Research Log #5 - Solutionary Project 2020

Date: March 5,2020

Name: Andrew Onato

Essential Question: How is invasive seaweed harmful for Hawaii’s aquatic environment?

Three Points to Prove:

#1: Invasive seaweed degrades the health of coral

#2: Invasive seaweed harms aquatic animals and wildlife

#3: Invasive seaweed is introduced into our environment through intentional, and unintentional
means.

Point that this Source Proves: #1

Excerpts (These should provide insight into the Point to Prove):

“Although there has been some debate regarding the mechanisms and causality of competition between
algae and corals high algal biomass has been shown to have a negative effect on coral health”

“On reefs subjected to anthropogenic disturbances such as increased terrestrial nutrient inputs or the
removal of grazers by overfishing, algal growth rates may exceed grazing rates, resulting in overgrowth
of hard corals and other non-mobile benthic invertebrates, and suppression of coral recruitment”

“Introduced species of macroalgae are often not subject to ecological controls that normally limit
abundance in their native range, such as high grazing pressure from native herbivores, allowing them to
become invasive, and accelerate coral-algal phase shifts on coral reefs.”

Analysis (How does this source support the Point to Prove?):

 In this EBSCO article, the main information that was being “interpreted” was that of herbivorous
species contributing to the removal of invasive algae. Although this is the case, the author has also
mentioned the negative effects of invasive macroalgae (seaweed) on the environment. From their findings
and research based in Kaneohe Bay on Oahu, Hawaii, they have found that invasive seaweed has been
shown to have a negative effect on coral health by altering the synthesis within an ecosystem and aren’t
capable of being controlled.

The article states that “Although there has been some debate regarding the mechanisms and
causality of competition between algae and corals high algal biomass has been shown to have a negative
effect on coral health” (Stamoulis). The claim states that due to high algae biomass and the collapse of
competition between algae and coral has led to negative effects of coral health in reefs. This means that,
in short, invasive seaweed harms coral. They back up this claim with research conducted in Kaneohe Bay
regarding certain seaweed species and certain factors taken into consideration.

In regards to what’s causing these algae populations to stay, and how high populations of
invasive algae degrade the health of coral, the article states that

“On reefs subjected to anthropogenic disturbances such as increased terrestrial nutrient inputs or the
removal of grazers by overfishing, algal growth rates may exceed grazing rates, resulting in overgrowth
of hard corals and other non-mobile benthic invertebrates, and suppression of coral
recruitment.”(Stamoulis).

In other words, through this research, they have concluded that because of the excess nutrients and
pollution that we pump into the waters through waste, along with other human factors such as
overfishing, invasive algae are able to grow in populations to a point where they threaten and contain
coral growth, leading to coral death.

Lastly, based off on research conducted in Kaneohe Bay, the article supports the idea that
invasive seaweed degrades the health of coral as they state that invasive algae is not subject to the natural
limitation factors in a healthy prey vs predator system. As mentioned earlier in the article, the overgrowth
of algae causes harm to coral as they smother and “take over” their natural habitat, making it harder for
coral to repopulate and grow if they haven’t died already. The article explains that

“Introduced species of macroalgae are often not subject to ecological controls that normally limit
abundance in their native range, such as high grazing pressure from native herbivores, allowing them to
become invasive, and accelerate coral-algal phase shifts on coral reefs.” (Stamoulis).

As mentioned, invasive species of seaweed are most often not controlled by any factors that exist within
the environment they are introduced in. Due to this reason, they are able to repopulate with ease and
uncontrollably, which in turn leads to the detrimental effects of coral that comes with the overpopulation
of invasive seaweed within the environment.

Work Cited (correct MLA format)

Stamoulis, Kostantinos A et al. “Coral reef grazer-benthos dynamics complicated by

invasive algae in a small marine reserve.” Scientific reports vol. 7 43819. 9 Mar. 2017,
doi:10.1038/srep43819
This is a reputable and reliable article because

This is an article from the EBSCO research online database that has been written primarily by
Kostantinos A. Stamoulis, who is currently working at the Hawai’i Institute of Marine Biology in
Kaneohe, HI.

Journal
 This is the fifth log of our English Solutionary Project. For this log, the source of media I

have decided to use is an EBSCO database article. It was confusing at first to navigate through

the EBSCO database, because although I have worked with EBSCO before, it has been some

time since I have last visited the site. This EBSCO article is primarily about how herbivorous

fish contribute to the recovery and cleanup of invasive algae here in Hawaii’s waters, mainly

data taken from Kaneohe Bay. They also had good information as to how invasive seaweed

affects the health of coral, and what makes invasive seaweed so harmful as well. I found this

source to be great to use for our solutionary project, because it is from the EBSCO database, as

well as it once again uses data from a local source. This is real data taken from the Windward

side of our island, so it is great to take a firsthand look as to what is going on in our “backyard”.

Aside from the research log, my partner and I have been able to interview Dr. Celia Smith of the

University of Hawaii Manoa. We interviewed her yesterday and have gotten a lot of useful

information for us to use in our solutionary project. It was actually really fun talking to her and

hearing her explain her knowledge on the subject, because we have learned a lot of new things

and a lot of reasons as to why this is such a unique problem to tackle. She explained that we

cannot use mainland research and data to predict what would happen here in Hawaii, so really all

we know now is a product of initial research conducted 20-30 years ago (not that long ago so

information is still in its “infancy”). It was really nice talking to her because she knew what she

was explaining, and her kid even graduated from Maryknoll as well. Moving forward, we need to

try and secure a second interview, but so far, no one else has gotten back to us. We have asked

Dr. Smith to help us out a bit on that, and we are still awaiting more information.