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Hi all, Please remember to submit or resubmit your abstract for the Bremen International Coral Reef Conference by 15.Oct. if you want to present. Submit here: https://www.icrs2021.de/program/call-for-abstracts/ Please note that the conference was postponed due to COVID, and if you previously had an abstract submitted, you need to resubmit by pretending to submit a new abstract and then linking it back to your previous submission number (unless you were accepted to present a poster, but you want to give a talk, then don’t link the number). We were aiming for an own sponge session, but were merged with other benthos during the last round before COVID put a spanner in: https://www.icrs2021.de/program/session-program/#c243 We now have a second chance. If we put in 10+ talks specifically on sponges, we might yet get our separate session? The sponge session abstract is this: Sponges on coral reefs: how can we reconcile contradictory reports on controls, population and community dynamics, and functional roles? Controversy over sponge functional roles and how sponge populations are controlled on coral reefs has become polarized and, given the many key roles played by sponges, it seems important to see how we can reconcile contrasting views of sponge influences and dynamics. Contrasting reports that: a) sponges are overwhelming corals and reefs vs. suffering mass mortalities; b) sponges are controlled by spongivores vs. by picoplankton and nutrient availability; and c) sponge effects on corals are damaging vs. enhancing, result in opposing conclusions that impede clear predictions of future states. Potentially profound reciprocal influences of sponges and the water column on each other, as well as of sponges and corals on each other, impel increased attention to focused studies of sponge ecology. Sponges must also be added to monitoring, conservation, restoration, and management plans, but the most useful and efficient ways to do this require thoughtful conversation, as standard coral reef techniques must be modified to take into account how sponges differ from corals, i.e., an order of magnitude greater species diversity, living tissue throughout their 3-dimensional bodies, disintegrating upon death rather than leaving behind a skeleton, capable of inhabiting cryptic spaces where evaluation is difficult, and playing a greater variety of ecosystem functional roles. We hope to facilitate movement from polarized debate to discussion of circumstances under which contrasting results are obtained. Are contrasting reports due to focus on different species? generalization from too few or unusual species? different metrics and techniques used? field sites varying in key aspects? temporal and spatial scales dissimilar? We will provide a forum for presentation and discussion of new data to address the balance between bottom-up vs. top-down controls on sponges, positive vs. negative functional roles of sponges, and increasing vs. decreasing populations of sponges. Cheers, Christine ######################################################################## To unsubscribe from the PORIFERA list, click the following link: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/WA-JISC.exe?SUBED1=PORIFERA&A=1 This message was issued to members of www.jiscmail.ac.uk/PORIFERA, a mailing list hosted by www.jiscmail.ac.uk, terms & conditions are available at https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/policyandsecurity/