People and the Sea: Semporna

Seporna
Seporna was in the news  because it was rated as the "dirtiest" city in Malaysia. Seporna is a working port, not a tourist locality, so it is not the prettiest place I've seen. but definitely one of the most fasacinating.





Fish Market

The fish market is located right next to the sea, so this is the freshest fish that you can get.




Nearby you could find drying fish...


and drying sea cucumbers. This is something that I have never seen before.


The covered market


The mosque is located just a few blocks from my hotel.




Street scene.


Squirmy kid getting a hair cut.


I had to take a picture of his sister as well.





He's everywhere!!


Cute baby.


Down by the waterfront.






Hotel and Dive Shop


The grocery store across the street.




At the Market









It looks like Colonel Sanders has some competition.


Some New Friends

This little girl had her own personal drug store on the sidewalk.


Very happy lady selling trinkets.


These girls sold me a waffle with kaya (a spread made out of coconut).




There was a lot of action on the dock late Saturday afternoon. Many people came to town via boat from up and down the coast and from nearby islands.




The view from the dock area out to "Bum Bum" Island.

Video: Badjau at Semporna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vBpszVerxM

Mangroves

"[In the mangroves] it was like stalking, quiet murder. The roots gave off clicking sounds, and the odor was disgusting. We felt that we were watching something horrible. No one likes the mangroves."   Steinbeck, "Sea of Cortez"


Mangroves form an important, yet poorly understood and greatly unappreciated tropical ecosystem. Mangroves include a number of tropical trees and shrubs that are able to live in the intertidal zone along tropical coastlines. Mangrove plants all have adaptations to allow them to live in periodically flooded regions with high salt content. Thus, mangrove plants are defined by their ecological niche rather than their taxonomy and the approximately 70 species of mangrove plants come from 20 different plant families. The mangrove ecosytem (sometimes referred to as the mangal) occurs along protected coastlines in the tropics where mangrove plants grow.

Mangroves are common in the protected coasts in Central America and the Caribbean(they are also found in Florida and other regions of the Gulf Coast in the US). However, mangrove ecosystems in the Caribbean contain many fewer species than mangrove ecosystems in the tropics. For example, there are three main species of mangroves found in the Caribbean region whereas there can be as many as 58 species of mangroves found in the Indo-Pacific region.

Problems Facing Plants Living in Intertidal Areas

Plants living in intertidal environments face a number of problems. First, because the soil is very fine and water logged, it is difficult for the root system to support the plant. Second, because the roots zone is waterlogged, plant roots are unable to pick up the oxygen they need through the woil. Finally, because they are living in the intertidal zone mangrove plants have to be able to live in water with high salt concentrations.

Mangrove Roots

Because mangroves live in waterlogged, unconsolidated soil, they have to have specialized root systems to support themselves.

Trees that live on land usually have a number of roots below ground that join into a single trunk that extends above ground. As you can see from these photos, the growth form of mangrove plants is very different. A large number of roots branch off from the trunk and then grown down into the soil. These roots, known as prop roots, help to stabilize the trees.


Some mangrove trees produce "aerial roots" that drop down from branches until they reach the soil. One they reach the soil they help to support the tree.





Adaptations For Picking Up Oxygen

Remember that, unlike us, plants don't breathe. Plant leaves produce the oxygen they need as a byproduct of photosynthesis. However, because they are underground and not exposed to light, plant roots are unable to conduct photosynthesis so they have to rely on picking up oxygen from the surrounding soil by diffusion. On land the air spaces between soil particles provides the oxygen that the plant needs. However, in waterlogged soils, water replaces the air in the spaces between the soil particles so there is no oxygen available to the plant roots. Because plants don't have a circulatory system, there is no way for them to quickly move oxygen from the leaves to the roots. Thus, mangroves have evolved interesting adaptations to provide oxygen to their roots.

Some mangrove plants produce interesting structures known as pneumatophores. Pneumatophores are structure that grow up out of the soil high. These pneumatophores allow the plants to pick up oxygen from the air that can be used by the roots.


The shapes of pneumatophores differs between species.


The white blotches on the prop roots are structures known as lenticels. The lenticels are connected to the underwater roots by a spongy tissues that allow oxygent that diffuses into the prop roots through the lenticels to diffuse easily to the roots where it is needed.


Importance of Mangroves

Mangroves are being destroyed around the world at a rapid rate. Mangroves are destroyed to allow for coastal development or aquaculture. Mangroves are very important ecosystems for two reasons. First, they serve as nurseries for a number of marine fish and invertebrates. The juveniles of many species hide out among the mangrove roots until they are large enough to move out to the reef. Second, the mangrove roots protects the shore from the effects of storms and tsunamis. It was well documented that regions that were protected by mangroves were much less negatively affected by the big tsunami than those regions where the mangroves have been removed.

Readings

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Mangrove_ecology?topic=49514

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Mangrove_swamp?topic=58071


Videos
http://www.blueworldtv.com/webisodes/watch/mangrove-forests
http://www.underseaproductions.com/stock-footage/demo-reels/mangroves



Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this  class a fully engaged student should be able to

- define "mangrove"
- discuss the problems facing plants living in the estuarine environment
- discuss adaptations of mangove plants to deal with the abiotic environment

Coral Reefs

Background Readings

Coral reefs- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coral_reef

Threats to Coral Reefs-
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Threats_to_coral_reefs

Cnidaria- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Cnidaria

Zooxanthellae- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Zooxanthellae

Global warming takes a toll on coral reefs
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Global_warming_takes_a_toll_on_coral_reefs

Patterns of Caribbean coral loss
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Patterns_of_Caribbean_coral_loss

Coral disease-
http://www.reef.crc.org.au/discover/coralreefs/Coraldisease.htm

Coral stress and disease
http://www.reefrelief.org/Image_archive/diseases/index.shtml

Powerpoint Presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/MXAjnaF502X8PL

Great Online Resource

• Coral-reef-info.com Your Online Guide to Coral Reefs- http://www.coral-reef-info.com/

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student will be able to

- discuss the characteristics or the cnidarian polyps and zooxanthellae that make up a corals

- discuss the "dilema of the inverteed trophic pyramid" and the role that the discovery of zooxanthellae played in solving that mystery

- discuss the mutualism between cnidarian polyps and zooxanthellae

- discuss some of the threats facing coral reefs

- discuss coral bleaching and some of the proposed mechanisms of bleaching

- discuss the characteristics of some of the important coral diseases

Additional Powerpoint Presentations


Intro to Oceans
http://www.slideshare.net/secret/3UkF9S2ALRGNMz

Intro to Coral Reefs
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/coral-reefs-1616280

Coral Reef Zonation
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/coral-reef-zonation

Coral Reef Interactions
http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/coral-reef-interactions

Ecosystem Services

Romney's Rising Oceans Joke- http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmcquaid/2012/08/31/romneys-rising-oceans-joke/

Even though I know it often drives me crazy, I can't help paying attention to what is going on in the world of politics.  Of course, because we are just a couple of months away from the elections there are plenty of things going on to keep my blood pressure raised to a completely unhealthy level.

I saw the portion of Governor Romney's speech at the Republican Convention where he appeared to make fun of President Obama saying that he would "slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet" (here is where you are supposed to laugh uncontrollably and derisively if you are a Republican delegate).  Instead Gov. Romney claimed that his promise is "to help you and your family".

Not surprisingly, this clip disturbed me for a number of reasons.  Ultimately, I decided that there must have been a complete failure by the environmental education community (that includes me) for failing to (1) inform people about the important services that provided, for free, by the environment (Ecosystem Services) and (2) inform people of how human activity has affected the ability of the environment to supply these services.   Thus, the topic of Ecosystem Services suddenly got added to our syllabus for Wednesday.

However, when I reviewed my notes about this topic I rediscovered an article published by World Resources Institute entitled "Ecosystem services and human well-being synthesis: summary for decision-makers" (the link is presented below).  HA!  Thus, the information is out there for any "decision maker" that cares to have some info to make "informed decisions".


Readings

Classic Paper

The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital by Costanza et al.
NATURE |VOL 387 | 15 MAY 1997

http://www.esd.ornl.gov/benefits_conference/nature_paper.pdf

Other Readings

Biodiversity and ecosystem services- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biodiversity_and_ecosystem_services

Marine ecosystem services- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Marine_ecosystem_services

Ecosystem services and human well-being synthesis: summary for decision-makers.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecosystems_and_Human_Well-being_Synthesis:_Summary_for_Decision-makers

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- define ecosystem services

- discuss the variety of services provided by the environment

- discuss how scientists have attempted to determine the monetary value of ecosystem services


Romney's Rising Oceans Joke- http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmcquaid/2012/08/31/romneys-rising-oceans-joke/

Even though I know it is going to drive me crazy, I can't help paying attention to what is going on in the world of politics.  Of course, because we are just a couple of months away from the elections there are plenty of things going on to keep my blood pressure raised to a completely unhealthy level.

During the last Presidential election,  Governor Romney gave a speech at the Republican Convention where he appeared to make fun of President Obama saying that he would "slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet" (here is where you are supposed to laugh uncontrollably and derisively if you are a Republican delegate).  Instead Gov. Romney claimed that his promise is "to help you and your family".

Not surprisingly, this clip disturbed me for a number of reasons.  Ultimately, I decided that there must have been a complete failure by the environmental education community (that includes me) for failing to (1) inform people about the important services that provided, for free, by the environment (Ecosystem Services) and (2) inform people of how human activity has affected the ability of the environment to supply these services.   Thus, the topic of Ecosystem Services is one that I now like to include in all of my classes!



However, when I reviewed my notes about this topic I rediscovered an article published by World Resources Institute entitled "Ecosystem services and human well-being synthesis: summary for decision-makers" (the link is presented below).  HA!  Thus, the information is out there for any "decision maker" that cares to have some info to make "informed decisions".


Readings

Classic Paper

The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital by Costanza et al.
NATURE |VOL 387 | 15 MAY 1997

http://www.esd.ornl.gov/benefits_conference/nature_paper.pdf

Other Readings

Biodiversity and ecosystem services- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biodiversity_and_ecosystem_services

Marine ecosystem services- http://www.eoearth.org/article/Marine_ecosystem_services

Ecosystem services and human well-being synthesis: summary for decision-makers.
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Ecosystems_and_Human_Well-being_Synthesis:_Summary_for_Decision-makers

Expected Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course a fully engaged student should be able to

- define ecosystem services

- discuss the variety of services provided by the environment

- discuss how scientists have attempted to determine the monetary value of ecosystem services

Towards a New Environmentalism

The Earth is a Ponzi Scheme on the Verge of Collapse
http://www.alternet.org/story/135525/the_earth_is_a_ponzi_scheme_on_the_verge_of_collapse




Here are links to that propose a new way to think about conservation and environmentalism.

Time to reboot: towards a new Environmentalism. by Joe Zammit-Lucia
http://www.iucn.org/knowledge/focus/nature_for_all/?9493/Time-to-Re-Boot-Towards-a-New-Environmentalism



Conservation is not about nature. by Joe Zammit-Lucia
http://www.iucn.org/involved/opinion/?8195/Conservation-is-not-about-nature


Who is Conservation For?
http://chronicle.com/article/Who-Is-Conservation-For-/142853

Indigenous Peoples of East Malaysia

PowerPoint Presentation: http://www.slideshare.net/MarkMcGinley/indigenous-people-of-east-malaysia