Author: bappy

The Forest Invasive Species Network for Africa (FISNA) was created in 2004 to coordinate the collation and dissemination of information relating to forest invasive species in sub-Saharan Africa for sustainable forest management and conservation of biodiversity. Invasive species are defined as biotic agents, not native to a specific forest ecosystem, whose introduction does, or is likely, to cause harm to the forest ecosystem. The Network is open to all countries in sub-Saharan Africa that wish to participate. There is no distinction by language or forest type.

Objectives of the network

• To facilitate exchange of information and provide a link for communication about forest invasive species
• To alert and provide policy advice on transboundary movement, phytosanitary measures and other relevant information
• To raise regional awareness on forest invasive species issues
• To encourage the publication and sharing of research results, management and monitoring strategies
• To facilitate taxonomic support
• To act as a link between and among experts, institutions, networks and other stakeholders concerned with forest invasive species
• To facilitate the mobilization of resources for critical activities in management of invasive species
• To provide technical guides on research and control of invasives for sustainable forest protection and health issues in Africa

For endorsement or participation of the network, please send your request to the Secretariat:

Clement Z. Chilima

Forestry Research Institute of Malawi (FRIM)

Kufa Road

P.O. Box 270

Zomba

Malawi

E-mail: [email protected]

The Kivu region is one of the most dangerous places in the world. In this region the Ugandan organisation Gourmet Gardens set up a vanilla and cocoa production chain that is fair trade (Fair for Life) and organic certified in 2005. Le Jardin Bio-Equitable is a local producer organisation that is created especially to meet the certification requirements and to manage the production. 

TDC finances a project of Gourmet Gardens that aims to set up a fair trade and organic chain with added value that will provide a sustainable income for some 1500 producers.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is the third most populous country of Africa and counts hundreds of ethnic groups. It is considered a treasury trove for its diamonds, valuable raw materials and rare metals… Its many
natural resources have aroused the appetites of armed groups and covert powers, which do not hesitate to resort to violence and corruption.Moreover, because of its size and central position at the heart of the continent, theDemocratic Republic of Congo has to deal with major influxes of refugees that destabilise the fragile ethnic and local balances.

The civil war, which killed more than four million and displaced another two million, officially ended in 2003, but the agony still remains. The Democratic Republic of Congo, probably even more than its neighbours, must transform
from a colonially modelled multi-ethnic format to a nation state with a shared identity.

Under such conditions, fair and sustainable trade offers interesting perspectives as it brings together communities and enriches the populations. A challenge for the hearth of Africa.

SURVIVE
In the east of the country, North Kivu is one of the regions that suffered
most from violence and the influx of refugees. Production infrastructure,
particularly in the coffee sector, has been very badly affected and the
populations of this border region have had a hard time surviving on subsistence farming and small trade.

Since a few years, the country is trying to come back as well as it can,
but the economy is not improving and the outlook remains bleak for
the local populations, as thousands of displaced persons are living in
makeshift camps. Investments remain negligible, the agricultural potential is greatly underused and local field hands are often condemned to emigrate or to plunder forestry resources, in particular in the Virunga National Park, the oldest and the
richest wildlife and flora national park in Africa.

MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON
Between the savannahs of eastern Africa and the large forests of the Great Lakes rise the Mountains of the Moon, whose slopes offer perfect conditions for a variety of agricultural activities. Here, in North Kivu, Gourmet Gardens, a Kampala-based Ugandan company, started up a fair(Fair for Life) and organic certified vanilla and cocoa production chain in 2005. “Le Jardin Bio-Equitable”, a local producers association, was established to meet the certification requirements and to manage production, which is then purchased by Gourmet Gardens and commercialised under the Mountains of the Moon brand.

AND NOW, QUALITY PLEASE
Certifying products of smallholder
members of the “Le Jardin Bio-Equitable” organisation helped implementing a first series of social programmes, to the benefit of farmers and their families. But commercialisation of their products suffered from the distance from Europe-bound export infrastructure (the port of Mombassa in Kenya and the airport of Entebbe in Uganda).

To further help the producers, Gourmet Gardens set up a new project that
aims at positioning the production of the “Le Jardin Bio-Equitable” farmers on
niche markets with high added value. The key idea of this programme is to
produce a “Single Origin” cocoa which is fair, organic and of the best quality,
and which can meet the requirements of the greatest European chocolate
makers.

To get there, the Ugandan company has implemented a three-point action
programme. The first part was launched in 2010 and aimed at improving quality
and at enhancing fair and organic cocoa volumes. To do so, a network of extension farms was set up and training was given to farmers who, for the larger
part, had had very few training because of the years of civil war. A second
series of actions aim at improving the harvest-processing infrastructure, especially through the installation of solar-powered fermentation stations, as well
as the setting up of a cocoa bean drying and weather and parasite proof storage
station. Thirdly, resources are mobilised to provide the farmers’ association
with solid decision-making and management bodies.

A TOP-OF-THE-RANGE FAIR
AND ORGANIC COCOA VALUE
CHAIN

The Gourmet Gardens project is supported by the Trade for Development
Centre of BTC, the Belgian development agency. It aims at setting up a
fair and organic cocoa production chain of high quality, which should
generate a sustainable income for some 1,500 producers involved in
the project. The resources made available should strengthen the North Kivu farmers association, increase the profitability of the farms and in the end provide the cocoa growers of the region with decent incomes.

With the insecurity that still prevails in the region, the cost of certification and the deplorable state of infrastructure, there are still many obstacles to achieving these results. These obstacles should not be underestimated but the stakes are equally important.

The sisal plant has a 7-10 year life-span (longer in Mexico where growth is slower) and is usually cut first after 2-3 years and then at 6-12 month intervals. A typical plant will produce 200-250 commercially usable leaves in its life-time (hybrid varieties up to 400-450 leaves) and each leaf contains an average of around 1000 fibres.

The fibre element, which accounts for only about 4% of the plant by weight, is extracted by a process known as decortication.

In East Africa, where sisal is produced on an estate basis, the leaves are in the main transported to a central decortication plant after which the fibre is dried, brushed and baled – for export or for use in the domestic mills. In Brazil it is mainly grown by small-holders and the fibre is extracted by teams using portable raspadors.

East African sisal, being washed and decorticated, is considered to be superior in quality to Brazilian sisal (although the latter is more than adequate for the manufacture of agricultural twines and general cordage and is used domestically in craft paper production) and, in normal times, commands a significant price premium on the world market.

Sisal is the coarsest vegetable “hard” fibre. There are many varieties of the plant spread throughout the tropical and sub-tropical world, especially in Central America, but the most important on a commercial basis are AGAVE SISALANA (and its hybrids, the most common of which is known as 11648) and AGAVE FOURCROYDES (better known as henequen).

The East African sisal plant originated in the Yucatan, Mexico (and received its common name from the first port of export) and arrived in what is now Tanzania via Hamburg in 1893. A little later sisal bulbils sent from Kew Gardens were planted in Kenya.

After a difficult start sisal production in East Africa prospered and by the 1960’s Tanzania production alone totalled some 230,000 tons. Production in East Africa has contracted materially over the past three decades in response to the continuing movement in end products away from the low value agricultural twine market into considerably higher value more specialised end products, such as carpets, wire rope cores, dartboards, speciality pulps, plaster reinforcement and handicrafts.

Production is now approximately 20,000 tons per annum in Tanzania, 20,000 tons in Kenya and 12,000 tons in Madagascar. There is also production in Southern China of around 40,000 tons (very largely for domestic consumption) and smaller quantities in South Africa, Mozambique, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.

In Mexico henequen production (largely in the Yucatan peninsular) has fallen from a peak of about 160,000 tons in the 1960’s to about 15,000 tons today, all of which is converted into product locally.

The first commercial plantings in Brazil were not made until the late 1930’s and the first sisal fibre exports from there were made in 1948. It was not, however, until the 1960’s that Brazilian production really accelerated and the first of many spinning mills, largely devoted to the manufacture of agricultural twines, were established. Today Brazil is the major world producer of sisal at some 125,000 tons.

Traditionally sisal was the leading material for agricultural twine (“binder” and “baler” twine) but the importance of this is now tending to diminish (with competition from polypropylene and other techniques) although there is still a major business between Brazil and the United States.

Apart from ropes, twines and general cordage sisal is used in both low-cost and speciality paper, dartboards, buffing cloth, filters, geotextiles, mattresses, carpets and wall coverings, handicrafts, wire rope cores and macramé.

In recent years sisal has been utilised as a strengthening agent to replace asbestos and fibreglass and is increasingly a component used in the automobile industry, where its “naturalness” and environmentally friendly characteristics are greatly appreciated.

Sisal for export has for long been “graded” for length, decortication characteristics and colour. The main specifications are:-

No 1
No 2
No 3L
No 3
UG
Tow 1

Type 2
Type 3
Refugo
Bucha

Detailed specifications may be obtained by reference to the Company.

INTRODUCTION
1. The fair-trade approach presents itself as an alternative strategy, positioned between free trade
and protectionism, to address the issue of poverty in developing countries. It also offers an alternative
way for consumers to express their opinion through “political consumerism” or “responsible
consumerism”. People buying fair-trade products are portrayed as using their consumer choice to
voice their concerns about poverty in less developed countries, and about a trading system that is
considered as unfavourable to these countries. Focusing on the food commodity market is a natural
choice for the fair-trade movement because most developing countries are dependent on these products
for export earnings.

2. In 1988, the first fair-trade labelled product (coffee) was launched under the Max Havelaar
brand. Since then, fair-trade has been growing at a rapid pace and now covers various products, such
as cocoa and chocolate, coffee, bananas, tea, honey products, textiles and handicrafts. Cocoa sold with
the fair-trade label captures a very small share of the cocoa market (0.1 percent). However, based on
the steady growth of fair-trade and the support of public opinion and governments, some fair-trade
participants claim that the idea will move beyond niche markets and become more mainstream.

3. Under Action 9 of its work programme of September 2004, the Consultative Board on the World
Economy requested the ICCO secretariat to undertake an analysis of the situation and prospects for
fair-trade cocoa and its potential market effects. The objective of the Board, according to the work
programme of the Board (document CB/3/2 Rev.1), is to assess whether “a very significant increase in
the tonnages of cocoa beans sold under the fair-trade brand, and therefore at the fair-trade premium
price, would lead to cocoa oversupply and/or depressed demand for non-fair-trade cocoa”.

4. This first document on fair-trade prepared by the ICCO secretariat provides only the basic facts
on fair-trade in cocoa; the volumes traded, the characteristics of the “fair-trade price” and the
additional benefits and costs of this approach. It is envisaged that the factual information on fair-trade
in cocoa provides a good basis for the Board to give guidance to future work by the secretariat.

THE KEY PARTICIPANTS IN THE FAIR-TRADE MOVEMENT AND DEFINITION

5. The fair-trade movement began to take its current form in the 1960s. It is united in the view that
conventional trading relations between the South and the North are unfair and unsustainable and that
this issue can be addressed through a different approach to the trading system. Its goal is to tackle
poverty in developing countries through trade and its pragmatic approach is one of the key reasons for
its success. However, the diversity of the movement, its lack of structure and economies of production
scale was an impediment to its sustainability. Since the early 1990s, the fair-trade movement has
become more organized to address the challenges it faces. The harmonization of definitions, the
increased professionalism and emphasis on quality assurance, the direct marketing through
supermarkets and the establishment of working relations with mainstream businesses to enable
economies of scale, have further secured steady growth of fair-trade.

6. The organizations engaged in fair-trade can be divided into three groups:
• The network and umbrella organizations of the fair-trade movement, which consist of the
following four organizations: the Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO), the International
Fair-trade Association (IFAT), the European Fair-trade Association (EFTA) and the Network
of European Worldshops (NEWS). The Fairtrade Labelling Organization (FLO) was
established in 1997, and is the worldwide fair-trade standard setting and certification
organization. Since 2004, it has been composed of two independent bodies, FLO-I for
standard setting and FLO-Cert Ltd. for fair-trade certification and auditing activities. The
FLO has established common principles, procedures and specific certification requirements
for fair-trade and certifies mainly commodity products.

This relates partially to the fact that non-commodity products are usually not subject to direct comparison of price and quality. The FLO deals with cocoa, as well as with coffee, bananas, tea, honey products, rice, fresh
fruits, juices, sugar, sport balls, wine and flowers. It estimates its total retail sale value at
$500 million in 2004. The FLO membership consists of the 19 National Initiatives located
across Europe, North America, Mexico and Australia/New Zealand, as listed in Table 1 and
has recently introduced a common label to be applied across all products in all countries.
The International Fair-trade Association (IFAT) was established in 1989 and is a worldwide
membership organization that brings together both producers and buyers. It is a federation to
promote fair-trade and a forum for exchanging information to help members increase benefits
for producers. It consists of approximately 110 producer organizations and 50 buying
organizations. The Network of European Worldshops (NEWS!), established in 1994, acts as
the umbrella body for the approximately 2,700 “world shops” that sell predominantly

fairtrade goods across Europe. The European Fair-trade Association (EFTA), established in
1990, is an association of 12 importing organizations in nine European countries across
Europe.

• The Southern producer organisations, which supply the products, are traditionally cooperatives or associations. Presently, 15 have the FLO certification to sell cocoa beans under the fair-trade label. While cocoa is mainly produced in Africa (71%), 12 FLO registered cocoa producer associations are located in the Latin American and Caribbean region. FLO registered traders only buy part of the cocoa beans produced by the participating cooperatives. The remainder is sold in the mainstream market. Table 2 provides an exhaustive list of the producer organizations with their main characteristics.

• The fair-trade importing organizations, known as Alternative Trading Organisations (ATOs)
are traditionally non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Northern countries. These are
the buying organizations, which act as importers, wholesalers and retailers of the products
purchased from the producer organizations. They focus on improving market access and
strengthening producer organizations. In Europe, they sell their products through “world
shops”, local groups, campaigns, wholesale and mail-order catalogues. Table 3 provides an
exhaustive list of the 47 FLO registered cocoa traders.

7. There have been various definitions of fair-trade developed in the past. However, in an attempt
to produce a widely accepted definition, an informal group of umbrella bodies and network organizations called FINE (composed of FLO, IFAT, EFTA and NEWS) has defined fair-trade as follows: “Fair-trade is a trading partnership based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers – especially in the South. Fair-trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting
producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of
conventional international trade.” 

THE COMPONENTS OF FAIR-TRADE
8. The FLO approved producer organizations must comply with a number of requirements. Only
organizations of small farmers can be given the FLO certification. The FLO fair-trade standards for
cocoa require the following :
• The fair-trade activity is to promote the “social development” of the organizations. To this
end, the FLO certified producer organizations have to consist mainly of farmers managing
their own farms and the organizations must have a democratic and transparent structure.
• The fair-trade activity is supposed to enhance the “economic development” of the
organization. To this end, the FLO certified producer organizations must have the capacity to
export their production to strengthen their business operations. Moreover, the fair-trade
premium is supposed to be managed democratically.
• Under the heading of “environmental development”, the FLO registered producer
organizations have to include the environment in farm management. More specifically, the
use of certain listed pesticides is prohibited and the production of organic cocoa beans is
encouraged.
• Working conditions in FLO registered producer associations have to follow the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions. The FLO “standard on labour conditions”
describes how child labour can be used, as well as the requirements in terms of freedom of
association and collective bargaining. All farm workers have to work in a safe environment
and under fair conditions of employment, especially regarding wages.

BENEFITS AND COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH FAIR-TRADE AT THE PRODUCER LEVEL
9. The most essential characteristic of fair-trade is that producer organizations receive a higher
price for their cocoa beans. The fair-trade price represents the necessary condition for the producer
organizations to have the financial ability to fulfil the above requirements, and to cover the
certification fees. The differential in the price of cocoa beans between the conventional market and the
fair-trade market represents the consumers’ willingness to pay for a certified product. The fair-trade
prices are calculated on the basis of world market prices, plus fair-trade premiums. The fair-trade
premium for standard quality cocoa is US$150 per tonne. The minimum price for fair-trade standard
quality cocoa, including the premium, is US$1,750 per tonne. If the world market price of the
standard qualities rises above US$1600 per tonne, the fair-trade price will be the world market price
plus US$150 per tonne.

FLO cocoa price per tonne =
Max {FLO floor price (US$1600); f.o.b. market price} + premium (US$150)
Chart 1 provides the f.o.b. prices for fair-trade cocoa beans that purchasers had to pay during the
September 1998 – February 2005 period and the corresponding monthly averages of the ICCO daily
prices, which reflect the prices of cocoa beans in the London and New York futures markets. It is
obvious that the incentive to sell under the fair-trade market for producers and, conversely, the
opportunity cost for fair-trade purchasers is higher during periods of low market prices, as was the case
in 1999-2001.

10. The “fair-trade price” or “FLO price” represents the price received by the co-operatives. The use
of the funds derived from the premium (US$150 per tonne) is decided by the General Assembly of the
Co-operatives, which is required to act with total transparency. A proportion of the premium may be
paid out to farmers but, in general, it is pooled in a social fund for the benefit of the community rather
than passed on directly to the farmers. The money is used for either cocoa related projects, such as
farmer training and creation of nurseries for new planting materials, or for social projects, such as
boreholes, schools and other investments. These benefit the whole community or the farmers
specifically.

11. In contrast to the premium of US$ 150 per tonne, there are no prescriptions under the fair-trade
arrangements on the use of the difference between the FLO minimum price of US$ 1,750 per tonne
minus premium (US$ 150) and the mainstream price. For example, if the mainstream market price is
US$ 1,200 per tonne, the difference with the FLO minimum price minus premium is US$ 400 per
tonne. It is up to the individual co-operative to decide on the use of these funds.

12. It is further noted that, in most cases, the farmers, at the moment of selling to their co-operatives,
receive the same price for their cocoa as when the co-operative sells mainstream cocoa. In most cases,
the co-operatives pay the same price to all farmers and they sell only part of their total trade volume
under the fair-trade arrangement. The co-operatives do not know which farmers have delivered to
them the cocoa they sell under their fair-trade arrangements. The situation naturally leaves open the
possibility for a co-operative to distribute advantages of the fair-trade arrangements among all their
members.
13. The cost of compliance includes the fees paid by the farmer organizations to the fair-trade
organization and indirect costs to comply with the FLO requirements. The cost of certification used to
be borne by the importers and not the producers. This made the FLO certification unique, by passing
the whole cost of the certification to the buyer. However, since December 2004, both registered
producer associations and traders have to support certification fees, mainly to provide additional
resources to the newly created FLO-Cert Ltd. For traders, as stated in Table 4, the costs are composed
of an initial application fee (up to €2 000 and payable only once) and an annual certification fee (up to
€3 000) dependent upon the total turnover of the trading company.

To get the FLO certification, producer organizations have first to pay an initial application fee (up to €5 200 and payable only once). For the following years, the fee is composed of a fixed amount (€500 per year), and a variable amount
depending on the value of cocoa sold under fair-trade (0.45% of the f.o.b. value), as shown in Table 5.
This implies that a co-operative, which sells 50 tonnes of cocoa in one season has to pay fees of
US$ 20 per tonne. With a fair-trade turnover of 500 tonnes the average fee is cut in half, amounting to
US$ 10 per tonne.

14. Financial benefits and additional costs for co-operatives associated with fair-trade, compared to
the conventional market are summarized below:

Sources of additional benefits
• Fair-trade price: the f.o.b. price paid to the co-operative is higher than the
conventional price and, by definition, more stable.
• Direct sales: the fair-trade supply chain does not usually involve as many
intermediaries as the conventional one.

Source of additional costs
• Cost of participation in the FLO system: certification fees, documentation costs, etc.
• Production costs to meet the FLO standards: possible additional labour, social and
environmental costs.

The size of the fair-trade market
15. FLO registered cocoa producer associations and National Initiatives have to report to FLO,
respectively, on their sales of cocoa beans and cocoa semi-finished products and sales of chocolate and
chocolate products under the fair-trade label. The corresponding volumes are modest, representing
less than 0.1% of the total cocoa market. In 2003, producers sold 2 687 tonnes of cocoa beans and
cocoa semi-finished products, in beans equivalent, under the fair-trade label. Table 6 gives an
overview of the share of total exports of fair-trade cocoa by country of origin during the period 1994-
2003.

As country information on sales is related to a very limited number of co-operatives in some
cases, the disclosure of volumes would have been against the FLO confidentiality policy. In 2003,
more than 90% of the sales originated from two producers: Kuapa Kokoo Ltd. (Ghana) and Conacado
Inc. (Dominican Republic). Consequently, the nine other producers concerned in 2003 sold less than
10% of the total, representing less than 200 tonnes. This highly concentrated market may be the result
of lower costs associated with trading for larger cocoa producers. Since 2003, five new small cooperatives in Peru, and a large one in Côte d’Ivoire have received the fair-trade certification. In Peru,
this is mainly the result of an ongoing United Nations programme to convert coca producers to
alternative crops.

16. Until 2003, cocoa and chocolate products were sold in the fair-trade market in 16 countries,
mainly in Europe. Table 7 provides sales information by country during the 1994-2003 period.
Presently, only information on total sales of chocolate and chocolate products is available, as the
National Initiatives do not provide detailed data on the cocoa content of these products. In 2003, 80%
of the total sales of chocolate and chocolate products were realized in only five countries, the
United Kingdom (35%), Italy (13%), Germany (13%), Switzerland (10%) and France (nine per cent).
Since 2004, fair-trade chocolate and chocolate products have also been sold in Japan, Australia,
New Zealand and Mexico. As shown in Table 8, the estimated market share of fair-trade labelled
cocoa in each country of destination is less than one per cent, with the highest shares (0.9%) in
Switzerland and Luxembourg.

17. Fair-trade certified chocolate and chocolate products are composed of various ingredients. It is
not always possible for all these ingredients to be sourced from a fair-trade-certified producer
organization and consequently for a chocolate product to be “fully fair-trade”. FLO policy defines the
conditions that allow a composite product to carry the fair-trade label. It is stated that all the
ingredients for which the certification exists must be sourced from fair-trade certified producer
organizations and 50% of all the ingredients, by dry weight, must be sourced from fair-trade, certified
producer organizations. However, exceptions to this rule exist as many manufacturers find it difficult
to strictly apply this rule. The implementation of these exemptions requires FLO approval.

Islands are at the forefront of the extinction crisis, with invasive vertebrates as the primary driver of extinctions and threatening nearly half of our world’s most endangered species [7]. Extensive research has recognized the negative impacts that invasive species have on islands with emerging research documenting effects on the surrounding marine ecosystems through predation of native species and degradation of critical ecosystem functions. It has been well established that invasive species can negatively impact local economies, food security, and health through crop damage and erosion, and as vectors for zoonotic disease transmission. These effects are especially relevant for islands with developing economies and limited economic development opportunities.

Invasive rats present on Floreana Island, Galapagos contribute to food insecurity through damage of subsistence crops. Credit: Andrew Wright

We’ve long understood that there are benefits to removing invasive species from island ecosystems for both the conservation of native wildlife and for the people who live in these communities.” stated co-author Dr. Nick Holmes of The Nature Conservancy, “By aligning this conservation tool with the United Nations goals for sustainable development, we are able to draw clear lines between human health and economic benefit to give communities more data for decision-making.”

The removal of invasive species is one of the most effective conservation initiatives available, with more than 1,200 invasive mammal eradications attempted on islands worldwide and an average success rate of 85% [2]. As a proven conservation tool, eradication has repeatedly been shown to revive island ecosystems and pull wildlife back from the brink of extinction. As practitioners pursue restoration on more complex, inhabited islands, it is critical to understand the implications for island communities and sustainable development goals.

Research indicates that seabird islands without invasive rats contribute to healthier coral reef ecosystems with greater resilience to climate change and increased fish biomass. Credit: Island Conservation

This study sought to identify how invasive vertebrate eradications could aligned with the United Nations framework for sustainable development which outlines 17 goals with 169 specific targets, including improving human health, biodiversity conservation, and socioeconomic benefits. By analyzing historical successes, the researchers found that the eradication of invasive vertebrates from islands contributes to 13 SDGs and aligns with up to 25% of the global targets. The team analyzed 292 islands where future eradications are a priority for biodiversity conservation and are considered possible within the next decade or would be possible with advances in technology [4]. In comparing past and future projects, researchers found that moving forward projects are likely to align with more sustainable development targets than they have in the past, which is attributed to the fact that, until recently, practitioners have predominantly restored uninhabited islands. Additionally, the team noted that restoration of islands that are used by nearby communities but not inhabited also present opportunities for sustainable development that encompass island communities beyond those studied.

Community involvement within island restoration projects not only ensures that the voices of communities contribute to decision making, but also provide job and skill training, increasing capacity for these kinds of projects within the region. Credit: Island Conservation

A Global Priority for People and the Planet

These findings suggest an opportunity for investment in the removal of invasive vertebrates from islands as a method for improving human well-being through health and economic development in addition to curbing the extinction crisis and fighting climate change. Invasive vertebrate eradication on islands is an effective conservation tool and often one-time intervention that can build more resilient and sustainable ecosystems and human communities. Unlike many conservation and social interventions, results from invasive species eradication often occur over relatively short time frames; the rapid-results and numerous benefits are particularly significant for islands and communities with developing economies and those facing growing environmental uncertainty.

Eradication of invasive species is a critical tool for stemming the extinction crisis and has been touted as a ‘conservation silver bullet,’ capable of incredible environmental gains for island wildlife and native ecosystems, but beyond preventing extinctions, it is increasingly important to understand the implications for people and island communities,” said Dr. Karen Poiani, Island Conservation CEO.

By identifying the applications for eradication to promote human well-being and biodiversity conservation, the researchers hope to encourage investment and innovation in the field. As eradication efforts increase in scope and scale, it is essential that biodiversity conservation supports the sustainable development of islands, contributing to improved human health and well-being, economic development, education, and the future of life on Earth.

Additional Background

• Invasive species devour eggs, young and even adults of native animals and plants, spread invasive seeds, and destroy vegetation [3,8,6].
• Islands offer hope that we can prevent extinctions and protect biodiversity.
• Eradication of invasive mammals from islands is a proven conservation tool [9].
• Larger, more remote and technically challenging islands are being successfully cleared of invasive species populations each year.
• Many of these investments have resulted in remarkable stories of restoration success, including the recovery of globally threatened species [5].
• Protecting island wildlife and improving the resiliency and sustainability of natural and cultural resources for island communities will require innovative new tools to increase the scale, scope, and pace of restoration to match the magnitude of this conservation challenge [1].

About the partners

Island Conservation is the only global, not-for-profit conservation organization whose mission is to prevent extinctions by removing invasive species from islands. We work where the concentration of both biodiversity and species extinction is the greatest – islands. Removing a primary threat – introduced invasive vertebrates – is one of the most critical interventions for saving threatened plants and animals and restoring island ecosystems. Once invasive species are removed, native island species and ecosystems can recover, often with little additional intervention. To date, we have successfully restored 64 islands worldwide, benefiting 1195 populations of 487 species and subspecies. Island Conservation is headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA, with field offices in British Columbia, Chile, Ecuador, Hawai’i, New Zealand, Palau, and Puerto Rico.

Pacific Rim Conservation’s mission is to maintain and restore native bird diversity, populations, and habitats in Hawaii and across the Pacific region. Founded in 2006, we work together with local communities, government agencies, and other conservation organizations to achieve these goals through predator control and avian translocation techniques. Throughout all of our work, we strive to use a science-based approach to management, using research to improve our methods and inform future conservation actions. To date, we have published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers in high-profile scientific journals and have had our work featured in media outlets such as the New York Times, National Geographic and the BBC.

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 72 countries, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit  www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.

Resources

1. Campbell, K. J., J. Beek, C. T. Eason, A. S. Glen, J. Godwin, F. Gould, N. D. Holmes, G. R. Howald, F. M. Madden, J. B. Ponder, D. W. Threadgill, A. S. Wegmann, and G. S. Baxter. 2015. The next generation of rodent eradications: Innovative technologies and tools to improve species specificity and increase their feasibility on islands. Biological Conservation 185:47-58.
2. DIISE. The Database of Island Invasive Species Eradications, developed by Island Conservation, Coastal Conservation Action Laboratory UCSC, IUCN SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group, University of Auckland and Landcare Research New Zealand. http://diise.islandconservation.org 2014.
3. Doherty TS, Glen AS, Nimmo DG, Ritchie EG, Dickman CR. Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2016;113(40):11261-5.
4. Holmes ND, Spatz DR, Oppel S, Tershy B, Croll DA, et al. (2019) Globally important islands where eradicating invasive mammals will benefit highly threatened vertebrates. PLOS ONE 14(3): e0212128. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0212128
5. Jones HP, Holmes ND, Butchart SHM, Tershy BR, Kappes PJ, Corkery I, et al. Invasive mammal eradication on islands results in substantial conservation gains. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2016;113:4033–8.
6. Medina FM, Bonnaud E, Vidal E, Tershy BR, Zavaleta ES, Donlan CJ, et al. A global review of the impacts of invasive cats on island endangered vertebrates. Global Change Biology. 2011;17(11):3503-10.
7. Spatz, D. R., Zilliacus, K. M., Holmes, N. D., Butchart, S. H., Genovesi, P., Ceballos, G., … & Croll, D. A. (2017). Globally threatened vertebrates on islands with invasive species. Science Advances, 3(10), e1603080.
8. Towns DR, Atkinson IAE, Daugherty CH. Have the harmful effects of introduced rats on islands been exaggerated? Biological Invasions. 2006;8(4):863-91.
9. Veitch CR, Clout MN, Towns DR, (eds). Island Invasives: Eradication and Management. Proceedings of the International Conference on Island Invasives. Gland, Switzerland and Auckland, New Zealand: IUCN; 2011.

The fungi phylum Glomeromycota is essentially unknown by the general public, however behind the scenes these taxa are ubiquitous, one of the most widespread and most important (economically and ecologically) fungal group, despite the small number of species it includes (about 150).  Although many species are not known biologically, all glomeromycotan species are believed to form obligate symbiotic relationships with phototrophs.  Most of these relationships occur (in an enormous diversity of plant species) via formation of “arbuscular mycorrhizal” (AM) associations within the roots, which allow the fungi to use carbohydrates produced by the plant.  In exchange the fungi dramatically increase mineral uptake (phosphorus, in particular) for the plant, essentially extending the plants’ root network with a vast mycorrhiza network. 

Glomeromycotan fungi appear to have low host specificity and a plant might be colonized by multiple species of glomeromycotan species, furthermore, the fungi themselves may form complex underground webs, even indirectly connecting the roots of different species of plants.  Glomeromycota are recorded to significantly impact the growth of most herbaceous plants and tropical trees including almost all human food crops, influence the composition of plant species in plant communities, control pests and fungal pathogens, and ameliorate effects of pollution on plant fitness.  These fungi may be fundamental in sustainable agriculture practices to solve the problem of rapidly depleting rock phosphate reserves, and are relevant to global warming as a significant CO2 sink, receiving and holding fixed carbon in the soil. 

Only very few plants (including less than 20% of existing vascular plants) are known to not form these AM relationships with glomeromycotans.  Some of these are plants in families Brassicaceae (e.g. cabbage, Arabidopsis), Caryophyllaceae (e.g. carnation) and Chenopodiaceae (e.g. spinach).  A small number of glomeromycotan species form other kinds of symbioses, some form external (ectomycorrhizal) associations with trees and shrubs, some form mycorrhizal associations with Asco- or Basidiomycota fungi.  One glomeromycotan (Geosiphon pyriformis), thought to be a primitive representative of the group, forms a symbiosis with cyanobacteria, in which they are the macrosymbiont, housing a consortium of the cyanobacteria in specialized bladders; a relationship possibly representing an ancestral type of symbiosis evolving before terrestrial plant life.   

The Glomeromycota are the oldest known fungi group, found in Ordovician fossils from 460 million years ago, and are hypothesized to have originated 600 million years ago, before the divergence of Asco- Basidiomycota fungi.  Scientists hypothesize these fungi had an important role in the process of early (rootless) land plants colonizing terrestrial habitats. 

The phylum Glomeromycota was created in 2001 as the smallest of the seven currently recognized fungi phyla, representing a very recent understanding of this group.  As late as 1974, glomeromycotan species were all placed in genus Endogone within Zygomycota.  Beginning in the early 2000’s molecular studies uncovered far more diversity at species-, genus- and family-level than traditional morphological characterizations documented (primarily as spore morphologies).  Glomeromycota currently is considered to contain between 150-200 “morphospecies,” however this may well be an underestimate.  Nice descriptions of diversity and evolution of this group can be explored at the Schüßler lab web site. 

(Redecker and Raab 2006; Redecker 2008; Schüßler, Schwarzott and Walker 2001; Wikipedia 2014a, b)

The ocean is a significant influence on Earth’s weather and climate. The ocean covers 70% of the global surface. This great reservoir continuously exchanges heat, moisture, and carbon with the atmosphere, driving our weather patterns and influencing the slow, subtle changes in our climate. The oceans influence climate by absorbing solar radiation and releasing heat needed to drive the atmospheric circulation, by releasing aerosols that influence cloud cover, by emitting most of the water that falls on land as rain, by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for years to millions of years. The oceans absorb much of the solar energy that reaches earth, and thanks to the high heat capacity of water, the oceans can slowly release heat over many months or years.

The oceans store more heat in the uppermost 3 meters (10 feet) that the entire atmosphere, the key to understanding global climate change is inextricably linked to the ocean. Climate is influenced by storage of heat and CARBON DIOXIDE in the ocean, which depends on both physical and biological processes. Let’s look at some of these processes. At the end of the last ice age, about 15,000 years ago, and the ice sheets melted away and climate warmed at that time. Ice sheets began to grow, and climate cool about 130,000 years ago at the beginning of the last ice age. About 130,000 years ago, fed by evaporation of ocean waters, the polar ice caps thickened and expanded Earth cooled by almost 12° C and global sea level to drop 130m below its current level. About 15,000 years ago, this process was reversed as more sunlight reached areas near the Arctic Circle, and Earth emerged from the ice age. Earth is about 8° Celsius (14° Fahrenheit) warmer today than it was then. Still recovering from the ice age, global sea level continues to rise. The past century alone has seen global temperature increase by 0.6 degree Celsius (1 degree Fahrenheit), and the average global sea level over the past decade has risen steadily.

Is this just part of the natural cycle? How much of this warming is due to the burning of fossil fuels? Is human nature affecting Mother Nature? What should we do? Our response to the challenge of global warming begins by formulating the right set of questions. The first step in addressing the issue of global warming is to recognize that the warming pattern, if it continues, will probably not be uniform. The term “global warming” only tells part of the story; our attention should be focused on “global climate change.” The real threat may not be the gradual rise in global temperature and sea level, but the redistribution of heat over the Earth’s surface. Some spots will warm, while others will cool; these changes, and the accompanying shifts in rainfall patterns, could relocate agricultural regions across the planet. By studying the oceans from space, we can unlock a vast store of information about our changing environment.

Climate is affected by both the biological and physical processes of the oceans. In addition, physical and biological processes affect each other creating a complex system. Both the ocean and the atmosphere transport roughly equal amounts of heat from Earth’s equatorial regions – which are intensely heated by the Sun – toward the icy poles, which receive relatively little solar radiation. The atmosphere transports heat through a complex, worldwide pattern of winds; blowing across the sea surface, these winds drive corresponding patterns of ocean currents. But the ocean currents move more slowly than the winds, and have much higher heat storage capacity.

The winds drive ocean circulation transporting warm water to the poles along the sea surface. As the water flows poleward, it releases heat into the atmosphere. In the far North Atlantic, some water sinks to the ocean floor. This water is eventually brought to the surface in many regions by mixing in the ocean, completing the oceanic conveyor belt (see below). Changes in the distribution of heat within the belt are measured on time scales from tens to hundreds of years. While variations close to the ocean surface may induce relatively short-term climate changes, long-term changes in the deep ocean may not be detected for many generations. The ocean is the thermal memory of the climate system.

• Physical characteristics of heat transport and ocean circulation impact the Earth’s climate system. Like a massive ‘flywheel’ that stabilizes the speed of an engine, the vast amounts of heat in the oceans stabilizes the temperature of Earth. The heat capacity of the ocean is much greater than that of the atmosphere or the land. As a result, the ocean slowly warms in the summer, keeping air cool, and it slowly cools in winter, keeping the air warm. A coastal city like San Francisco has a small range of temperature throughout the year, but a mid-continental city like Fargo, ND has a very wide range of temperatures. The ocean carries substantial heat only to the sub-tropics. Poleward of the sub-tropics, the atmosphere carries most of the heat.
• Climate is also influenced by the “biological pump,” a biological process in the ocean that impacts concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The oceanic biological productivity is both a source and sink of carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that control climate. The “biological pump” happens when phytoplankton convert carbon dioxide and nutrients into carbohydrates (reduced carbon). A little of this carbon sinks to the sea floor, where it is buried in the sediments. It stays buried for perhaps millions of years. Oil is just reduced carbon trapped in sediments from millions of years ago. Through photosynthesis, microscopic plants (phytoplankton) assimilate carbon dioxide and nutrients (e.g., nitrate, phosphate, and silicate) into organic carbon (carbohydrates and protein) and release oxygen.
• Carbon dioxide is also transferred through the air-sea interface. Deep water of the ocean can store carbon dioxide for centuries. Carbon dioxide dissolves in cold water at high latitudes, and is subducted with the water. It stays in the deeper ocean for years to centuries before the water is mixed back to the surface and warmed by the sun. The warm water releases carbon dioxide back to the atmosphere. Thus the conveyor belt described below carries carbon dioxide into the deep ocean. Some (but not all, or even a large part) of this water comes to the surface in the tropical Pacific perhaps 1000 years later, releasing carbon dioxide stored for that period. The physical temperature of the ocean helps regulate the amount of carbon dioxide is released or absorbed into the water. Cold water can dissolve more carbon dioxide than warm water. Temperature of ocean is also impacted the biological pump. Penetrative solar radiation warms the ocean surface causing more carbon dioxide to be released into the atmosphere. Oceanic processes of air-sea gas fluxes effect biological production and consequentially impacting climate. But as plant growth increases, the water gets cloudy and prevents the solar radiation from penetrating beneath the ocean surface.

NASA Oceanography & Climate

NASA satellite observations of the oceans of the past three decades have improved our understanding of global climate change by making global measurements needed for modeling the ocean-atmosphere climate system. NASA uses several instruments to get sea-surface temperature (AVHRR or other), height (altimeter), winds (scatterometers), productivity (MODIS), and salinity (future instruments). Global data sets available on time scales of days to years (and, looking ahead, to decades) have been and will be a vital resource for scientists and policy makers in a wide range of fields. Ocean surface topography and currents, vector winds (both speed and direction), sea-surface temperature, and salinity are the critical variables for understanding the ocean-climate connection.

Sea Winds

Scatterometers are used to measure vector winds. The SeaWinds scatterometer has provided scientists with the most detailed, continuous global view of ocean-surface winds to date, including the detailed structure of hurricanes, wide-driven circulation, and changes in the polar sea-ice masses. Scatterometer signals can penetrate through clouds and haze to measure conditions at the ocean surface, making them the only proven satellite instruments capable of measuring vector winds at sea level day and night, in nearly all weather conditions. Combined with data from Topex/Poseidon, Jason-1, and weather satellites, moorings and drifters, data from SeaWinds and its follow-on missions will be used to study long-term change. Earth’s weather patterns such as El Niño, and the Northern Oscillation, which affect the hydrologic and bio-geochemical balance of the ocean-atmosphere system.

Ocean Surface Topography

Radar altimeters like those on the Topex/Poseidon and Jason missions, are used to measure ocean surface topography. Bouncing radio waves off the ocean surface and timing their return with incredible accuracy, these instruments tell us the distance from the satellite to the sea surface within a few centimeters – the equivalent of sensing the thickness of a dime from a jet flying at 35,000 feet! At the same time, special tracking systems on the satellites give their position relative to the center of mass of Earth also with an accuracy of a few centimeters. By subtracting the height of the satellite above the sea from the height of the satellite above the center of mass, scientists calculate maps of the sea-surface height and changes in the height due to tides, changing currents, heat stored in the ocean, and amount of water in the ocean. By mapping the topography of the ocean we can determine the speed and direction of ocean currents. Just as wind blows around high- and low-pressure centers in the atmosphere, water flows around the high and lows of the ocean surface.

Maps of sea-surface height are most useful when they are converted to topographic maps. To determine topography of the sea-surface, height maps are compared with a gravitational reference map that shows the hills and valleys of a motionless ocean due to variations in the pull of gravity. The GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) mission will provide very accurate maps of gravity that will allow us to greatly improve our knowledge of ocean circulation. GRACE has provided gravity measurements that are up to 100 times more accurate than previous values. This improved accuracy will lead the way to break-throughs in our understanding of ocean circulation and heat transport. Two animations showing sea surface height (SSH) and sea surface temperature (SST) Anomalies in the Pacific Ocean from October 1992 to August 2002. The increase in temperature and height in the equatorial region west of South America illustrates the 1997-98 El Nino event.

Temperature & Salinity

Water is an enormously efficient heat-sink. Solar heat absorbed by bodies of water during the day, or in the summer, is released at night, or in winter. But the heat in the ocean is also circulating. Temperature & Salinity control the sinking of surface water to the deep ocean, which affects long-term climate change. Such sinking is also a principal mechanism by which the oceans store and transport heat and carbon dioxide. Together, temperature and salinity differences drive a global circulation within the ocean sometimes called the Global Conveyor Belt.

The heat in the water is carried to higher latitudes by ocean currents where it is released into the atmosphere. Water chilled by colder temperatures at high latitudes contracts (thus gets more dense). In some regions where the water is also very salty, such as the far North Atlantic, the water becomes dense enough to sink to the bottom. Mixing in the deep ocean due to winds and tides brings the cold water back to the surface everywhere around the ocean. Some reaches the surface via the global ocean water circulation conveyor belt to complete the cycle. During this circulation of cold and warm water, carbon dioxide is also transported. Cold water absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and some sinks deep into the ocean. 

 When deep water comes to the surface in the tropics, it is warmed, and the carbon dioxide is released back to the atmosphere. Salinity can be as important as temperature in determining density of seawater in some regions such as the western tropical Pacific and the far North Atlantic. Rain reduces the salinity, especially in regions of very heavy rain. Some tropical areas get 3,000 to 5,000 millimeters of rain each year. Evaporation increases salinity because as evaporation occurs, salt is left behind thus making surface water denser. Evaporation in the tropics averages 2,000 millimeters per year. This denser saltier water sinks into the ocean contributing to the global circulation patterns and mixing. Ocean salinity measurements have been few and infrequent, and in many places salinity has remained unmeasured. Remotely sensed salinity measurements hold the promise of greatly improving our ocean models. This is the challenge of project Aquarius, a NASA mission scheduled to launch in 2008, which will enable us to further refine our understanding of the ocean-climate connection.

The Biological Pump

Life in the ocean consumes and releases large quantities of carbon dioxide. Across Earth’s oceans, tiny marine plants called phytoplankton use chlorophyll to capture sunlight during photosynthesis and use the energy to produce sugars. Phytoplankton are the basis of the ocean food web, and they play a significant role in Earth’s climate, since they draw down carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, at the same rate as land plants. About half of the oxygen we breathe arises from photosynthesis in the ocean.

Because of their role in the ocean’s biological productivity and their impact on climate, scientists want to know how much phytoplankton the oceans contain, where they are located, how their distribution is changing with time, and how much photosynthesis they perform. They gather this information by using satellites to observe chlorophyll as an indicator of the number, or biomass, of phytoplankton cells.

Probably the most important and predominant pigment in the ocean is chlorophyll-α contained in microscopic marine plants known as phytoplankton. Chlorophyll-α absorbs blue and red light and reflects green light. If the ratio of blue to green is low for an area of the ocean surface, then there is more phytoplankton present. This relationship works over a very wide range of concentrations, from less than 0.01 ton early 50 milligrams of chlorophyll per cubic meter of seawater.

The PhyloCode is a formal set of rules governing phylogenetic nomenclature. It is designed to name the parts of the tree of life by explicit reference to phylogeny. The PhyloCode will go into operation in a few years, but the exact date has not yet been determined. It is designed so that it may be used concurrently with the existing codes based on rank-based nomenclature (ICBN, ICZN, etc.). We anticipate that many people whose research concerns phylogeny will find phylogenetic nomenclature advantageous.

The version of the PhyloCode that is posted here is a draft. Some parts of it may change before the code is implemented. Comments are welcome and may be sent to [email protected]. A new version (5), which differs substantially from the one posted here (4c), was approved by the Committee on Phylogenetic Nomenclature in January 2014. It will be posted here once the Preface and Index have been completed. In the meanwhile, a beta version is available on request from Phil Cantino ([email protected]).

The PhyloCode grew out of a workshop at Harvard University in August 1998, where decisions were made about its scope and content. Many of the workshop participants, together with several other people who subsequently joined the project, served as an advisory group (see the PhyloCode preface for a list of the people involved). In April 2000, a draft was made public on this web site and comments were solicited from the scientific community. All comments were forwarded to the advisory group, and many of them elicited discussion. A second workshop was held at Yale University in July 2002, at which the discussion focused on the governance of species names and the publication of a book of phylogenetically defined clade names as a companion to the PhyloCode (see the History section of the Preface).

The First International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting, which took place July 6–9, 2004 in Paris, was attended by about 70 systematic and evolutionary biologists from 11 nations. The program can be downloaded from the “Events” page. This was the first open, multi-day conference that focused entirely on phylogenetic nomenclature, and it provided the venue for the inauguration of the International Society for Phylogenetic Nomenclature (ISPN). The ISPN membership elects the Committee on Phylogenetic Nomenclature (CPN), the responsibilities of which are explained in Art. 22 of the PhyloCode. The CPN has taken over the role of the advisory group that oversaw the earlier stages of development of the PhyloCode.

The Third International Phylogenetic Nomenclature Meeting was held July 21–23, 2008 at Dalhousie University, Halifax. More information can be downloaded from the “Events” page.

The International Society for Phylogenetic Nomenclature is open to all. More information about the ISPN and a membership form can be found at http://phylonames.org.

Changes in Version 4. The current version of the PhyloCode (version 4c), which was posted in January 2010, differs from version 4b in many minor ways, which are detailed in the Preface. In contrast, version 4b (posted in September 2007) differs in major ways from version 3. See the “Changes in Version 4” section of the Preface for details.

Most reef-building corals contain photosynthetic algae, called zooxanthellae, that live in their tissues. The corals and algae have a mutualistic relationship. The coral provides the algae with a protected environment and compounds they need for photosynthesis. In return, the algae produce oxygen and help the coral to remove wastes. Most importantly, zooxanthellae supply the coral with glucose, glycerol, and amino acids, which are the products of photosynthesis. The coral uses these products to make proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and produce calcium carbonate (Barnes, R.D., 1987; Barnes, R.S.K. and Hughes, 1999; Lalli and Parsons, 1995; Levinton, 1995; Sumich, 1996).

 The relationship between the algae and coral polyp facilitates a tight recycling of nutrients in nutrient-poor tropical waters. In fact, as much as 90 percent of the organic material photosynthetically produced by the zooxanthellae is transferred to the host coral tissue (Sumich, 1996). This is the driving force behind the growth and productivity of coral reefs (Barnes, 1987; Levinton, 1995).

In addition to providing corals with essential nutrients, zooxanthellae are responsible for the unique and beautiful colors of many stony corals. Sometimes when corals become physically stressed, the polyps expel their algal cells and the colony takes on a stark white appearance. This is commonly described as “coral bleaching” (Barnes, R.S.K. and Hughes, 1999; Lalli and Parsons, 1995). If the polyps go for too long without zooxanthellae, coral bleaching can result in the coral’s death.

Because of their intimate relationship with zooxanthellae, reef-building corals respond to the environment like plants. Because their algal cells need light for photosynthesis, reef corals require clear water. For this reason they are generally found only in waters with small amounts of suspended material, i.e., in water of low turbidity and low productivity. This leads to an interesting paradox—coral reefs require clear, nutrient-poor water, but they are among the most productive and diverse marine environments (Barnes, 1987).

symbioses
Sponges form symbiotic relationships with various organisms, including mutualisms with photosynthetic bacteria/plant cells, and swimming scallops and crabs, and parasitisms on mollusc shells.

NOTE “symbiosis” is a general term used in North America for any two organisms living together. There are several categories of symbiosis described in the scientific literature, but the one most commonly used, commensalism (one partner benefits while the other is unaffected) assumes information about the participants that is usually unavailable. The two symbioses of clearest definition (and most interest) are mutualism, where both partners benefit, and parasitism, where one partner benefits and the other is harmed.

Mutualism

Several west-coast sponges house single-celled plants known as zoochlorellae. The relationship is thought to be mutualistic in that the plants provide products of photosynthesis (glycerol, glucose, amino acids) to the host in return for a place to stay, and the host provides carbon dioxide and ammonia nutrients required for photosynthesis. A common host for zoochlorellae is the “crumb-of-bread” sponge Halichondria panicea which has two growth forms. One is a flat, tough open-coast form that often contains so many zoochlorellae that it appears greenish in colour.

For some reason, the green open-coast Halichondria often has a bad smell. Whether this has something to do with its algal symbionts, or with the presence of defensive chemicals, is not known.

The other form is often found on docks in quiet water conditions, although may occur in open-coast situations. It has a softer consistency and mostly lacks symbionts.

NOTE thought to be similar to green plant cells found in west-coast sea anemones. These are discussed elsewhere in the ODYSSEY: SEA ANEMONES: SYMBIONTS.

What is the explanation for the enhanced growth performance of the nudibranch? Select the best idea from the list below and  see explanations of the answers. Ideas from Knowlton & Highsmith 2005 J Exper Mar Biol Ecol 327: 36.

Nudibranchs eat more of the zoochlorella-containing sponge.

The symbionts increase the density of the sponge tissue; hence, providing more tissue per bite for the nudibranch.

The symbionts increase the nutritional content of the food.