The comment by Julian ( 2020 ) criticizes aspects of our paper, “Nitrogen enrichment, altered stoichiometry, and coral reef decline at Looe Key, Florida Keys, USA.” The comment begins by misrepresenting our extensive literature review, while providing no justification for the claim of a “skewed reading.” Julian’s critique focused on methods of data handling, statistics, and spatial awareness, which we demonstrate in every case to be either irrelevant or incorrect. We provide additional supporting data that refute these claims. For example, Julian criticized the removal of data points below the method detection limits (MDLs), but when these points are included, the results do not change. Further, Julian criticized our removal of outliers, but so few points were excluded that it did not change the results of the statistical analyses. Julian also misinterpreted the methods of our correlation and stepwise regression analyses but did not dispute the Kruskal–Wallis tests of our 30-year dataset that revealed significant decadal changes. Julian’s closing paragraph is replete with misinformation and demonstrates a lack of understanding as to how increased freshwater flows associated with Everglades Restoration have led to a worsening of algal blooms and coral decline in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS). This comment represents a smokescreen to confuse the scientific community about the physical connectivity of the Everglades basin and the FKNMS. Past water management policies based on politics, not sound science, have caused irreparable and ongoing environmental damage to sensitive coral reef communities in the FKNMS.

中文翻译：

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可靠的科学，而不是政治，必须为佛罗里达湾和佛罗里达群岛珊瑚礁的恢复提供信息

Julian (2020) 的评论批评了我们论文“美国佛罗里达群岛 Looe Key 的氮富集、化学计量改变和珊瑚礁减少”的各个方面。该评论首先歪曲了我们广泛的文献综述，同时没有为“歪曲阅读”的说法提供任何理由。Julian 的批评集中在数据处理、统计和空间意识的方法上，我们在每种情况下都证明这些方法不相关或不正确。我们提供了额外的支持数据来反驳这些说法。例如，Julian 批评删除低于方法检测限 (MDL) 的数据点，但当包括这些点时，结果不会改变。此外，朱利安批评我们去除异常值，但排除的点太少以至于不会改变统计分析的结果。Julian 还曲解了我们的相关性和逐步回归分析的方法，但没有对我们 30 年数据集的 Kruskal-Wallis 检验提出异议，该检验揭示了显着的十年变化。朱利安的最后一段充满了错误信息，并表明人们对与大沼泽地恢复相关的淡水流量增加如何导致佛罗里达礁岛群国家海洋保护区 (FKNMS) 的藻类大量繁殖和珊瑚减少的情况缺乏了解。该评论代表了一个烟幕，使科学界对大沼泽地盆地和 FKNMS 的物理连通性感到困惑。过去基于政治而非健全科学的水资源管理政策对 FKNMS 中敏感的珊瑚礁群落造成了无法弥补的持续环境破坏。