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Testimony for listing 66 coral species under the Endangered Species Act In principle, I find that listing many of the proposed coral species under the ESA is warranted, is based on the best available science, and is of value. I commend the biological review team and the other team members involved in this process for undertaking the huge amount of work involved in this process, and for navigating the monumental task of responding appropriately to the proposed listing. However, a variety of new scientific information has come to light since the period when the proposed listing was drafted which should be taken into account and, in my view, should affect the listing of several species. In addition, I must stress several critically important aspects of implementing the ESA if or when any of these species are listed. Last, coral taxonomy is in flux and I can say with certainty that much of the taxonomy will change within the next few years. These changes need to be anticipated and mechanisms thought out to accommodate substantial changes in what constitutes recognized species, and their listing status. First, allow me to make specific comments about several of the species proposed for listing which, in my view, should change the proposed listing status. Other than the species specifically discussed below I am either supportive of listing as proposed (either as Endangered or Threatened) or do not have specific views on the proposed listing of the species. As a primer to this discussion I will point to several recent studies which support a change in the proposed listing status. The first is a study by van Woesik et al. (2012). This study used an a priori trait-based analysis to estimate coral extinction risk and then compared the estimated extinction risk to actual coral extinction events in the Caribbean. They found that, rather than a random or unpredictable event (as would be expected under Neutral Theory) both extinction and persistence (i.e., the lack of extinction) were highly predictable using their trait-based analysis. The authors further applied these criteria to estimate the extinction risk for extant, modern corals. Based on these results, several modifications to the proposed listing status of several species are warranted. Second is a pair of studies by Maynard et al. (2008) and Guest et al. (2012). Chief among the threats to corals is bleaching due to thermal stress, as related to climate change.… More:

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