is whether specimens can recover reproductive ability if the causal agent is removed. I know that the professor in Florida has demonstrated you can go pretty far with the elkhorn through frag farming, but will they be able to sustain themselves without human intervention in the future??

[FarmerTy]

In I am Legend, the zombies had a family structure to them

Ty in this movie they were mutants not zombies

Just saying

I imagine just "budding off" reproduction is vastly smaller than the egg sperm swarm method that spreads the coral to the ocean currents

Haha, thank you for that. I appreciate someone playing along with my fake rant. [emoji106]

[FarmerTy]

Well, bad metaphors aside, to me the more interesting research question is whether specimens can recover reproductive ability if the causal agent is removed. I know that the professor in Florida has demonstrated you can go pretty far with the elkhorn through frag farming, but will they be able to sustain themselves without human intervention in the future??

I would imagine if their initial results hold true, then the elkhorn is doomed if it cannot sexually reproduce in any way.

Local fragmentation can allow pockets of corals to survive but once another bleaching event occurs, they're gone. Without the ability to sexually reproduce, their offspring cannot relocate to areas that would be more suitable for habitation.

Man can interfere and try to assist but nature is much more efficient through the broadcast trial and error method that releasing viable sexually produced offspring can give you. Just my opinion of course. [emoji4]

[Timfish]

There certainly were bad metaphors used but the main concern expressed by the article is worrisome. Hopefully additional research will indeed show it's reversible. The loss of large herbivores and urchins that control folacious algae and create clean areas for coral larva to settle are still the primary the primary causes for thier decline. Additional concerns are the problem of loss of speciation through hybridization. More and more "fused" Staghorn is showing up which is a cross with Acropora palmeta and A. cervicornis. This hybrid is also absent from the fossil record so is unique to current anthropogenic and climate conditions.

[+FluxCapacitor]

I thought most corals reproduced asexually? I don't feel like making love when I'm pissed off, I wouldn't expect corals to either.

You know what highlights this all for me is that short period I've been into this hobby, I've brought countless people to my house to show them my corals. They ALL had no idea that coral was alive as it is.... and it's this naivety that is causing the problem in general (in a lot of areas in general, not just in this hobby). In the information age where everything you could want to know is at your fingertips, people have become lazy and use our networks for things like social networking. It has it's place too, but it's not better than spending time doing research and learning something IMO.

Anyway, I don't want to rant too much, but I expect things will improve if we get people to follow simple rules. It starts with the parents, and some people make it to being adults without ever learning how to "do the right thing".